Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Why Sherwood?

I'm willing to bet that this offering is more a service to one-stop customers than an additional revenue stream. Receivers are by and large a commodity. That environment favours vendors with more efficeint business models and higher volumes.

I agree FredK. Its more of a service convenience to your customers than anything else. That's why you don't necessarily look at it entirely on competitive pricing but rather overall quality and just as important brand recognition to tie your product with. Its not about volume. Denon comes to mind as delivering in all areas when it comes to build quality, aesthetics (neutral black for matching components), up to date current features and market penetration/brand recognition.

Denon's mid-range stuff seems pretty reasonable, but I really dislike the inflated pricing of their higher-end offerings. I want them to offer a more realistically-priced preamp-processor that isn't already outdated.

JC:

I would agree with your reasons in why Axiom took on the line IF Sherwood Newcastle had something to sell! Regardless of the merits of the company, they have always been notoriously late with product introductions and the R972 AVR with the Trinnov Room Correction system is no exception. It was originally introduced at the CES show in the winter of 2008(albeit originally with a version of Audyssey) and it is still having some issues and from what I can see is still not ready yet for prime time. The product offerings in the Sherwood Newcastle line(what there is of it)are essentially "legacy" products.

There is something to be said for Outlaw, who several months ago, decided to cancel the "never released" 997 Pre-Pro since the platform on which it was based (the 972) was having too many delays and they couldn't introduce the 997 until at least 60 days after the release of the S/N AVR! Outlaw has decided to go it alone on this one.

In my view, until S/N can start introducing "current" products with competitive pricing, I suggest Axiom look for alternatives. There is just too much out there for Axiom customers to buy to power Axiom speakers.

The mid-range models with current feature sets and with pre-outs is exactly the segment you want. Denon is very good at keeping these mid-range models consistently up to date. I am not talking about becoming an authorized dealer for their entire product line (thats just silly) but rather an authorized dealer to be able sell 2-3 different models. They have much better brand recognition than SN as well. Its just an alternative perspective.

Fred,
You are absolutely right, this is a customer service affair only; not a revenue one. Axiom needs to find a auitable A/V receiver brand having this perspective in mind. It can be quite a challenge !

The "sound quality was superior" point can't be taken seriously, and the others mentioned would appear to also apply to several other manufacturers. Hopefully this is an area which will see changes in the near future.

John, I was waiting for you to jump all over that one. Wasn't sure if he meant the sound processing when he said that. If that's the case, I don't see where it has anything different/superior to the other brands out there.

But if he meant the sound of the amp itself... Well I'm pretty sure most of us are on the same page around here that one solid state amp doesn't sound inherantly better than the next solid state amp.

Sound quality isn't the issue. The biggest problem is that these Sherwood Newcastle products, the feature sets are outdated. I did find one intriguing specification, what is Dolby Headphone Layers 1,2,3?

Hi JohnK, Micah

You have to keep in mind and in perspective that these were the reasons why Newcastle was selected then. It has been several years already. A few years in the electronic universe is an eternity. Products, brands and needs change rapidly; today the decision would certainly be different and it might well be different once more in a few months.

At the time, Axiom judged that it was the best option available; today ? tomorrow ?