Sherwood NEWCASTLE R-865 BROCHURE

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RECEIVER
ROUNDUP

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indicate either the presence of a
heavier power supply or a heav­ier, more-sturdy chassis—ideally,
both. All things being equal, with
conventional amplifiers, you don’t
need expensive test gear to figure
out that a 50-pound model is likely
to play louder and cleaner than a
15-pound lightweight, even if both
are rated at 100 watts per channel.

By that standard, the R-865 is
the heavyweight in our foursome.
At 49.4 pounds, it weighs a good

8.4 pounds more than the runner­up, a margin large enough to be
significant. The others fall into a
fairly uniform range between 37.5
and 41 pounds. In this case, is the
extra weight due to inefficient
design, added pig iron, or extra
power-output capabilities? Read
the HT Labs box to see how this
unit compares with the competi­tion on the test bench.

The R-865 also offers the most
complete selection of Dolby

RECEIVER ROUNDUP

Sherwood Newcastle R-865

from the

test bench

The heavyweight. BY MARK FLEISCHMANN

The most reliable guide to

power ratings isn’t the specs pro­vided by the manufacturers but the
measurements made by our techni­cal editor. He follows the mandates
of the Federal Trade Commission
in measuring power output and
distortion with all channels con­tinuously driven (along with a less­demanding two-channel spec).
When objective third-party mea­surements aren’t available, here’s a
quick-and-dirty means of sorting
high-power receivers from the
junk: Just feel the weight. Aside
from the nefarious inclusion of use­less lead weights, more pounds

processing modes in the group.
That includes not only Dolby EX
and Pro Logic II but also Pro
Logic IIx, Virtual Speaker, and
Headphone. The front panel’s
fetching shade of blue-gray makes
it quite handsome. It stands up to
close examination—of the four,
Sherwood’s fit and finish are the
best. The front panel has a row of
buttons above the flip-down door
that allow you to select video or
audio inputs and manipulate sur­round modes. Of course, you can
always use the jog dial or remote
to do these things, but Sherwood
is the only manufacturer to pro­vide all three options. When I
step up to the rack to load a disc,
I like to select the input and sur­round mode from the receiver’s
front panel, so the Sherwood
made my life a bit easier. Its
remote has the best set of naviga­tion keys, with large, blue trian­gles that are easy to find (even by

The R-865’s heavy construc­tion and pure, detailed,
unlabored sound may be
enough to overcome tradi­tional receiver ergonomics
for advanced users.

    

SHERWOOD NEWCASTLE R-865

R-865, $1,499

Sherwood America, [phone], www.sherwoodusa.com

Dealer Locator Code SHR

General information

> The R-865 is the

heavyweight champ of
this roundup

> The gray-blue front

panel has a distinctive
appearance

> Sherwood delivers a

whole lotta receiver for
the price, but competing
products have raised
the bar by adding auto­mated features that are
absent here

> Component-output

conversion and DPLIIx
are pluses

> At this price, we now

expect auto setup and
room EQ

> The airy, detailed

highs court compari­son with high-end two­channel products

> Lots of clean power

for full-range speakers

> This is a traditional

receiver, and tradi­tional receivers are a
pain to use

> The front-panel con-

trols are well thought out

Build Quality Value Features Performance Ergonomics





OVERALL RATING

The backlit remote
has an LCD and an easy-to­locate navigational key­pad with big, blue buttons.

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