CEATEC JAPAN 2015

The product name OTTAVA is Italian for octave, or a set of 8 ascending notes in a musical scale

At CEATEC JAPAN 2015, Panasonic Corp. displayed their latest products under the Technics line, the premium audio brand that the company resurrected last year. The OTTAVA™ SC-C500 is an all-in-one type audio system, and at the Panasonic CEATEC booth visitors could listen to the new system in action.
Michiko “Riko” Ogawa, a Director at Panasonic Corp., hails from an engineering background and is also a professional jazz pianist. Ogawa led the team in shaping the concept behind the OTTAVA™ SC-C500. The keyword for the project was ‘Jewelry Box’.
The project had various design restrictions and conditions such as size, etc. and yet the sound quality had to be outstanding as befits the Technics brand. The team poured all of its considerable audio technology and accrued know-how into the OTTAVA™ SC-C500.
“We made the OTTAVA SC-C500 to create beautiful music for the casual listener in the same way that beloved pieces of jewelry come out of a jewelry box.“ (Tetsuya Itani, Chief Technician, Audio Products and Technology Group Audio Business Unit, Home Entertainment Business Division, Appliances Company, Panasonic Corp.)

The upper part of the CD tray is made from transparent glass, so that the spinning disc is visible when music is playing. The design of the OTTAVA™ SC-C500 is full of little touches like this to delight and enchant the user.

The CD player and digital amp is housed in the compact form factor of the central unit that measures a mere 360mm x 248.5mm and 91mm thick. The speakers on either side are less than a sheet of A4 tall at 277mm, and the base measures 110mm square. The whole design is compact, and yet the sound that is produced by the OTTAVA™ SC-C500 is extremely dynamic and detailed.
The OTTAVA™ SC-C500 can receive audio signals from a variety of sources – CDs as well as USB memory – and it can connect to a PC music library via Ethernet LAN or wireless LAN, not to mention Bluetooth, DLNA, AirPlay, etc. – basically most if not all of the likely connection protocols in the silicon and network audio paradigm.