New blu-ray player compatibility with 2011 home theater speakers (1 Viewer)

[blustorm22]

Hi. My Panasonic blu-ray player, purchased in early 2011 as part of a “home theater in a box ( player + 5 speakers & subwoofer),” has died. Is it possible/feasible to find a new (currently for sale) Panasonic blu-ray player that would be compatible with my current speakers? Best I can tell, there is no specific model number for the blu-ray player; just the home theater (SC-BT228).

I am not in a position financially at this time to upgrade to a better system (i.e., individually purchased components) but also want to avoid being penny wise & pound foolish by purchasing a 2022, compatible-with-the-2011-speakers blu-ray player when the cost would be comparable to purchase a 2022 equivalent of the “home theater in a box.”

I’ve had great experience with Panasonic as a brand (my 50 inch flat screen TV bought at the same time as the home theater system is still going strong) so planned to go with Panasonic irregardless.

Apologies if this query is covered elsewhere on the site, but if so, I wasn’t able to find it. Thanks!

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Welcome to HTF, Michael.

When you say that BD player part "has died", what exactly do you mean by that? Does the entire unit not turn on at all? Have you tried it w/ the digital audio input(s) fed from some other source device (like another standalone BD player... or even your TV's own digital output, if it has one)?

IF the entire unit died, then you'll need a new AV receiver, not just BD player, as that HTiB unit looks to have the player part integrated into the AV receiver -- IOW, the AV receiver (and amplifier) part is dead as well -- and probably not worth (paying) repairing/etc. And w/out that unit working, I doubt you can find a cheap (enough), suitable replacement to keep using those speakers... unless you rummage for a used one on eBay or something (and can actually get it cheap enough and still in good working condition)...

IF it's really just the BD player part that's malfunctioned, you could probably feed a new player's digital audio output into it and be content enough -- it'll only do lossy surround w/ that, but seriously doubt you can tell any diff between lossless and lossy audio via such gear. Again, you can test it out first (maybe using your TV's digital audio output) to see if that's the case -- if you already use/feed the TV's digital audio into it, you should probably also test out the 2nd digital input to use w/ the new player instead.

_Man_

PS: FYI, I dug up the manual for your HTiB over here:

Main Unit (Front); Main Unit (Rear) - Panasonic SC-BT228 Operating Instructions Manual [Page 7]

Panasonic SC-BT228 Manual Online: main unit (front), Main Unit (Rear). 1 2 Power Standby/On Switch (Power Í/I) ( 1 Press To Switch The Unit From On To Standby Mode Or Vice Versa. In Standby Mode, The Unit Is Still Consuming A Small Amount Of Power. 2 Power Indicator The Indicator...

www.manualslib.com

 

[blustorm22]

Hey. The BD player initially wouldn’t eject the disc. I followed the troubleshooting protocol enumerated in the manual, but no good. Then I tried playing the disc but that didn’t work, either. I had a medical procedure the next day so I turned the unit off.

When I next turned it on, it immediately turned off and that’s what it has done ever since. My BD disc is annoyingly still stuck in there!

I’m still recovering from the procedure & am physically limited in how far I can bend down to check out the back wiring schematic for the speakers, but attached is a pic. Ideally the speaker wires after disconnection would be able to be likewise inserted into a new BD player.

Any recommendations for a roughly comparable currently available Panasonic BD player? My computer has been in the shop and it’s not the easiest to do research on my not exceedingly smart phone lol. I’m definitely not meaning to ask you to do my research for me; just if you happened to have a suggestion…?

Hopefully the description of the new BD player on the Panasonic web site lists some other/older Panasonic components or HTIBs with which it’s compatible?

Thanks again,

Michael

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Sounds like that entire component's basically dead. IF you're very handy, knowledgeable (or curious enough to learn) and have the time for it, you might try repairing it yourself. Otherwise, probably time to just move on and replace the whole thing.

Those speakers are probably not really worth trying to salvage for multiple reasons. They're just not really that good plus looks like they probably use proprietary wiring connections although you can probably change that (if you're reasonably handy) to work w/ more standard AV gear, but I imagine you won't wanna spend the $$$ for the needed, proper AV receiver on top of BD player anyway.

IF you must salvage those speakers, your best bet might be to see if you can buy someone's used component of similar make cheaply somewhere for replacement. You can't just buy a standard BD player for replacement -- that entire unit is basically a BD player built into a small AV receiver (w/ proprietary speaker connections... though those connectors can probably changed).

Sorry for the bad news...

_Man_

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

What ManW said. Any pre-packaged system of this type is going to come with its own speakers. If you really want to keep your current ones for some reason (like it’ll be difficult to re-wire for them all), then another Panasonic is your best bet. Do your research to make sure they are still using the same connectors now that they did then. If not, you might want to look for an older used system, i.e. ebay.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[blustorm22]

Thanks, guys. I’m really sorry for not being more familiar with the basics of HT. One last question: before disposing of my current BR player & speakers (11 1/2 years isn’t too bad a lifespan I suppose for a HTIAB) & hopefully finding a reasonably comparable or maybe at least a bit upgraded replacement that fits in my current budget… is there ANY reasonably safe way to remove the stuck BR disc, still intact?

It’s disc 3 of 3 in the set which I’ve yet to watch (!) so annoying to say the least but better to just write that off too than end up potentially electrocuting myself, ugh. I am unfortunately on SS disability for my main health issue so my days of living dangerously are long gone, lol.

Again thanks so much for your patience & explanation.

Michael

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

I expect you'll have to disassemble it. Hopefully you can remove just the top cover with just a few screws and access the disc.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt