Fine receiver that lacks a few things.
Written: Oct 20 '04
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Pros: Sounds wonderful. Lots of inputs.
Cons: Inferior FM reception, no main preamp outputs, ungainly input (component) selector, no sleep timer.
The Bottom Line: Highly recommended for most users.
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| bryancrow's Full Review: Panasonic SA-HE200 6.1 Channels Receiver |
I paid Shop Harmony $179.95 plus $19.95 shipping and handling for a refurbished SA-HE200 Panasonic home theater receiver. It arrived in just a few days, looking and performing exactly like a brand-new one from the factory. After all, the factory refurbished it.
Other people have written excellent and complete reviews of the SA-HE200 and the less expensive SA-HE100 (a Consumer Reports best buy). If they hadn't already described it better than I could, I'd write a review recommending it. I agree with all the complimentary things they've said. The Panasonic does have a few disadvantages, however, that prospective buyers should be aware of.
By reading all the reviews I could find as well as the user's manual, I learned about some of these deficiencies before I bought the SA-HE200 to replace a Sherwood 6030, a Consumer Reports best buy more than 15 years ago. The Sherwood is still working fine, but I needed more inputs for our TiVos and computers (via Audigy2 NX with remote control) as well as a DVD recorder, a CD carousel, a VCR, a cassette deck, and a MiniDisc deck. I also wanted the Panasonic's S-video, coaxial, and optical inputs and outputs.
The old Sherwood receives radio broadcasts noticeably better than the Panasonic. It also has a sleep timer, which the Panasonic lacks, plus separate buttons for each input. The Panasonic input selector is a 10-position dial or, worse yet, a single button on the remote. Since we use the home theater receiver as the hub for our Elan whole-house sound and video (using infrared receivers in every room), we have to scroll blind, one-way-only, through the 10-input sequence to switch from, say, TiVo 1 to the CD carousel. You can't back up, so it can take up to nine button presses to select the component you want.
The Sherwood's main preamp outputs made it easy to feed the Elan. The Panasonic has preamp outputs only for a powered subwoofer and for a surround rear speaker amplifier, and these don't function in straight stereo or with the surround speakers off. We're using digital inputs from two TiVos, from the carousel, and from the DVD, and there are limitations about what digital and analog sources you can record from using a tape deck, a VCR, or a CD recorder (see page 21 of the downloadable manual http://service.us.panasonic.com/OPERMANPDF/SA-HE200.PDF ).
Besides according this receiver many well-deserved accolades, previous reviewers have observed that the user's manual is notably incomplete and sometimes unclear. If I'd read a satisfactory manual, I might not have bought this receiver—for our purposes. Fortunately, the equipment is far better than the manual. It sounds great, and it does afford a large number of inputs.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 199.90
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Epinions.com ID:
bryancrow
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Reviews written: 2
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