Wireless home theatre systems: Panasonic and LG

When it comes to wireless home theatre systems, you'll find that some are more wireless than others. To make your decision easier, we compare popular systems from Panasonic and LG.

The term 'wireless home theatre' is a little misleading in that it suggests that the system actually operates with no wires at all. Technology hasn't quite developed that far, so every wireless system will still feature some wires.

The difference is that wireless systems use fewer wires than a standard home theatre system. "What we call wireless home theatre is a system that has no wires running from the front of the room to the rear of the room," says Ian North from Panasonic.

Panasonic wireless home theatre systems

In Panasonic's home theatre range, wires are used to connect the receiver to the surround speakers, but the main unit communicates wirelessly with the receiver. Panasonic have five different wireless systems, which they classify as either wireless 'rear out of the box' or wireless 'rear ready'.

"Wireless 'rear out of the box' simply means that we package it together with the wireless rear system," says Ian. "An example of this would be our flagship DVD model, the SC-PT865W ($1099)."

Panasonic's wireless 'rear ready' units, such as the SC-PT460 ($549) and SC-PT560 ($769) are cheaper, as the wireless rear system needs to be purchased separately.

Top-shelf Panasonic wireless home theatre products are also available: "We also have a receiver-speaker-type product which is one of the only ones on the market with wireless rear ready - that's the SC-HT65 ($769)," says Ian. "We also have a Blu-ray model, our top of the range model, the SC-BT105 ($1869), that is wireless rear out of the box."

LG wireless home theatre systems

By contrast, electronics brand LG only has one wireless home theatre system on the market, the HT903WA ($899). However, it considers this product to be a 'truer' wireless product than those offered by Panasonic and other competitors.

"If you look at some of our competitors' products, they have two speakers at the rear and the signal-receiving device in between, and between that and the speakers there's a wire," says Warren Kim from LG. "That's not necessarily true wireless."

"Our wireless uses only a power cord to connect those two speakers. Few rear speakers have an independent receiver, which is one of the main features of the LG theatre systems - they are one step less cluttered than other systems."

The LG wireless home theatre range will extend soon; LG plans to roll out more products in the next year, including a Blu-ray model.

While the variety of products available from Panasonic is appealing, the LG model is attractive for its use of fewer wires, and competitive price. A Panasonic system might be a better choice for the techno-buff with a bit more money to burn, while the LG product is preferable for the cautious buyer wanting a reasonably priced, straightforward system.

To see a range of home theatre systems in action, visit an electronics showroom in your area: