Panasonic steps up home theatre in 2013 with new speaker setups

Panasonic CES 2013
Panasonic's new speakers

Panasonic kicked off CES 2013 by revealing a trio of new home theatre speaker systems at the company's press conference on Monday.

The new home theatre systems, the SC-HTB770, SC-HTB370 and SC-HTB70, are compatible with televisions 42 to 65 inches in size and feature Bluetooth capabilities.

Panasonic wrote in a press release sent out on Monday that the new speaker setups are designed to "allow consumers to choose the ideal system based on the size of their televisions."

Panasonic's 2013 lineup of home theater systems will go on sale in March, though the company hasn't revealed pricing details yet.

So many choices

The new sound systems are designed to be versatile in their configuration, according to Panasonic.

The SC-HTB70 is a solid bar that can be mounted on the wall at 90 degree angles, with a built-in sensor automatically detecting its layout and offering the correct sound output.

Its built-in subwoofer is equipped with "anti-vibration" technology so it won't shake itself off the wall when the bass drops.

The SC-HTB770 and SC-HTB370, on the other hand, have a "luxurious, stainless mesh design" and wireless subwoofers.

They can both be mounted on the wall horizontally or left on a stand, or stood up vertically for a two-pronged tabletop setup.

The HTB770 even features a 3.1-channel speaker. It's not quite surround sound, but it's certainly something.

Pricing to come

Troy Livingston, product manager at Panasonic Marketing Company of North America's Entertainment Group, had the following to say in Monday's press release:

"The new 2013 models are designed specifically for large-screen TVs and deliver an improved, dynamic sound quality to enhance the user's home entertainment experience."

Expect pricing details on Panasonic's new home theatre setups soon, especially if they're meant to launch in March, and keep your eyes glued to TechRadar for more news out of CES 2013.

Michael Rougeau

Michael Rougeau is a former freelance news writer for TechRadar. Studying at Goldsmiths, University of London, and Northeastern University, Michael has bylines at Kotaku, 1UP, G4, Complex Magazine, Digital Trends, GamesRadar, GameSpot, IFC, Animal New York, @Gamer, Inside the Magic, Comic Book Resources, Zap2It, TabTimes, GameZone, Cheat Code Central, Gameshark, Gameranx, The Industry, Debonair Mag, Kombo, and others.


Micheal also spent time as the Games Editor for Playboy.com, and was the managing editor at GameSpot before becoming an Animal Care Manager for Wags and Walks.