Panasonic SC-HC55 Compact Stereo System

• Wireless Music Streaming via Bluetooth
• Internet Radio Application for iPhone/iPod
• Touchless Open/Close Sensor Door

I purchased this, and I think it's a great system. Great sound, and the ability to open the iPod and CD sections with a hand wave is a cool feature. The design is slick, and I like the thin size of it. I've played around with the Internet radio too. Some people will balk at having to buy the vTuner app, but if you're not going to use Internet radio, skip buying it. Of course, if you're not using Internet radio, you may want to look into the SC-HC35, which costs less, and has the same basic function as this unit.

The only real issue I have with this unit is that it seems to be designed for the iPod Touch or the iPhone, as opposed to the iPod Classic. When skipping to the next track, there are times when the system will fast forward about 5 seconds, instead of moving to the next track. This happens about every 5 or 6 tracks.

Aside from that small gripe, this really is a nice system.

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I was skeptical at first upon purchasing this item based on the reviews here on Amazon. When reading more carefully I found the one out of four reviewers that rated this stereo poorly was based on the customer service of Panasonic, rather than the actual performance of the device.

Just received the stereo today and unwrapped it. It only took me a matter of minutes to pair my iPhone and my iPad to the device. I was previously using the Panasonic SC HC3 Micro system which is designed for iPods only and not iPhones. When I used my phone with that stereo I had a ton of distortion and interference with the speakers to the phone which made the sound unbearable and annoying. Not to discredit the product, it wasn't made for iPhones.

MOTION SENSOR

This stereo however far exceeds its predecessors by leaps and bounds. I love the motion sensor to open and close the iPod/CD sides. I feel like saying "Open Sesame!" I was worried at first that by simply walking by the stereo, it would activate the sensor, but that isn't true. Works seamlessly.

IPHONE COMPATIBILITY

I have a 'speck' case for my iPhone 4 and I was concerned it wouldn't fit in the docking station. I was wrong. The phone fits in the docking station with room to spare WITH my case. However I was unable to connect directly to the stereo due to the limitations of my case. The port connector wasn't big/long enough in the stereo to make a flush connection to my iPhone. This is a fault of my case and not one of the stereo. When I took my case off, my phone played like a charm. No distortion or interference to be had.

BLUETOOTH CONNECTIVITY

After reading the directions on how to pair my phone and ipad, I successfully paired two separate devices to play music from, including Pandora, which was my main goal/concern. So now as I type, my iPad sits next to me with the stereo across the room easily playing my favorite Pandora station with a clear and loud sound.

INTERNET RADIO

Honestly, I haven't played around with the internet radio yet as I have no need to. I'm sure if that was what I was interested in, the app purchase of 2.99 wouldn't be a problem for me.

DESIGN

The design is sleek and stylish and quite compact. Very classy and eye appealing.

AM/FM STEREO

After setting up the stereo antennae I have to say I didn't have much luck of receiving more than four stations on the FM channel. I live in an apartment in a city, so that may play a role.

Overall I am VERY pleased with my purchase and feel like this was an upgrade well played out!

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First off I'd consider myself a bit of an Audiophile. I was looking for something to replace my Logitech Audio Station which is getting a bit long in the tooth. I was attracted to this unit because of the slick look and bluetooth capability. Setup was easy enough and I was able to sync my Ipad and Ipod touch after reading the directions, no problems. For the most part it has a lot of features that I wish a lot of bookshelf units had like the "magic door", streaming bluetooth and internet radio (via $1.99 app you have to buy from Itunes). The tuner seems to work fine and CD player is very nice as well.

Now for the bad. For some reason I cannot get this unit to sync with my HTC EVO. Don't know if it's only geared for Apple products but I tried my phone and my wife's BB to no avail. Number 2 the sound quality, the high and mids are just outstanding and I would consider it on par with Bose and Soundfreaq units. The bass, well that's another issue. The bass is just OK but not earth shattering even on high settings and the "D bass" sound option seems to muddy everything up. With a unit this thin I knew there would be compromises, but if your a fan of hip hop and like earth shattering bass this in not the unit for you. I wish there was an option to connect a subwoofer but that does not seem to be the case. Maybe because it's wall mountable the unit needs something to reflect bass back?

I'm debating whether to send this back and get something else but I'm going to wait and see if it grows on me. It has a lot going for it but the lack of bass really hurts this unit.

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This stereo system is a tremendous bargain. The sound is outstanding. I don't crank things up that loud so am not chiefly concerned about power.

Antenna positioning is a great feature, and allows you to tune in AM and FM.

The feature I really love is the bluetooth capability. I now stream Pandora radio to it from computer or from phone.

We weren't really interested in the ipod docking feature, but our daughter gave us her old ipod which had control problems, and we dock it and run it with the Panasonic remote. Works great

We replaced a clunky boom box that had control panel issues.

This unit is without a doubt the best stereo value I have ever had. I grew up through the reel to reel, 45-33.33 rpm records, eight tracks, surround sound speakers, etc. Nothing else comes close for the price.

Some friends were over the other night, I put on Loggins and Messina from Pandors. They were so impressed, they ordered one that night.

I have never been disapointed with a Panasonic product. Can't say the same for Sony, Aiwa, etc.

Buy it.

If you have an Android device, you can connect via bluetooth to play music from Panasonic SC-HC55. I was able to establish Bluetooth connection on my Samsung Galaxy s2 and my Asus eee pad transformer. I had this playing side by side with a Bose SoundDock (this Bose has no Bluetooth capability and is about $120 more expensive), the sound quality is not as good as the Bose especially for songs with a lot of bass. But considering it being only half the price of the Bose and it comes with Bluetooth connection, it's a trade off I can live with. Although it's no Bose, the sound quality is still very good. I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking to get a speaker to play their music library.