From time to time we like to review lower end kit around here (actually we like to try to review everything we can beg, borrow or steal eventually)  but just because something is in a budget price range doesn’t mean it should be given an easy time. So when I got my hands on a Panasonic sc-hc20p-k to review I did my best to get into my “nasty picky reviewer” mindset. Luckily the SC-HC20P-K is such a fine bit of budget kit I didn’t have much call to flex those particular muscles.

The SC-HC20P-K is fairly pedestrian in appearance, going for a demure simple grey and black look with a slight nod to Bang & Olufsen styling, the CD player and iPod dock both being hidden away on initial observation. The SC-HC20P-K is by no means ugly though and the build quality is reasonable for a unit of this price though I wouldn’t recommend dropping it or knocking it off a shelf as it doesnt look built to withstand that level of stress. One odd thin we did notice is that for such a compact unit the SC-HC20P-Ks remote is extremely large and to be honest not exactly easy to use either.

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The main feature a lot of buyers for this unit will be looking at will be the universal iPod/iPhone dock, this pops out form its front hiding place with ease and will accept any current apple iPod or iPhone with ease. I found that the 3rd gen iPhone we used to test slid in the dock easily and felt like it was being held secure and snugly. The CD player is a fairly standard pop out model and was easy to use and felt reliable enough. The radio is a fairly basic autotuning AM/FM model without much in the way of bells or whistles other than the decent amount of preset storage.

Now its time to get down to the nitty gritty how does the Panasonic SC-HC20P-K sound? Well to be honest I was fairly pleasantly surprised, ok so it is only specified to 10 watts @ 6 ohms so you wont be banging out sounds at a loud volume on this unit but if you intend to use the SC-HC20P-K in a kitchen, small office or similar it shoudl give plent of bang for the buck. The bass end is quite smoothe and gives a decent reproduction of older recordings (Thelonious Monks Underground) at lower volume levels but some more modern compressed and bass heavy tracks (EG: James Blakes – Limit To Your Love) were evidently over stressing the SC-HC20P-Ks speakers at anything near top volume. The top end also became raspy in the top 1/4 of the volume dial, the 4 preset EQ didn’t really help mitigate this in any way which is a shame, though EQing off the top end helped a little. Being honest the Panasonic SC-HC20P-K performed as well as I’d expect for a unit of this price and with the stated THD of 10% which is quite high to my mind I’m not really surprised about the high volume sonic results.

So should you buy this unit? Well if what you are after is a way to amplify your iPod/iPhone in smaller rooms and perhaps listen to some FM radio then it gives decent enough results for the non audiophile home user. If you are used to higher end equipment in other rooms you may well find the shortcomings of the Panasonic SC-HC20P-K start to annoy you a little after a while. But at the end of the day the unit is decent value for money and is a cheap and cheerful way to get those iPod sounds sounding out in your kitchen.

Manufacturers Specification

• Total output power: 10 watts (1kHz, 6ohms, 10% THD)
• iPod dock: Yes, Universal Dock for iPod/iPhone; playback and recharge
• Radio: AM/FM (15 AM presets, 30 FM presets) with auto tuning
• Disc playback formats: CD audio, CD-R/RW, MP3
• Programmable time: Yes (sleep, play
• Surround sound: Yes
• Preset EQ: 4 (Heavy, Clear, Soft, Vocal) + Flat
• Bass and treble controls: Yes
• Bluetooth: No
• Remote control: Yes (IR wireless)
• Wall mountable: No
• Speakers: Full range, bass-reflex; 3-1/8-inch (bamboo paper cone speaker)
• Dimensions: 8-7/16 x 15-1/8 x 4-13/32 inches (HxWxD)
• Weight: 4.6 pounds
• RRP: $99.95 (Check Amazon for Current Pricing)