Any experience with Sherwood (non-Newcastle) AVR's?

[napalmdeth]

Take this one for example, the Sherwood RD-8701. It is the top model for these series.
http://www.sherwood.de/products/rd_8701.php

It sells for dirt cheap, and has most features I can imagine. But what about sound quality, anyone can comment?
How would this complare to a Yamaha rx-v361/363, or a Pioneer vsx-415/416?

 

[Rickster71]

Take this one for example, the Sherwood RD-8701. It is the top model for these series.
http://www.sherwood.de/products/rd_8701.php

It sells for dirt cheap, and has most features I can imagine.

A general rule of thumb: when in doubt, go by the weight.
At 10kg or 22lbs that's too light for a quality 110 watt receiver.
I suppose it would also depend on what you meant by 'dirt cheap'

 

[napalmdeth]

Well the Yamaha rx-v361 is only 8kg. in comparison...

Dirt cheap is relative in the expensive Turkish market. Here's my full mind-boggling list:

Sherwood RD-8701 - $335

Onkyo TX-SR304 - $335

Yamaha RX-V361 - $405


Pioneer VSX-415 - $325
Pioneer VSX-416 - $370
Pioneer VSX-515 - $415
Pioneer VSX-D514 - $335

 

[zhimbo]

At 10kg or 22lbs that's too light for a quality 110 watt receiver.

"110 watt" - for 6 Ohms, at 1% distortion.

Any bets on what the real, 8 Ohm. 0.1% rating would be?

 

[audioman00]

pretty bad, I'm sure... but, go with the onkyo, yamaha or denon equivalent. You will not be let down. I used to sell even the Newcastle stuff, and wasn't much impressed. ie. cheap caps, weak, no-name transformers. Very underpowered compared to the pioneer's we had and especially the yamaha I was running at the time.

 

[napalmdeth]

That's what I thought, I'm crossing out the Sherwood. The Onkyo is the lowest model in the series and claims only 65W output. That's my issue with it.

What would you choose between the Yamaha RX-V361 and the Pioneer options?

 

[sparky77]

I have the Sherwood RD-6500 with the same power specs, I would say the power is under rated. At full volume there is now audible distortion even with bass heavy music running 8 ohm speakers. It sounds as good as any other receiver I've heard, it's just very simple and lacking in some features, and most certainly the sherwoods could use binding posts instead of the push terminals.

 

[Audioholics]

The xx02 series finally added HDMI switching... Sherwood (non-newcastle) is simply not a serious product in our opinion. They don't innovate that line at all and those receivers seem destined to show up in big box stores for consumers who don't know any better and just want a cheap solution.

This may change over time, but right now they aren't filtering much down from the Newcastle line.

 

[audioman00]

IMO the Pioneers have more power output, and a bit more serious of a sound. The yamaha will have a more refined laid back sound, maybe not so 'in your face', but may sound less powerfull to a person. The yamaha is probably going to have about the same features, but not quite the edge that the pioneer will have. I think the new pioneer vsx series is impresive though, and can be had for not much $$..