Panasonic SC-HTB900 Soundbar Review & Comments

Hi folks!

I've had this soundbar afew months now and now it's developed an odd fault. When a certain frequency is hit, like a low rumble or a deep voice the sub makes an odd vibration. It Sounds like rapidly vibrating plastic. If I hold the rear it stops.. or I tap it it will stop for a bit then come back.

Any suggestions?
 
Hi folks!

I've had this soundbar afew months now and now it's developed an odd fault. When a certain frequency is hit, like a low rumble or a deep voice the sub makes an odd vibration. It Sounds like rapidly vibrating plastic. If I hold the rear it stops.. or I tap it it will stop for a bit then come back.

Any suggestions?
All I can think is maybe something has come loose in the body of the sub, or maybe some sort of foreign body has got in there and vibrates. Is the sub on carpet or hard flooring? Could the body of the sub be touching against something? Without taking it apart it and hoping you see something obvious I don’t know what else to suggest. If it’s still in guarantee, I’d be getting a service call.
 
Have had one of these for 2 months now and on the whole it is very good but now and again this error message appears,

“U704”
This system is receiving unsupported video format signal from the input source.
  • ≥ Change the video resolution setting on the
    connected device. (Refer to the operating
    instructions for the device.)
  • ≥ If there is no image, connect the device directly
    to the TV to change the settings.
This happened two or three times in one evening and when it happenend the only button that works on the remote is the input, I scroll through the options until TV is selected and then seemed ok. a couple of weeks later it happened again. I contacted the retailer who said try the reset button which I did, I also swapped the HDMI cable to the TV for a new one. The same thing happened again last week, twice in one evening. It's connected to a Humax Freesat box via a Panasonic TV with a Panasonic UHD BD player into HDMI 1 and an Apple 4K TV box into HDM2 into the sound bar. The error message is completely random and to be honest until it gets more frequent will put up with it but has anybody got any ideas why this is happening?.
 
Have had one of these for 2 months now and on the whole it is very good but now and again this error message appears,

“U704”
This system is receiving unsupported video format signal from the input source.
  • ≥ Change the video resolution setting on the
    connected device. (Refer to the operating
    instructions for the device.)
  • ≥ If there is no image, connect the device directly
    to the TV to change the settings.
This happened two or three times in one evening and when it happenend the only button that works on the remote is the input, I scroll through the options until TV is selected and then seemed ok. a couple of weeks later it happened again. I contacted the retailer who said try the reset button which I did, I also swapped the HDMI cable to the TV for a new one. The same thing happened again last week, twice in one evening. It's connected to a Humax Freesat box via a Panasonic TV with a Panasonic UHD BD player into HDMI 1 and an Apple 4K TV box into HDM2 into the sound bar. The error message is completely random and to be honest until it gets more frequent will put up with it but has anybody got any ideas why this is happening?.
Same here. No rhyme or reason to it as far as I can see and a difficult one to reproduce if you were to get an engineer out. Frustrating, but I put it down to an occasional handshake/software ‘brain fart’. Sorry I can’t be of more help.
 
So I am not the only one with this problem but as you say could be just one of those occasional hiccups! Have been reading the manual to try and get a common denominator but my brain hurts:thumbsdow.
 
Hi guys. I hope you will help me to choose.
I decided to buy a soundbar and my research led me to these candidates.
Panasonic SC-HTB900
Samsung HW-Q70T (maybe HW-Q800T)

They are almost for the same price, non-discounted Q70T is even cheaper than HTB900 (Q800T also without discount for the same price as panasonic). I like Panasonic brand. I own old plasma FHD TV Panasonic TX-P50G30E (3x HDMI + 1x ARC). It still works fine but it's, I think, ten years old and can get fail anytime.
I have two devices connected to the TV now - Minix Multimedia centre and Satelite box. Everything UTP connected to home gigabit network.

On the Panasonic SC-HTB900 soundbar I like 2x HDMI + 1x ARC (and ethernet port). Samsung soundbar has got ony 1+1 combination, but on the other hand is newer and with technologies I could be glad to have after TV replacement.

Do you see anything I should prefer one against the other?

PS: maybe I should post this message also into Samsung soundbar thread? To get also opinion from the other side of barrier?

Thank you
Daniel
 
Hi again.
I have just found out the discount on HTB900 comes from the fact they are last pieces unpacked and shown in the physical stores. I doubt it's worth to pay 550 EUR for this, even if you get full warranty time.
Rather to buy fully new Samsung HW-Q70R or T (or Q800T).

But I feel sad because of the low number of HDMIs in Q70 soundbar. Unfortunately the Q80R is over my budget.
 
An odd one, but is anyone else having issues with the Soundbar dropping the Bluetooth connection when streaming music from iPhone? I’ve got two XRs both on ios 14.01 and they’re both having trouble keeping a stable connection to the Soundbar. The Soundbar connects to my echo devices without issue and the phones are stable when connected to other Bluetooth speakers. It’s driving me potty. I’ve reset the Soundbar, unpaired and paired again I don’t know how many times but I can’t get to the bottom of it. Any ideas?
 
Still having problems regarding the U704 error code. Contacted Panasonic but as yet no reply but it has only been three days and I live in hope;).
 
Hi all,

Received a reply from Panasonic yesterday and they have suggested I do a factory reset of my TV to stop getting Error code U704. Will give it a go next week when the wife is at work ( So I do not get the third degree as to what I am doing :D ).
 
I had it for 1 week and returned to repair. There was a high pitch that was making me crazy. After 2 months I received it. They think, it is normal.
Screenshot_20201022-210918.png


This is what I can analyse on different places and without any source. Even when listening on Spotify... But for Panasonic, this is normal... What can I do?
 
After several emails to and from Panasonic they have admitted there is a fault with the unit but want me to pay £35 to have it collected and returned to their service centre in Peterborough. I am now in discussion with the seller to try and resolve the situation as I am not willing to pay the £35 to have it collected. So the saga continues!.
 
Last comments here seems like this soundbar has some issues…

However, if anyone was considering this soundbar you can find it on the big auction site from Panasonic_Outlet as a refurb. £299, down to £240 currently.
 
Seriously do not consider this sound bar even at a big discount. Just my opinion.
 
Has anyone connected this soundbar with an LG C1? If so does it connect through e-arc or will I need an optical cable?
 
Has anyone connected this soundbar with an LG C1? If so does it connect through e-arc or will I need an optical cable?
It’s not HDM 2.1 so no, but standard ARC should still be fine, no?
 
It’s not HDM 2.1 so no, but standard ARC should still be fine, no?
I was thinking it should be okay to plug in via HDMI and use the eArc port on the tv for the soundbar. Just wasn't too sure as had seen some people say they struggled but not with this exact soundbar. Hoping it works like this just waiting for the tv to be delivered now
 
Got my LG c1 yesterday and noticed that Dolby Atmos isnt passing through my soundbar. I currently have it set up to the HDMI 2 (eArc port) and still no dolby Atmos. Any one have this same set up that could help?
 
Got my LG c1 yesterday and noticed that Dolby Atmos isnt passing through my soundbar. I currently have it set up to the HDMI 2 (eArc port) and still no dolby Atmos. Any one have this same set up that could help?
I don't know much about LG settings, but as far as settings on the sound bar go check that your sound mode is anything 'but' STRAIGHT i.e. NORMAL, CINEMA etc and make sure 3D sound is set to 'on.' That gets me Dolby Atmos.
 
I don't know much about LG settings, but as far as settings on the sound bar go check that your sound mode is anything 'but' STRAIGHT i.e. NORMAL, CINEMA etc and make sure 3D sound is set to 'on.' That gets me Dolby Atmos.
Will try this once i get home from work and update
 
Got my LG c1 yesterday and noticed that Dolby Atmos isnt passing through my soundbar. I currently have it set up to the HDMI 2 (eArc port) and still no dolby Atmos. Any one have this same set up that could help?
Unfortunately, I don't think ARC support HD-Audio formats you would need e-Arc both ends for that. But I would have thought DD+/Atmos from streamers would be passing through ARC
 
Unfortunately, I don't think ARC support HD-Audio formats you would need e-Arc both ends for that. But I would have thought DD+/Atmos from streamers would be passing through ARC
Thats what I would of thought too. Noticed yesterday when I was on Netflix and selected something to watch with atmos it would show in top corner it was atmos when watching with TV speakers. When connected to soundbar it wouldn't show it was atmos at all. On my previous TV it did but it was also a Panasonic TV so wondering if it is running atmos but just not showing on the TV. Is there anyway to show if its running atmos on the soundbar?
 
Thats what I would of thought too. Noticed yesterday when I was on Netflix and selected something to watch with atmos it would show in top corner it was atmos when watching with TV speakers. When connected to soundbar it wouldn't show it was atmos at all. On my previous TV it did but it was also a Panasonic TV so wondering if it is running atmos but just not showing on the TV. Is there anyway to show if its running atmos on the soundbar?
Yes, there is from memory, you just hold down the one of the remote buttons to display, manual here : PANASONIC SC-HTB900 OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS MANUAL Pdf Download | ManualsLib Page 22

Press and Hold Sound button for more than 4 seconds
 
Yes, there is from memory, you just hold down the one of the remote buttons to display, manual here : PANASONIC SC-HTB900 OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS MANUAL Pdf Download | ManualsLib Page 22

Press and Hold Sound button for more than 4 seconds
Just tried it and it came up with 3d surround. Went into settings and turned this off and it's now showing dolby digital plus and dolby surround. Is this just panasonics way of saying it dolby atmos or not? Or am I best off leaving it on 3d surround?
 
Just tried it and it came up with 3d surround. Went into settings and turned this off and it's now showing dolby digital plus and dolby surround. Is this just panasonics way of saying it dolby atmos or not? Or am I best off leaving it on 3d surround?
No idea, Atmos is packaged with DD+ so it may not detect/diisplzy Atmos specifically, but it’s a fairly moot point with this soundbar, with no surrounds or ceilings, it’s never going to give you Atmos sound anyway, as there is nowhere to send the separate channels.
 

The latest video from AVForums

TV Buying Guide - Which TV Is Best For You?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom