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Panasonic's wireless pole-like speakers/receiver support 3D video pass-through

Panasonic has announced the successor to the SC-ZT1 wireless home theater system, paring the speaker total down to two and adding 3D video pass-through.

Matthew Moskovciak Senior Associate Editor / Reviews - Home theater
Covering home audio and video, Matthew Moskovciak helps CNET readers find the best sights and sounds for their home theaters. E-mail Matthew or follow him on Twitter @cnetmoskovciak.
Matthew Moskovciak
Panasonic SC-ZT2
Panasonic SC-ZT2 Panasonic

LAS VEGAS--Last year, Panasonic showed its SC-ZT1 wireless home theater system and it got a nod as a Best of CES 2009 finalist in the home audio category. At CES 2010, Panasonic has announced the next generation, the SC-ZT2, pairing it down to only two pole-like speakers and adding pass-through support for 3D video. Here are the announced features.

Key features of the Panasonic SC-ZT2:

  • Wireless audio/receiver package with two pole-like speakers
  • Pass-through 3D video support (which implies HDMI 1.4)
  • Virtual surround sound from two speakers
  • 5-inch subwoofers built into the cylindrical base
  • Onboard decoding for Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio
  • Return audio channel over HDMI support (also implies HDMI 1.4)
  • Available in June 2010; no pricing announced

We didn't get a chance to review the SC-ZT1 last year, but the more minimalist two-speaker setup makes more sense to us for the style-conscious buyers this system will appeal to. We're also assuming the SC-ZT2 supports HDMI 1.4 (still trying to confirm with Panasonic), which is good future-proof protection in case you want to upgrade to 3D Blu-ray down the road.

CES 2010: Panasonic's new Blu-ray and home theater products (photos)

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