Why Buy Separates When Home Cinema Systems Are So Good?

I’ve always been a fan of separates – they’re flexible, long lasting and customisable, but they’re also not always easy to set up and can be expensive. That said I would never have considered getting an all in one home cinema system – or would I?

I’ve got to be honest, when I took at look at the Sony BDV-E370 Blu-ray home cinema system in the flesh I was seriously tempted. It’s a real peach – sharp lines, a sleek gloss finish and from a good brand. The further promise of having a system all set up in half an hour was also very appealing. When you add to that the price – all the speakers, Blu-ray player/amplifier for around the same time as just the amplifier alone on a separates set up, and it starts to get difficult to justify spending the £800 or so on a separates system.

These types of systems are presented beaitufully in the best electrical stores – they are nicely situated, with perfect lighting and massive high definition screens to show off the visuals and make the systems looks as good as possible. Picture the system out of this environment though and try and picture it in your own home, and some systems will start to look more appealing than others – something that brands like Panasonic seem to have picked up on.

Consider the Panasonic SC-BT230 for example. It is not as sharp looking as the Sony, but unless you can give the home cinema system a modern environment to sit in, systems like the Panasonic will often look better.

The other thing with these home cinema systems is that when you start to look beyond the gloss things are often not quite as appealing. The speakers are often lightweight and don’t instil the sort of confidence that a full proper home cinema speaker set would.

So would I buy a home cinema system over separates – yes, and no. Yes to put in the bedroom or dining room as these are the locations where I would be prepared to compromise. But in my main listening room? No. I still want the best, or the best I can afford in here.

Is it worth getting a 2.1 home cinema system?

If you want a good looking, compact, and easy to set up home cinema system then your only real option is a 2.1 system. You could of course go for a soundbar, or a 5.1 system but I’m assuming that you a) want the Blu-ray player as well, and b) don’t want the bother of rear speakers.

There is good reason why they are so popular – just take a look the the Panasonic SC-BT222 and LG HB354BS for examples of great looking, relatively low cost systems.

The problem with 2.1 systems is that they are lacking some pretty crucial speakers in their set up – the centre speaker, and the two rear surround speakers. The manufacturers will state that their systems have a ‘virtual’ surround sound effect to bring almost the same benefits and a full 5.1, or even 7.1 system but this has to be taken with a liberal pinch of salt. Yes, virtual surround sound is far, far better than it ever was even just a few years ago, but it is a long way from being as good as 5.1. I’ve heard quite a few 2.1 systems, and your first impressions are that they are actually very good. But continue listening, and you’ll start noticing the shortcomings they have.

So is it worth getting a 2.1 home cinema system? My first answer would have to be no. But I’ll put in a disclaimer because it is never that easy. Firstly, if you are looking for a system that will provide an improvement on your televisions speakers (that are normally very shoddy) then a 2.1 system could be just the ticket. Secondly, if you really want a good looking system, one that is easy to set up, and doesn’t have loads of speakers to clutter your lounge, then a 2.1 system is also a good option.

Whist a 2.1 system is not ideal, if it is all you can stomach or afford, then they are a great way to start enjoying the benefits of home cinema. And they are far, far better than having nothing at all.

Sorry, I’ve neglected you…

I’ve not written anything on this blog for ages. I’m sorry. I have no excuse and can’t even remember what I was doing. I’m actually genuinely surprised it has been 8 months!

Needless to say I’ve reprimanded myself and will start writing more of my opinions in due course. Which I’m sure you’re all looking forward to!

Logitech Squeezebox Radio – probably the best internet radio in the world!

This Christmas I gave one one of the best presents I’ve ever given, and I can honestly say it was only partially for me!

My good lady wife decided that she wanted a new radio in the kitchen and fancied one of the ‘new DAB radios’. Being a thorough sort of guy I researched the surprisingly good value range of DAB radios available, and read up a bit on DAB radio in general. The main surprise was that the number of stations available on DAB is actually decreasing slightly with a number of fairly high profile stations leaving the DAB network because of costs recently. What did seem to be increasingly recommended on my discoveries was internet radio. This was not something I really considered before, but the more I looked into it, the better an idea it actually seemed. With all the national BBC stations available as well as every BBC local station, most of our listening habits were wll catered for. But there were also a whole host of local independent stations – whether you consider local to be Aberdeen, Scotland or Austin, Texas.

So anyway, an internet radio seemed to be the best option for us, and looking into the internet radios available, the Logitech Squeezebox series seemed to be the most highly recommended. So I invested, sorry bought as a gift, a Logitech Squeezebox Radio and have not been so impressed with a piece of technology for a long time. It is amazingly easy to set up and as long as you have a wireless router you can be listening to internet radio in minutes. But even better than that, it will stream all your digital music from your computer too giving you access to your complete music library. The only downside is that you need to have your computer on to be able to stream music, but you can get around that by purchasing a NAS drive.

Overall, I have been really, really impressed with the Logitech Squeezebox radio and as well as the ease of use and wide variety of listening options it also sounds pretty good too. Visit Home Ciema Buyer for a full Logitech Squeezebox Radio review.

Is it worth paying more for the Panasonic SC-BT205 over the SC-BT200?

The Panasonic SC-BT200 looks a fantastic Blu-ray home cinema system with its small speakers and classic Panny looks. The Panasonic SC-BT205 seems good too with its taller speakers looking a little more serious than the smaller speakers of the BT200. However, what really surprised me is the price difference. At around £150 more expensive, the BT205 is making some bold claims as to its abilities over the BT200, but when you look at the specification of the 2 systems there is virtually no difference between them so why would you spend the extra money?

The Panasonic SC-BT205 has taller speakers, and lets face it, they are going to be easier to position correctly in your room, and at around ear level they will be closer to the correct listening height. To get the same with the BT200 you’ll have to spend some extra cash to buy some decent stands, which although aren’t vastly expensive will still add around £80-£100 to your final costs. When you factor this in, then the BT205 starts to look slightly better value – and add to this the good looks of the taller speakers and the system starts to look actually quite good value.

Of course there are many people who want to spend less and are not too bothered about getting the absolute perfect listening conditions and this is why the Panasonic SC-BT200 is proving to be such a popular choice. However, if I was buying one of these systems (I’m not, I prefer separates for the extra flexibility) I would probably pay the extra money for the Panasonic SC-BT205 – it might not be as subtle in looks as the BT200, but the end listening result is likely to be better.

New Panasonic PT-AE700 bulb bought, and replaced!

A quick update to the bulb saga for my Panasonic PT-AE700.

As I mentioned last time, I was going to have to spend a fairly hefty sum on a new projector bulb to keep my beloved Panasonic PT-AE700 running. Looking around the internet, the bulbs seemed to be in the range of £230 to £250 for an original Panasonic bulb. However, I was pointed in the direction of an ebay seller called ‘buyfromjapan’ who had them for sale for around £170.00. The postage was another £20, but even so, the total still came to less that £200 which is a substantial saving over the original quotes.

I ordered the bulb on a Wednesday, it was despatched the next day, and delivered on the following Monday. It was an official Panasonic bulb and came complete with the housing, instructions and a spare filter. The service was absolutely superb, so a big hats off to ‘buyfromjapan’.

Installation was easy. There are 2 screws on the bottom of the PT-AE700 to undo, you can then remove the flap to reveal the lamp unit. There are another two screws to undo before the actual lamp unit can be removed. Fitting the bulb is the reverse. Push the lamp unit into the slot (you may find that the unit needs a bit of pressure to get it to click home), and then do up the screws, fit and screw the flap back on and you’re done. The lamp hours counter will need resetting so you know where you are, and then you can enjoy the beautiful bright image again!

Turning the projector again, and I was amazed at the picture – it was outstanding – better than I remembered in fact – and the detail on my favourite demo disc, Monsters Inc. (I know, I know!) was mind-blowing. Needless to say I have watched loads of films in the last few weeks, and have enjoyed the new brightness and detail! I am actually getting very tempted to indulge in a Blu-ray player again, something like the Panasonic DMP-BD 80, especially as disk prices seem to be coming down.

Panasonic PT-AE700 Bulb went because it was old

I didn’t get a reply to me email to Panasonic UK, so I phoned their UK Projector helpline, and had a very interesting conversation.

Basically, the lady I spoke to told me that the bulb expired because of it’s age, not just because of the amount of hours it had on it, and that 4-5 years was the expected lamp life. This certainly was news to me, I had expected it to just go on until the lamp hours increased to around the quoted 3000 hours.

So there you go – saga over – I need a new bulb! I have to say that I was hoping it would last another year so that I could upgrade to an full 1080p projector, but if I’m going to have to fork out £250 for a new bulb, I’ll have to make the AE700 last a little longer now. Ho hum.

Panasonic PT-AE700 new bulb saga

Okay, I’ve just corrected a mistake on my original post. Bulb life was not 863 hours as I originally stated, it was a even poorer 633 hours!

Since yesterday I’ve performed a ‘lamp reset’ (page 52 (or 72) of the manual if you need to try it yourself. This can kick the pj into some action and has apparently solved some darkness issues, but no luck with me.

The bulb has still not actually blown yet, but the picture is un-watchably dark.

Currently investigating best prices for a replacement lamp and about to contact Panasonic…

My Panasonic PT-AE700 needs a new bulb

We sat down to watch ‘The Curse of Benjamin Button’ on the projector last night (a Panasonic PT-AE700 I bought in 2005) and noticed that the picture was quite dark, and we were struggling to see the detail in the dark scenes. So we blew all the candles out we had lit to try and make the room as dark as possible which helped a little, but the film was still a little too dark. So we gave up and played it on the television instead. There were a few drawbacks to this for use unfortunately: no surround sound and a small picture. Some of the photography in the film was stunning and it would have been a real treat to watch on the PJ.

However, even on the television I didn notice that the film is quite dark in places, especially peoples faces, it was just more pornounced on the projector. A quick Google found people with similar issues with their PT-AE700 as I was seeing, and it looks like the bulb is going to blow real soon. My bulb time is currently 633 hours, which is a similar length of time that other people are seeing their bulbs expire – but this is way, way short of the 3000 hours that Panasonic estimated, and is actually a pretty poor show. The bulbs cost about £260 so it is a major purchase. I can either look at a new bulb, or investigate a new 1080p projector, but I think I’ll contact Panasonic first to see what they have to say.

I’ll let you know how I get on.

At last, a decent choice of Blu-ray players

I’ve been keeping a close eye on the reviews of the new batch of Blu-ray players for some time now. My current fave, the Panasonic BD80 and the Panasonic DMP BD-60 have been getting rave reviews all over the place, but I’ve also been told about other players like the LG BD370 which is also highly thought of in home cinema enthusiast circles.

Despite this improved choice of profile 2 blu-ray players though, I’ve been waiting for the next Sony Blu-ray player to be finally released in the UK. Well, in July the player started to become available at online retailers and the reviews and specifications started to become available.

Overall, the reviews have been very positive depite it lacking some of the features the other players mentioned have, such as the ability to stream online movies. This is not something I am not particularly bothered about at the moment, and would rather get a dedicated media tank like the Popcorn Hour. The prices of the Sony BDP-S360 are looking competitive too, and with the full BD-LIVE compatibility and complete high definition sound capabilities, the Sony is looking like a great option. What I really like about the S360 though is the design – it looks like a proper Sony device and in fact not dis-similar to the first Sony DVD player I bought back in 2000 – the DVP-S525. Maybe its this nostaligic feeling, but I really like the S360, and if the S560 doesn’t get released in the UK, then I could even end up buying it!