Just noticed that the Sherwood R-972 is now listed on the Sherwood site. Looks pretty impressive with its up-to-date features and Trinnov's Optimizer along with SiliconOptix Reon video processor. The site does not list an MSRP, but assuming it is not too much more than the $1,200 R-872 then some here (including me) might be interested in comparing it to the Denon 3000s, Onkyo 800s and 900s and Pioneer Elites.

I assume this means the Outlaw and Sherwood pre/pros should be along soon? While I know it may not matter much, I'm surprised the amp section is not rated over 100wpc. Strangely (to me) stereo at 20hz is listed at 100wpc, yet 7 channel output at 1kHz is listed at 130wpc. I get the increase, but why would they list a number at 20hz and then another at 1kHz? Seems like somebody did not want to list the drop off in power with 7 chans run at 20-20k. Not much slight of hand there. Then again, Axiom says their amps are as robust as the Denons, and we know those work.

I thought Outlaw was releasing the pre pro after the bugs get worked out of the Sherwood. Also, was Sherwood going to make a pre pro, I thought the idea was Outlaw makes the pre pro and Sherwood makes a receiver.

That could all be right, I was just working off a glimmer of a memory of the connection between them. I thought Axiom was going to carry a pre/pro, but now that you mention it, I guess it was the AVR and Outlaw gets the pre/pro.

This time around Sherwood gets the receiver, and Outlaw gets the pre/pro. They're not going to step on each other's toes.

It isn't so much that Outlaw is waiting for the bugs to be worked out, it is that Sherwood just gets to ship their product first, before going into OEM production. But that will have the benefit for Outlaw that bugs could be found and fixed before their badged product ships.

If they keep the price right, a pre/pro with all these options paired with a Outlaw (or Axiom $$$$) amp could be a killer combination. Somehow, it never works out that way.

The 972 has been on their site for over a year, at least it was there everytime I went to check if they had any new news about it's release.

Outlaw has said (in their forum) that they expect the 997 to be available 60-90 days after the 972 is released, pending a trouble-free launch of the 972. They mentioned a "most optimistic" timeframe of June/July for the 997, which points to an April release of the 972.

I would think that the 972 will be much more than $1,200 since the 997 is expected to be $1,399. Why would anyone buy Outlaws 997 if a 972 were the same price or less? My guess is that the 972 will be closer to $2k than $1.5k. Since the Trinnov system is brand new to the AVR world and exclusive to the 972 (at the moment), Sherwood can charge basically whatever they want for it and people will buy it. Especially if the Trinnov is as good as it's rumored to be.

Hi Peter and all,

This just in: at Axiom, we're now assured of a "firm" mid-May release date for the Sherwood Newcastle R-972.

No word on the pricing so far.

Regards,

Alan

I could easily see the 972 being in the $2000-$2599 US range. And I think Outlaw is about right with their suggested price for the 997. If they are higher than that I think many would choose other offerings with high brand appeal.

Yep Jay your right, it has been on their site for about a year...

I think I will believe Alan.

The Audioholics article about the S/N R-972 stated the MSRP would be $1499US, however I have seen estimated prices on this unit anywhere from $1499 to $1799US. The R-872 has an MSRP of $1199US($1349 on the Axiom site) with far fewer features(no Trinnov) and less power than the 972 so I think the $1499US MSRP is a little low.

I am assuming when all is said and done, history shows us Canucks are looking at about 15 to 20% premium in Canadian dollars over the US MSRP. Problem is, because of the economy, retailers out there are offering pretty good deals on relatively comparable equipment. The question is, is the S/N 972 going to be worth those considerable extra dollars?

Charles(good-looking kids, by the way), there are some typos on the SN site and the 130 watt number is being misinterpreted a bit. A copy of the manual is here . The basic specs to meet the FTC regs(they don't quite make it without the distortion number)are two channels driven, 100 watts, 20Hz-20KHz, 8 ohms. The 130 watt supplementary number is with only one channel driven at 1KHz and with higher distortion(still not into audibility). Some magazines test like that at 1KHz, so the number might be useful from that standpoint, although it isn't acceptable under the regs for the basic rating.

As to the price, on one of the false starts about three months ago $1799 had been announced as the supposed official list, although that may also change.

Not really sure what your saying here, I agree with you?

Just that there have been sooo many false starts that to have Alan say they have a 'firm' date, is a good thing.

I agree, I was replying to the OP about how it has been on their website for a year.

*grabs popcorn, takes seat*

In case it is not clear, I am not Apostrophe_Bot.

I just have to live with the knowledge that I let the Bots out of the box, and we're never gonna be able to cram them back in there. (*sobs softly into popcorn*)

I think we need proof of that.

Soggy popcorn is no good. Watch those tears, J.P.

Wohoo, apostrophe bot.

Is there a bot for when "to" is used, when it's supposed to be "too"?

You're right, to and too should be addressed two!

+1

WOW. This is a forum, not a term paper. Take a breath, and back away from the keyboard.

I was just reading through the preliminary manual linked in this thread.

I was disappointed to see the A/V sync delay seems to only be able to be set manually. One of the feature of HDMI 1.3 is the ability for a video processing device to report to the device immediately upstream from it, how long it takes to handle the video, so the audio may be delayed by the correct amount.

This works around the problem that some processors take longer to scale/IVTC/etc. on lower resolution video than they need to just pass 1080p/24 through. Or they can be put into "game" mode to reduce the delay to next to nothing. During the HDMI negotiation which happens at any resolution change, the proper delay is communicated.

My Pioneer does support a fixed delay, but when connected to a processor/display which communicates its internal processing time an extra option shows up to enable auto-delay. One fixed delay time which has to be manually adjusted is not a good solution at all. If the R-972 doesn't support HDMI 1.3 Lip-sync now, I doubt it is going to be added in the future, and that is a shame.

That's really too bad if it turns out to be true.