Panasonic SCMT1 v Sony DAVSA30

andysher

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Any chance of a bit of assistance for a complete newcomer to the whole home cinema system business? I have decided (to save myself getting completely bewildered) to buy an all in one system and have it narrowed down to the 2 above, the Panasonic SCMT1 or the Sony DAVSA30, but am having trouble finding any reviews of either on line. Has anyone out there got one and would like to tell me if theyre any good?? The US spec for the Panasonic would seem to be better than the European spec (boo) with Dolby Pro-Logic II (as discinct from Dolby Pro-Logic I), which the Sony has. Any advice would be invaluable, as my local retailers are only interested in flogging me things, and dont know much (some even as little as me) about these things,

Thanks
Andy
 
First of all, welcome to the forums :smashin:

If you do a quick search on here, you'll quickly discover that on the grand scale of things, "All in One's" aren't too highly regarded by most forum users. Unless space is a real issue, then both sound quality, and value for money are bettered by going down the separates route.

That said, if you have set yourself on going for a "DAV" type system, or you are "restricted" to such a system, then the Sony models seem to be the favoured choice on here. I'm not familiar with the Panasonic you mention unfortunately so can't give you a more definite idea of whether one is substantially "better" than the other.

Maybe you could suggest to us what it is that you are after, and the type of material you intend to route through the system. With a bit of luck we can come up with the right system for your needs.

K.
 
Jaysus, that was quick, thanks for the response! I had detected that 'All in ones' werent too well thought of, but I suppose I am (due to my complete lack of knowledge) restricted to buying the complete kitchen sink in one go. Space is a bit of an issue, room is about 13sqm. TV will be plugged in as will Digital decoder and (if possible) VCR. I also would like to play CD's on the DVD player as well.

Cheers

Andy
 
dasa30 is tinny sounding.. go for pana MT1 (pana is also tinny sounding, but not so harsh on the eardrums)...Better still dont bother with eather and go for pana scht500. It's got an active sub!!

Also ask for demo in a local store, because on these entry level models try before you buy is a must otherwise you'll just kick yourself...

have fun
 
Thanks for that,

Visited my local retailer yesterday and demo's both of the above, hard to distinguish really between the 2, the Panasonic has 400W as against the Sony's 300, but according to the guy in the shop if you intend (as I do) to watch the TV through the system then the Sony is the one to go for as it has DOlby Pro Logic II (which is apparently a big benefit, although I didnt notice too much difference on Eastenders or whatever it was he put on!!!) Any thoughts?
 
The sales guy is right, PLII is definitely a huge step forward in terms of surround reproduction from analogue sources. Whether or not this makes the Sony the automatic choice however is ultimately down to you, and how you feel it competes as against the Panny. Sound quality is all important remember - bells and whistles are just nice to have :)

I don't have PLII on my amp, but it makes no difference to me as I don't listen to TV broadcasts through it. You need to base your decision on what you will be doing for the majority of the time - being able to watch the "odd TV film" in PLII probably doesn't warrant putting up with second rate sound for the rest of the time. Hopefully you can see where I'm coming from? :)

K.
 
Thanks again,

I know what you mean, to my humble uneducated ears there wasnt a huge amount of difference between the sound on both systems, but I think another test is in order, have the salesman earn his money!! PL II is probably going to be the deciding factor, I reckon I'll spend a lot of the time watching TV so it probably makes sense (but I still have this nagging feeling in the back of my head thats telling me to go for the Panasonic). Any idea why the Panny unit comes with much more in the US (I checked the specs on the web and thought great, it has PLII, 600w etc but when I looked at the UK site no PLII and 400W)?
 
I too have been looking at the Panny SC-MT1 but mainly for the reason that it plays Ram disc's and as I have a Panny DMR-E30, also, the Panny SC-HT900 has Dolby Pro Logic 2 and plays Ram........................................Anybody got some pointers for me then if I decide to go and buy seperates??
 
Hi Lads
Was also looking at the Panny as a stop gap,I have looked around but can not find anything about remotely making it region free.Is it possible or will I have to get it chipped?
Thanks
 
As far as I'm aware there isn't a remote hack for the Panny - certainly not listed on any of the "usual" sites anyway. I would suggest that at least for the immediate future, your only option would be a chip.

That said, it's still a relatively new model so there's a good chance something might crop up in the future. Bit of a gamble but it might pay off... :)

K.
 
techtronics have the sc-mt1 multi region for 240 quid...............................
 
Any idea if they ship to ROI Machine Head?.Can you post/mail me a link for them
Thanks
 
Hi Andysher,

For another £40 then you can have SC-HT500 which over the M1 has a bit more powerful amp, dvd-r, dvd-audio, nicer and very slim machine, but still no DPLII and it can't play jpegs.
link http://www.techtronics.com/uk/shop/50-panasonic-sc-ht500-multi-region-dvd-player.html

But even better is the SC-HT310 cost £367, you get DPLII, can play jpegs, dvd-r, slightly more power, sub level control.
link http://www.techtronics.com/uk/shop/50-panasonic-sc-dt310-multi-region-dvd-player.html

Just also want to mentioned if you were spending more, £430, then you can get the fabulous SC-HT900. Has 4 wonderful aluminum lookalike free standing slim speakers, which can also be wall mounted, 5-dvd changer, dvd-a, ntsc prog-scan component input, sub level control, DPLII, jpegs
link http://www.techtronics.com/uk/shop/50-panasonic-sc-ht900-multi-region-dvd-player.html

Panasonic is probably the best all-in-one brand at the moment in the budget up to £500 level.

However, there are other brands out there for really good prices with happy member-owners here. Also don't trust the av mags reviews too much, as you will notice a difference of opinions between mags and members here. E.g. Pioneer's new 313 got a lukewarm review from what-hifi but many here are very happy indeed, and the previous 303 was very successful.

Pioneer dcs-313 cost only £260 (promo price) and it has not so nice speakers design, but has DPLII, scart, s-video, , sub level control, can play dvd-r, dvd-rw, jpegs and the rest of features are lik M1.
link http://www.techtronics.com/uk/shop/50-pioneer-dcs-313-multi-region-dvd-player.html

JVC is coming strong and the TH-A35R £260 and has jpegs, dvd-r, mult brand tv remote, scart, DPLII.
link http://www.techtronics.com/uk/shop/50-jvc-th-a35r-multi-region-dvd-player.html

Again all of the prices and products include multi-region and delivery. Common features are e.g. MP3 ability, scart and 10bit/54Mhz DA Video Converter.

Happy hunting and btw techtronics are at the moment quite a bit cheaper than other online retailers but there are members her that hasn't got very good service or faultfree products, but there are also members that are happy with the product and service.

You can find opinions if you search on techtronics. Also more opinions at www.dvd.reviewer.co.uk on the retailers section.

Wasabi,
 
@andysher

If all your inputs are going to be analogue I would stick it out for the PLII as its way better than plain PL and PL is really knocking on.

I pitched a panny scht500 against a same price sony davs550 in my house for a couple of weeks and the panny won hands down, but there's no PLII there - I might consider the SCDT310 which apparently has it. Richersounds have these for 357 multiregion.
 
i want a decent ideally all in 1 home cinema dvd player with hard drive recorder about £500 - the above seem close, but what about the hard drive part, or am i dreaming?
 

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