My New Sherwood Newcastle R-972

[cschang]

I don't have an R-972, but the spec indicates that the endcaps also fit my A-965 amp. (As an aside, that makes the R-972 a huuuuge AVR. Which is why I don't have one for my secondary system. The lack of OSD volume display it impractical as a replacement for my Anthem MRX 300 in the main system.)

I think if I ever have to place the amp out in the open the endcaps would be a nice addition.

Ahhh....I understand.

I had a P-965, which has the same finish as the A-965. I don't think the gloss black endcaps would look good on it.

Yes...the R-972 is large, as was the P-965.

 

[DS-21]

Ahhh....I understand.

I had a P-965, which has the same finish as the A-965. I don't think the gloss black endcaps would look good on it.

I think there were a few A-965 finishes. The earlier ones were more grey. Mine is the same black as the R-972.

 

[cschang]

I think there were a few A-965 finishes. The earlier ones were more grey. Mine is the same black as the R-972.

Oh...in that case...it will look great!

 

[Stereojeff]

The end caps were actually developed for the titanium units (A-965, P-965, R-965). IMHO they look great on those units. And great on the black units, also.

As to the pricing, as the guy who sourced them, $99.00 retail is a steal.

Jeff

 

[rolyasm]

I also have the R972 for almost 1 year and a half. It did and does do amazing things for my room. The complaints I have about it are few. I don't like that I can't manually control trim/volume on Trinnov. I have a perf screen with my center channel behind it, and though it sounds good to all of my friends, I wish I could make the center a little hotter, maybe +2dB. Setup and control are not quite as intuitive as Onkyo (which I am familiar with), but I use a nice NevoQ50 for my remote, and sometimes they don't communicate well, which I think is the Nevo.
The finish is wonderful and the look of the Sherwood is great. Heavy beast. OSD doesn't come across with HDMI, which is a bummer. Also, I wish there were an easier way to switch off Trinnov and try another Sound Format for comparison. You have to go into the menu, and take Trinnov off, then come back out. It takes quite a few steps. Would be nice if just a quick toggle between the two.
So the real positives are the Trinnov (which really is incredible), the finish, the sturdiness/build quality, the amp power, the zone options, 12v trigger, and once you do setup Trinnov, there are many different frequency curves you can preload to determine which sounds best to you (house curve, flat, audiophile, etc.) all with a different response so you can get a boost in the base, mids, highs, flat, and you can also set Trinnov to fix everything, just the speakers, just the bass, etc. Great receiver, and for this price, I don't think you could go wrong.
I might be ordering the Onkyo 1009 or 3009 for another room, and if so, I will put them both in the HT room and see how they compare against each other.

 

[cschang]

The end caps were actually developed for the titanium units (A-965, P-965, R-965). IMHO they look great on those units. And great on the black units, also.

As to the pricing, as the guy who sourced them, $99.00 retail is a steal.

Jeff

Thanks Jeff...but I'm still not sold on the $99 retail. They do look good on my R-972...definitely adds a touch of class.

 

[cschang]

I also have the R972 for almost 1 year and a half. It did and does do amazing things for my room. The complaints I have about it are few. I don't like that I can't manually control trim/volume on Trinnov. I have a perf screen with my center channel behind it, and though it sounds good to all of my friends, I wish I could make the center a little hotter, maybe +2dB. Setup and control are not quite as intuitive as Onkyo (which I am familiar with), but I use a nice NevoQ50 for my remote, and sometimes they don't communicate well, which I think is the Nevo.
The finish is wonderful and the look of the Sherwood is great. Heavy beast. OSD doesn't come across with HDMI, which is a bummer. Also, I wish there were an easier way to switch off Trinnov and try another Sound Format for comparison. You have to go into the menu, and take Trinnov off, then come back out. It takes quite a few steps. Would be nice if just a quick toggle between the two.
So the real positives are the Trinnov (which really is incredible), the finish, the sturdiness/build quality, the amp power, the zone options, 12v trigger, and once you do setup Trinnov, there are many different frequency curves you can preload to determine which sounds best to you (house curve, flat, audiophile, etc.) all with a different response so you can get a boost in the base, mids, highs, flat, and you can also set Trinnov to fix everything, just the speakers, just the bass, etc. Great receiver, and for this price, I don't think you could go wrong.
I might be ordering the Onkyo 1009 or 3009 for another room, and if so, I will put them both in the HT room and see how they compare against each other.

House curve? What do you mean by that? All the Trinnov curves are preset...flat, audiophile1(FR of surrounds to match L/F), audiophile2(EQ bass below 300hz only), and natural(slight boost in bass, slight cut in treble). I also don't see a way to boost anything (bass, mids, highs) in Trinnov on my R972.

Did you do you calculations with the screen in place over the center channel. I don't feel my center is lacking in anything.

 

[jaymz]

"OSD doesn't come across with HDMI"

If I remember, mine uses HDMI to access the setup menu.

Jim

 

[cschang]

"OSD doesn't come across with HDMI"

If I remember, mine uses HDMI to access the setup menu.

Jim

He means OSD overlay on whatever you are watching on TV. ie. display the volume...

 

[Stereojeff]

Rolyasm:

As all of the operating parameters are stored by input, making a comparison with Trinnov on/off is relatively easy. Assuming that your input is HDMI 1, set Video 1 to get it's program material from HDMI 1, engage the Trinnov settings you want, turn Trinnov to on and save the configuration. Then go to Video 2, set the input to HDMI 1, make sure Trinnov is off and save that configuration. Now when you select Video 1, Trinnov will be on. Selecting Video 2 will have the same source except Triinnov will be off.

Jeff

 

[rolyasm]

He means OSD overlay on whatever you are watching on TV. ie. display the volume...

Sorry for the late reply. No, you can't manually boost anything, which I think is a major downside. You are correct about the flat, APhile1, Aphile2 and Natural,plus the spatial modes. There is no specific house curve, just those options. I had heard at one time that you could download other peoples "curves", but I have not looked into that.

 

[DS-21]

If anyone picked up one of these with the free end-caps and doesn't want them, especially if around ATL, PM me.

No longer in the market.

***As to the pricing, as the guy who sourced them, $99.00 retail is a steal.

What say you to Beachaudio's current closeout price of a hair under $25 shipped?

That's why I'm no longer in the market.

 

[DS-21]

Anyone using Trinnov correction for a nearfield setup?

I'm seriously thinking about picking up an R-972 just to do it. But the only system I have that I could fit something this big into is the nearfield one in my study.

 

[DS-21]

FWIW, Trinnov in the R-972 is the first autocal system I've used that got the subs-mains integration satisfactorily right. With both Audyssey MultEQ XT and ARC I've had to put in significant work to fix their mains-subs integration screw-ups.

Caveats: I've only set it up in a single-sub system, and of course everything goes to pot outside the spot for which it was calibrated.

Overall, I'm really happy with how Trinnov sounds, using the delay, level, and FR correction but not the spatial remapping.

 

[cschang]

DS....glad you are liking the R972.

Caveats: I've only set it up in a single-sub system, and of course everything goes to pot outside the spot for which it was calibrated.

The sweet spot is pretty wide for me. It is too bad that the stripped down version of Trinnov in the R972 does not incorporate the multi-position weighting system in the full version.

 

[DS-21]

The sweet spot is pretty wide for me. It is too bad that the stripped down version of Trinnov in the R972 does not incorporate the multi-position weighting system in the full version.

To clarify my initial comment, because my wording was poor, by "everything" above I really meant "the bass." Obviously, a calibration for a single sub can only sound good in a small area. Everything else holds pretty well.


With the speakers I use (concentric drivers, crossover set so as to maintain a consistent midrange directivity) one would expect the calibration to do very well above the modal region, though with speakers of poor design that may not be the case.

I suspect Trinnov (with the caveat that I haven't played with the remapping, because I'm uninterested in it) would do very, very well with a proper multisub system, because the basic calibration seems excellent, and the multisubs would markedly reduce spatial variance in the bass.

I ended up doing Curt's suggested double-calibration for a 5.1 and 2.1-channel room. So the R-972 has replaced a Meridian 551 integrated amp running the bedroom background music setup as well. The wires were easy to run in my particular home (office is off of the bedroom), and the better half is happy that there's an audio box removed from the bedroom.

 

[Ryan8886]

For anyone still interested, these are still going for $599 on accessories4less.com. I can't believe the difference it made for my living room! I've spent hours in the past with an SPL meter trying to get everything right but I have a very difficult room. An hour or so of setting things up and for the first time I now know what everyone means when they say their speakers just "disappear"! Everything finally sounds balanced. This thing has some serious voodoo.

So far, I can't see any signs of all the original bugs that made it such a nightmare when it first came out. The HDMI handshake is a bit slow and you really notice it when a show goes to commercial that's not in DD. It's also slow on power up to make the handshake....about 5 seconds before I get picture on the TV. No beefs with the REON chip...video processing seems nice.

The real deal is in the Trinnov processing. I had to dial back my sub heavy during calibration because I like to run it a bit hot and the initial calibration really knocked it down. There are 2 additional curves you can download to boost it...but i just turned it back up to my liking. The sound using the 3-D remapping is just unbelievable (maybe just a tad over-processed sometimes...but i still have some tinkering to do). Moving to this from my old H/K AVR-330 has been like bringing light to a black room! For me, so far, it seems worth the quirks. you can't beat this kind of technology for the price and the build quality seems excellent...plus a 3y factory warranty.

 

[M Code]

$599 is way below the factory FOB cost...
Trinnov is incredible and if you are not experiencing any S/W bugs, then you made out very, very well. One cannot match the 972 for its power output and features, unless you put out significantly more $....


Just my $0.02...

 

[Ryan8886]

$599 is way below the factory FOB cost...
Trinnov is incredible and if you are not experiencing any S/W bugs, then you made out very, very well. One cannot match the 972 for its power output and features, unless you put out significantly more $....


Just my $0.02...

Actually....I took an available open box unit for $499. The $599 ones come with free shipping and the piano black sides.

I've started getting some macroblocking issues with the video...so I switched it to bypass. I bought it for the Trinnov....the Reon chip was just a bonus if it worked. Like you said....a real deal. I can't believe the difference the Trinnov makes in my room. Due to the room design, I've got listening angles up to 45* off center. It is freaky how it picks the soundstage up and moves it right in front.

I reviewed all the threads at HTS before buying and it seems like the gamble will pay off for me.

 

[jf4828]

2 Channel Performance

My story is I have a pair of Linkwitz Orion 3.4 loudspeakers that were sounding really good using a Wyred4Sound DAC-2. Since the buffalo III uses the same ESS9018 and is much less, I figured I could get into the Sherwood R-972 and if I didn't like the 2 channel performance build the buffalo. All this is within the cost of the Wyred DAC-2. For HT I have a decent center and sub but terribly inefficient surrounds (82dB) with a -6dB point of something like 200Hz. I'll be putting decent in ceilings for surround duty soon. My front sound stage is almost perfect 30 degrees for front and 0 for center which is what I want for music.

So I received the Sherwood last night and set everything up. I like that Trinnov obtains the impulse response using MLS instead of frequency sweeps In fact, the room correction appears to be excellent in terms of frequency response. I had a little issue because my rears were inefficient and far away. My right rear does not show a horizontal or vertical angle after running Trinnov auto setup. I'm guessing this is because it's not loud enough for the mic to pick up a reliable impulse response measurement. This had the strange effect of remapping the left channel to the center channel when the remapping was set to anything other than none. I ran the autosetup 4x at different locations with the same results..... With just level adjustment and delay adjustment with the room correction EQ set to flat, the sound for movies was the best I've heard in my room. I was running a BDP-83 to a Krell showcase 7.1 inputs and it did not sound near this good. While some may complain that the Bass is lacking with Trinnov set to flat, I tend to think it sounds like it should, like it would if you were really there.

Unfortunately, I had too high expectations for the 2 channel. In pure direct with everything turned off the soundstage is flat as it's ever been(not a good thing). I mean using the squeezebox as a preamp sounds better in my setup that this thing does for 2 channel. I tried some of the Trinnov in 2 channel but it does not sound natural at all. I had read that this was a really good 2 channel performer, but absolutely not with the DAC included. My wife noticed a difference; she said it didn't sound anywhere as deep (as in soundstage). I was so proud of her

Needless to say, I'm ordering the buffalo III as soon as it's available again so I can get back to my music