Home Theater Forum and Systems banner

Sherwood/Newcastle R-972 Official Thread

230K views 950 replies 79 participants last post by  Linkage2010 
#1 · (Edited)
Well I got my R-972 today from accessories4less (that shipped to me from Florida to Edmonton Canada in just 2 days!) and had an hour to hook it up and play with it just a little.
First impressions are is that it was probably one of the best investments I could have made :)

Out of the box this receiver is huge! the weight is about 45lbs although Ive red conflicting reports that it weighs as much as 60lbs. No matter how you look at it its a beast for size and covers the top shelf of my AV rack completely and its very tall for a receiver.
I hooked all my gear up to it and the main speakers (I plan only using this as a two channel setup) I then powered it up and it came to life without any issues (First sigh of releaf given the distance it traveled). Without even having time to do any of the settings or even running Trinnov I played my iPod and could not believe the clarity of the sound, It brought my Missions to life it seems. they were clean and like my EV sentrys downstairs sounded much more dynamic and the separation was outstanding!

Im going to spend some more time playing tomorrow but for now I am thrilled by what its done even without any room eq applied :T

To check the version of your R-972 firmware:
hold Display and Enter/Memo

To reset the R-972 to factory settings:
Once in Standby Mode, press and hold down the STANDBY & MEMO/ENTER buttons simultaneously for at least 3 seconds. This will reset the unit and it will turn on automatically. If the reset was successful, you should notice that the receiver powers up at 87.5 FM . If not, repeat the reset process.

Information on installing the bass boost Hex files here
 
See less See more
#105 ·
Jim,
That is a new one for me and I use Electrostats which are pretty unconventional. I will try to find out more about this and hopefully someone else here might have come across this.
J
 
#106 · (Edited)
More to the story:

I use DT BP 2002 bipolar speakers. A call to Sherwood support (Jin) asked if I used Bi-polar speakers. Apparently there have been some problems with this type of speaker. I moved a piece of wifey's furniture and swapped speakers (subs now face inward), and finally managed to get a setup. My support call also revealed a possible firmware problem where you cannot manually delete the sub.
Tried several more times to get a setup, and now BOTH fronts seem to be missing. Jin said to keep moving the cal mic around and see what happens. He says he'll be back to me next week after the factory further investigates the sub issue. That issue is neither here nor there for me, but will keep trying to obtain another Trinnov calibration. At least I have ONE now.

How do you "lock" the setups so they can't be deleted?

Jim
 
#107 ·
Hello,
The Calibrations are locked in after doing them and you have access to 3 different ones. Each one is locked in unless you run another calibration. As for Firmware, if you got yours from AC4L, it has the 1.47 Firmware which is the latest.
 
#108 · (Edited)
Hello,
The Calibrations are locked in after doing them and you have access to 3 different ones. Each one is locked in unless you run another calibration. As for Firmware, if you got yours from AC4L, it has the 1.47 Firmware which is the latest.
OK, thanks. On the firmware, I think Jin meant that if the problem with the subwoofer item is confirmed, they will issue another update.

Update: I moved the Trinnov mic forward a couple feet and managed to get another good calibration. So, apparently either Trinnov doesn't like my room OR the Def Tech bi-polars are causing a problem. I read somewhere that someone has Def Tech BP 3000 fronts that have worked OK.

Jim
 
#109 ·
After several more hours of playing around with the Trinnov calibration system, it now appears now that my right front speaker was in some sort of twilight zone, where Trinnov could not "see" it correctly. After trying several other mic placements, I was able to get a distance recognition for that speaker, but both angle settings were zilch. So, I tried "toeing in" (ratherly severely @ 30 degrees) the right front speaker, and that seemed to do it! Getting good readings now. So, if any of you run into this sort of problem, you might try fooling with speaker placement as a solution.

I'm really impressed with this receiver and happy I don't have a faulty unit.

Jim
 
#111 ·
Thanks for the tip Jim - glad to hear you got it figured out! :T
Ok finally had time to get REW to work correctly, ended up being an incorrect cable I was using.

Red: Without Trinnov

Green: With Trinnov



My living room has hardwood floors and my RPTV vibrates like crazy during the lower frequencies so Im sure that does not help with the readings but you can see it smooths out the room response a bit.

You can see where the Galaxy CM140 really starts to loose its accuracy above 6Khz

Below is the graph with the subwoofer. Trinnov seems to like it at this level, It sounds really good to me.



Now I need to play with the Hex files as the graph above is with the +6db file thats probably why there is such a big boost on the sub. Frankly I like it because I tend to listen to my music at lower levels and the boost helps it still sound full.
Wow - that looks pretty good Tony - thanks for taking the time to post your results. :T
 
#110 · (Edited)
Ok finally had time to get REW to work correctly, ended up being an incorrect cable I was using.

Red: Without Trinnov

Green: With Trinnov



My living room has hardwood floors and my RPTV vibrates like crazy during the lower frequencies so Im sure that does not help with the readings but you can see it smooths out the room response a bit.

You can see where the Galaxy CM140 really starts to loose its accuracy above 6Khz

Below is the graph with the subwoofer. Trinnov seems to like it at this level, It sounds really good to me.



Now I need to play with the Hex files as the graph above is with the +6db file thats probably why there is such a big boost on the sub. Frankly I like it because I tend to listen to my music at lower levels and the boost helps it still sound full.

I also got rid of my lousy Yamaha sub and moved the extra A/D/S sub I had from the theater room for the time being as it is way better quality.
 
#112 ·
Thanks Joe, I was getting really frustrated with the strange readings I was getting so I tried it on my desktop and got the exact same bad readings so I knew it had to be my cables.
Its interesting to see how close to flat it got the readings after running Trinnov. That null at 50Hz (without sub) must be the correction its applying to the sub because it disappears once the sub is turned on.
 
#116 ·
I think that Trinnov licensing is very costly, the 972 may very well be the only receiver to ever use it.
 
#117 ·
#118 ·
I find this statement interesting:

Multiple subs:
Trinnov finds the acoustical center, level, and response of multiple subs and compensates for that. Multiple subs are typically used to smooth out room modes. If you use multiple subs, start with equal level on each. Room mode nulls can result in very dramatic level swings as high up as 200Hz. As a result, it can be very effective to counteract the modes from a main large sub with a smaller sub of limited capacity ideally placed, set to a lower level. We use measurements to find this; you can do it by listening.

Kind of goes against what some have been saying that using the same subs in a room not different ones.
 
#132 ·
I find this statement interesting:

Multiple subs:
Trinnov finds the acoustical center, level, and response of multiple subs and compensates for that. Multiple subs are typically used to smooth out room modes. If you use multiple subs, start with equal level on each. Room mode nulls can result in very dramatic level swings as high up as 200Hz. As a result, it can be very effective to counteract the modes from a main large sub with a smaller sub of limited capacity ideally placed, set to a lower level. We use measurements to find this; you can do it by listening.

Kind of goes against what some have been saying that using the same subs in a room not different ones.[/QUOTE


A past girlfriend had terrible bass modal problems in her room. She had a JBL Sub 10 that had a 10" woofer. It was rear ported and only about 150W at best. Bass sounded pretty bad no matter where you put the sub. I brought over one of my Polk Micropro 4000's: 12" speaker, 1200w, 12x12 passive radiator on the bottom, and used a Y cable to hook up both subs. I re-ran her room eq on her HK254. The result was nothing short dramatic....very impressive for a square room with hardwood floors. I think there might be something in using subs of different sizes. Using two different subs where speaker cones are of different sizes, materials, having different transient response times may actually have some superior benefit in taming a room. Would be worth investigating I think.
 
#119 ·
This great deal from our friends at Accessories4less almost got me to give up my Denon, until I saw the HT Labs bench test results. I've seen a lot of interesting conversation on the Trinnov Optimizer but not much about the rest of it. How does this unit handle say, 4 Ohms, 84dB (2.83V @ 1 Meter) speakers at reference levels?
 
#120 ·
Hi Mark, My Missions are 4ohm and 87db efficient and it handles them just fine without any heat issues. Ive run them loud (at least 80db) for an hour without issues. Personally I think the 972 is very under rated as far as it real power output.
 
#121 ·
Hello,
The 972, when Bench Tested, output over 100 Watts (>200 in 4 ohms) into 2 Channels and 68 Watts into 5/7 Channels due to a Current Limiter. Some Bench Tests do not make sense like the $3500 Denon AVR-4810 outputting 30 Watts into 7 Channels.

While the 972 does not have the most impressive Power Supply I have ever encountered (Denon AVR-5805 by a landslide), it is quite robust and the AVR weighs a touch over 40lbs. Considering the price and it having Preamp Outputs, all I can say is Trinnov was so intriguing that I was compelled to procure one.
With AC4L having a 30 Day Return Period, I do think it is worth the gamble of possible Return Shipping.
Cheers,
J
 
#122 ·
I hope someone else steps up with trinnov, It was very appealing but I'm said to say I'm returning my 972.
 
#123 ·
What is the reason your returning it if I may ask?
 
#124 ·
Hello,
From what I have read from several sources, it seems highly unlikely that another AVR is going to feature Trinnov. This is primarily due to the costs involved in implementation, Microphone, Memory and DSP being pushed to the max, cost of licencing, etc.. One of the Sources is almost definitely an upper level Representative from an AV Manufacturer who has always been bang on in terms of information going on a decade.

There is a reason that the only other Trinnov equipped Processor costs $13,000 and Trinnov has been out for years. I mention this as Audyssey was first only offered on high priced Processors and has since trickled down to a myriad of devices including some at very low price points.

That being said, I truly hope I am wrong about this. However, I needed another AVR/SSP like I needed a hole in my head and ended up with an R972 due to my personal belief that this will be the last Trinnov equipped device that does not cost a small fortune. And given that the 972 can now be had for $1200 off, it was just too good of a deal for me to pass up.

Without question, Trinnov has produced the best overall Room Correction I have ever experienced. I will say that the LFE sounds better with Audyssey XT32 added with SubEQ HT. However, XT32/SubEQ HT AVR's are $2000 minimum. And in truth even with it being on the market for several years, the 972 was an $1800 AVR, but at $600 the 972 still offers all the essentials for great HT experience.
Cheers,
JJ
 
#125 ·
I think Kal Rubinson puts it best "the R-972 suffers from some niggling operational foibles to which I found myself unable to adapt" I know I was taking a step back with this unit lacking many of the newer features which I was willing to accept. I'm really looking for minimalist functionality and superior sound/video quality.

Its quite possible that my unit is defective, but I continued to have issues with HDMI in my configuration causing video drop out after swapping out equipment and cables. I thought I had it licked but it returned. I have zero problems with the 3008. That is really the main issue as it's not compatible with my setup.

The video section had to be used in bypass, I feel it still comes up a little short, I have the 3008 in thx pass-thru mode and the video is slightly superior IMHO. I also couldn't deal with the audio delay. I'd rather live with the clicking as I'm quite the channel surfer. I set the display to dim and when you shut it of and power back on, it doesn't recall the previous dimmed setting. The remote is really embarrassing in its functionality, shouldn't really matter since I have logitech, I just can't believe they would put something out like that.

However, the trinnov really impressed me by granting me with a huge sweet spot. Even with the spatial options disabled I was able to get excellent imaging and great sound quality. The remapping is equally impressive and the speakers all sound on the same plane and vanished. It sounded most similar to THX mode where the listener is focused to the center of the sound image. I noticed the bass suffered when I enabled some of the remappings. I started working on correcting that as some of the dynamics have been flattened by the room eq modes. I even considered replacing my display I just couldn't justify it.

Overall there were just too many cons vs pro of having the trinnov to keep the unit. I'm just disappointed in the implementation. I really like being able to have a little more control over things. Even though the levels and delays distances were all spot on. It truly is quite impressive. I'm sure others will enjoy it as I only need one processor.
 
#126 ·
Please note that Kal's Review was published in May of 2010. That means he well might have written the Review months before even May 2010 due to needing to get the Magazine to be Published. In the ensuing 2 years, there were countless Firmware Updates that went a great deal towards addressing many of the initial issues. Regardless, if you are not happy with it, I can only hope your next AVR brings you a more positive experience.
 
#127 · (Edited)
Please note, I didn't purchase it based on an article or this forum. Your right, but the latest firmware 1.47 is dated 8/12/2010 so KR probably did write it just prior to that. But countless firmware updates? I doubt there were many from May 2010 to August 2010? I'm unhappy to find any info on updates from 2010 to 2012. My take on the 972 resurgence is the price. I don't know what all the hubbub is about with firmware updates or bug list fixes. Where is the documentation on them? I kind of feel I've been duped. I convinced myself into buying one since I've been following and wanting trinnov for so long. I was hoping it would be more polished of a unit, thats why I referenced his comment. I figured A4L might have a later revision on firmware from sherwood. It displayed as 1.47i, still has the same date 8/12/2010 as well as the other same revision sub micom so I really don't think that there is any difference. I don't mean to sound bitter or negative about this cause I'm not. Something seems fishy here though regarding the firmware. I was reluctant to report my sending it back, and I knew someone would ask why, but I'm real happy with the 3008. I've had that for over a year, so I'll keep that and hold out for something better. My intention was to only keep one unit, the 3008 just is more reliable and has better video performance for me so I based my decision on that. I just hope there is another unit with trinnov coming out soon. It has a lot of potential and should be in a avr-processor in the $500-$1500 price point. I feel it can definitely compete with the other room eq's out there and without a doubt I'd purchase one.
 
#128 ·
I too own a 3008 as well. Given you purchased the 972 not based on information here or an Article, where did you find information which made you decide to purchase one. I regret you feel duped, but with a 30 Day Return Policy, it is not like you have lost the principal. As I said in my last Post, I regret it did not work out for you. For many of us, the good outweighs the bad. Sorry you did not see it this way I suppose.
 
#129 ·
Also, the 3008 and 972 use the identical HQV Reon Video Processor.
 
#130 ·
The purchase was culminated from all the info gathered from many sources. I've known about trinnov for over 2 years. I've read all the articles on the 972 when they were first published. I tend to do a lot of research. The recent information alludes that the latest firmware was made available resolving issues. I haven't be able to find any sources regarding the details of the firmware updates. No one as provided that info. My point is the latest firmware still seems to be from 2010 and the unit is still not as polished as an $1800 AVR should be. Even at $599 It I wasn't impressed overall to keep it. I simply feel that if they could resolve a few minor issues in another update, this could be an amazing avr. However I"m doubtful any other updates will be made available.

I do agree that the unit has probably the best room eq I've experienced. I've setup and used all the versions of audyssey, mccac and ypao. The xt32 does still see to to the best job in the sub range. It is nice to see that trinnov does observer and equalize the sub output and it did a respectful job.

The unit also does apear to use a similar version of Reon however, the implementation is not the same as it did not perform nor look as good. It could be the specific revision of the chipset or again firmware. If it was truly identical and I did not have video issues, I would have kept the unit.

I'm not bashing this unit. It does have tremendous value and I hope it works out for everyone else. You asked why so, I'm just providing my perspective. Thats all. This unit is all about trinnov and I'm just disappointed that the reon in my 3008 works perfect and the 972 does not. Again it could be defective or could use some more refinement. Thats the bottom line and why the unit was returned. There is really nothing to debate about.
 
#522 ·
Video: Although I have been fortunate enough to have experienced the same video resolution going through the R-972 vs plugging my PS3 directly into my TV, I think this is why units like the Oppo BDP-103 are so important in that they are able to send video processing directly to your display and let your processor only decode audio.
 
#131 ·
Hello,
I certainly did not consider it bashing in terms of what you wrote. On the Thread where I disclosed that I purchased one, I talked about how the Remote was a disappointment for an $1800 AVR and other remarks.
Check out the "I Just Got a New Toy" Thread as it predates this Owners Thread. Also, I said this AVR was not for everyone as well.

As I stated a few Posts prior, I am sorry it did not work out for you and hope the next one is more to your liking. We both want and need users impressions. Good and bad. Please do not think you are being singled out due to deciding to return it. Rather, I was personally curious as to why you decided to return it as I feel given the savings the juice is worth the squeeze. That's all.
Cheers,
JJ
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top