For the price, it'd be hard to beat

INTRODUCTION:
A few months ago I spent a day going around to Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Target, and Circuit City looking for home theater systems that didn't have DVD players built in. At Circuit City they had this system on sale for $169, so I spoke with an associate for a while and decided to purchase this one and hope for the best. I couldn't be more pleased with that decision.

SOUND:
The sound quality is excellent. The front and center speakers are considerably larger and have larger speaker cones than most systems I looked at. The bass from the subwoofer is phenomenal for the size and price. It delivers thundering lows and deep explosions, making it absolutely perfect for movies, and it does an excellent job with more bass intensive music like rap or rock and roll. Comparing this system to a similar computer system or home theater system in this price range, the sound quality is noticeably better.

INPUTS:
The receiver has three digital (two optical, one coaxial), three analog, and one 3.5mm input(s). The receiver divides them up between TV, DVD/DVR, or "Music Port" as it calls the 3.5 mm jack, which is ideal for plugging an MP3 player straight into the unit. The system automatically gives digital inputs priority over analog inputs for the TV and DVD labels, but if you have to have both active and use analog, adjustments in the menu have to be made. It would have been nice if they'd given them dedicated labels like "optical 1, 2... analog 1,2,3" etc, but they didn't, so you have to set up the system in a way that will require minimal menu adjustments.

TUNING/EQUALIZING:
The menus actually provide a great deal of flexibility in adjusting the bass, treble, subwoofer, and sound environment settings. I've found that for a small to normal sized living room, a flat equalizer and no room environment work best, but it is most likely a matter of preference. Another nice feature is the initial set up settings. You're able to customize the distances the speakers are from the listener and the system adjusts so that the surround sound is heard exactly the way the movie producers intended. These settings can be adjusted at any time, but are a bit confusing to navigate to in the menu system.

ADDITIONAL FEATURES:
This unit has an optional wireless rear speaker kit that I think is a must have. It communicates with the main receiver and allows you not to have to run wires around the room for the rear speakers. Also, the wireless rear transceiver has another music port, so you can use those two speakers alone to play music through, or have it communicate with the receiver and play music through the entire system. It is definitely a nice accessory, but is expensive unless you find it on sale or on eBay. Also, my wireless rear transceiver failed after 3 months and Panasonic's warranty was a joke, requiring me to mail it to a facility four states away at my cost for them to "evaluate" whether it was a valid warranty repair or not.

OVERALL:
This is a great unit with excellent sound quality and generally easy controls. The menus are a bit confusing, and the overlap of analog and digital inputs is frustrating if you have several devices to use, but for the sale price, the quality is near impossible to beat. With full size front speakers, a stylish silver and black mesh style, and an auto-dimming display on the receiver, you're certainly getting your money's worth.