Panasonic SC-AK57

Pic of Panasonic SC-AK57 home theater system

For more detailed pictures, visit Amazon.com (item no longer in Amazon.com database)

Notice: THIS MODEL HAS BEEN DISCONTINUED. IT'S REPLACEMENT MODEL FOR 2000 IS THE SC-AK78. IT SEEMS SIMILAR, BUT I CANNOT VOUCH FOR ITS PERFORMANCE.

Contents

  1. First look
  2. Package contents and Setup
  3. Features and Functionality
  4. Advantages
  5. Disadvantages
  6. Conclusions
  7. Similar models and variations

First Look

I ordered the Panasonic SC-AK57 from Amazon.com Electronics for $330 including shipping. (amazon.com no longer has the SC-AK57 in its database.) The Panasonic SC-AK57 is a 'mini' home theater system which includes a 5 CD changer, dual cassette decks, and AM/FM tuner. It contains Dolby Pro Logic surround decoding as well as Panasonic's own "Super Surround" for deriving surround sound from non-encoded sources. Anyways, the shipping weight of the entire thing was 63 pounds, according to UPS. Let's move on and look at the specifics....

Package contents

  1. one SA-AK57 main unit
  2. two SB-AK57 front speakers
  3. one SB-PC70 center speaker
  4. two SB-PS70 surround speakers
  5. one FM wire antenna
  6. one AM loop antenna with mounting frame that hooks onto back of main unit.
  7. one AC cord
  8. one English manual with a separate Spanish supplement.
  9. one full-function remote control with batteries.


Setting up the SC-AK57 was fairly simple. The front speakers each have 4 leads that go from the speaker into the amplifier. The surround and center speakers use RCA connections to hook up to the main unit. I was very happy to see that the surround speakers have very long cables for them (25 feet each??) and thus it is easy to place the surround speakers at a fairly far away location. The demo mode (read: lots of flashing lights) automatically comes on when the unit is first plugged in. It is seizure-inducing but luckily one of the first items in the manual tells how to turn it off.

Features and Functionality

Where to start? The CD changer is as good a place as any. The CD changer is not a normal tray in which all 5 CDs come out at once. Instead, it has a sort of a "disc elevator" built in and has 5 eject buttons on the main panel. The discs can only be accessed sequentially, and, on the whole, the changer is relatively slow and clunky. However, I love it because it is much easier to keep track of what CD is in what tray than it is with a traditional 5 CD tray. Also, the width of this unit would not have accommodated a large 5 CD tray -- the tray that ejects on this system is only slightly larger than a single-CD tray. Also, there is a bit of a rumor that this system can only perform the RANDOM feature on the tracks on one single disc at a time -- this is not true. The RANDOM feature uses ALL CDs in the unit. Programmable tracks and a CD manager are also included.

The dual tape deck is also great. It is full-logic (including the eject.) Of course, with all full logic cassette decks on mini systems, it has adjustavle auto reverse and dubbing from radio/CD/other tape. The sound is impressively good -- and that includes recording. Tape hiss is nonintrusive and the controls are very responsive. (Pressing play yields near-instant playback; some full logic decks take some time to respond to a button.) Tape Program Sensor senses silent spots on tapes, thus making it easy to skip songs.

The AM/FM tuner is also excellent. 12 presets per band are available and can easily be programmed. FM stereo sounds great with all local stations using the included single wire FM antenna. The system is compatible with large, external FM antennas. I do not use AM on this system so I cannot comment on its performance.

As for auxiliary inputs, the system has 3 audio inputs for other devices to be hooked up. 2 of the inputs are normal stereo RCA-type, and the remaining input is a 5.1 discrete channel input (meaning a separate audio connection for each channel of audio) for connection to a Dolby Digital/DTS decoder (this system does not have built-in Dolby Digital/DTS decoding.) I cannot comment on the discrete input performance as I do not have any equipment that would use it. However, I have my VCR hooked up to one of the normal stereo inputs, and this is where this system shines...

The Dolby Pro-Logic surround decoding on this system is spectacular. The Dolby Pro-Logic surround decoding brings movies to life. You'll need a stereo (and preferably Hi-Fi) VCR to take advantage of the surround decoding present on many VHS videos. Look for the "Dolby Surround" or "Dolby Stereo" logos on videos that are mixed to take advantage of Pro-Logic decoders. Dialogue is firmly centered on the surprisingly powerful center speaker and the surround speakers add ambience. Some movies are more fun to watch than others with surround encoding. For example, Twister and Dante's Peak simply have unbelievably good surround sound, even though other areas of the movie (plot, character development, etc) may be lacking. The THX clip (present on the beginning of all movies mastered with THX) is especially good to demo on this system (or any other surround sound system for that matter.) Given decent placement of the speakers, comfortable furniture, a good TV, and a box of popcorn, you will get the theater experience, except that there won't be a guy behind you kicking your seat. (The surround modes can be used on every source except the tuner and 5.1 discrete input)

Also included in this system is Panasonic's own Super Surround, designed for stereo sources that have no inherent surround encoding. Two settings, Music and Movie, are available. I enjoy listening to my CDs with Super Surround (Music) almost all of the time and find that using all 5 speakers improves almost every CD I have. I haven't yet tried Super Surround Movie.

Four options are also available for modifying the surround sound field. Virtual Rear Surround disables the rear speakers and insteads sends those signals to the front speakers. This is for people whose house/furniture make using the surround speakers impractical. Center focus claims to make the dialogue seem to come from within the television. I have tried this and it actually improves dialogue clarity a tad, but also has the consequence of making the dialogue more diffuse. Multi rear surround increases the presence of the surround speakers. I really am a sucker for surround sound and as a consequence love this option as the surround sensation is enchanced with this option. Seat position helps maintain a consistent sound signal even if you are not seated dead center by allowing to change the listener's position. Dolby Pro Logic can use all of these options. Super Surround Movie can use all of the options except for center focus. Super Surround Music can't use any of them.

Many equalization options are also available. There are 7 presets: Heavy, Clear, Soft, Disco, Live, Hall, and Flat (no EQ). One manual setting is allowed, and the system includes a rather interesting 3D AI EQ. It allows you to move around a graph, choosing what features of the sound you want to emphasize. It is actually a 2 dimensional graph, not 3 dimensional. I find myself using the Disco and Hall equalizations the most often, but equalization is definitely a matter of personal preference.

Advantages



Disadvantages



Conclusions

This system has my vote. The pros on this system far outweigh the cons and the home theater experience is now at a reasonable price range. The sound quality is excellent with all types of music and movie material. I highly recommend this system to people searching for a home theater mini system. You won't be disappointed.

Similar Models and Variations

The SC-AK47 shares almost everything with this model except that it has no surround sound processing (and thus only front speakers) and has only one auxiliary input. Price at amazon.com: $250.

The SC-DK1 is also very close in appearance to this model but its CD player is also a DVD player and the system contains Dolby Digital decoding as well as Dolby Pro-Logic. Street Price: ~$700



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