Arcam Vs. Parasound Vs. Sherwood

[rolyasm]

I have narrowed it down to three preprocessors and will be purchasing this week. 90%HT. Undecided on amp yet. Speakers are M&K, either s-150 or s-250. 4 ohm speakers. http://www.mksound.com/satellite_speakers.php
Models are Arcam Avp700, Sherwood Newcastle P-965 or Parasound 7100. I have heard the Arcam and Sherwood and liked them both. Year between listening sessions. Have not heard the Parasound. I am looking mainly for experience with these processors and the sound of each. I know the features and all are comparable. Thanks for any input.
Roly

 

[jcPanny]

HT processor

Sounds like you are in the market for a high end Pre/Pro.

You might check out the Emotiva Pre/pro from av123.com which has been reduced to $1700. The matching 200 Watt x 7 amp can be had for the same price. See this site and secrets of HT for reviews.

Also, check out Outlaw audio. A few of their processors are identical to the sherwood models and their amps are made by ATI.

 

[rolyasm]

jcpanny,
I did look at the emotiva "twin", the Sherbourn PT-7010A. I hear it is basically a Sunfire. It is about the same price as the Arcam. I just haven't heard good things about Sunfire, so I didn't want to try the Sherbourn, or in the same regard, the Emotiva. Both have the presence channel, which I admit would be fun to play around with. Tough decision for me.
See the pics below, you'll see what I mean about the Sherbourn and the Emotiva.
roly

 

[shadow]

I would go with the Arcam based on what I have heard.

 

[ttowntony]

I've everything mentioned but the Arcams. It just so happens I'm a dealer for most all these, but the Arcams. I actually like most all these, but for different reasons. Of the four I rank as follows; Parasound, Sunfire, Sherbourn, Sherwood. Arcam even though I have not heard is very respected and would fall in 1-3 somewhere.

The Parasound is essentially the same as the Halo C2. It has modest looks, but sounds wonderful. It has a TEN YEAR warrantly enough said!!!

The Sunfire looks fantastic and sounds as good as it looks. It lacks the features as the Parasound.

The Sherbourn PT-7010A is a GREAT processor and is essentially the same as the Sunfire. The Sherbourns look much better than the website picture, too. I mean a lot better!!! Their matching amps are awesome.

The Sherwood/Newcastle sounds decent, but I do not think it's in a league as the above three. Plus, it's about 2x the size as the others making it tough to place in a rack.

Have no opinions on the Outlaws. The Emotiva's are fine units.