Panasonic gearing up for re-entry into the receiver market?

If the appearance of Panasonic's SA-BX500 AV receiver had you scratching your head, you're not alone -- we were doing pretty much the same here at EHD. Panny dropped the Technics name for CE gear seven years ago, and since that time we've seen Panasonic move its audio offerings to the HTIB and mini-system markets. But according to the linked article, Panasonic feels that a return to the receiver game is "long overdue," and we agree. A quick look at the specs on the SA-BX500 shows that a CE giant like Panasonic can combine support for the latest technologies with economies of scale that keep things affordable -- if picture and audio quality can keep up with the likes of Denon, Onkyo and Yamaha, we'd welcome Panasonic's return to the fold.