Sherwood R-972 w/Trinnov Revisited
Devlon
Posts: 355
I have owned the Sherwood R-972 with Trinnov now for about a year, and I still keep discovering new things about it. I thought I would share a thing or two that might be of interest to us audiophile types, lol. In retrospect, there is no way a reviewer could have this processor for a short time to review it, and know very much about it, especially as it concerns Trinnov. Its really not their fault in a way. For one reason, the R-972's manual is not nearly as comprehensive, and explicative as it needs to be. There are things that one will discover the R-972/Trinnov does by accident, or by reading somewhere like in Curt Hoyts (from Trinnov) ongoing AVS articles for R-972 owners concerning Trinnov.....which incidentally, I'm surprised that this man, and Trinnov have enough interest in a supposedly discontinued product to keep writing and answering questions about it. Secondly, Audyssey is probably the room correction technology that most reviewers are familiar with, but this aint Audyssey. I doubt any knowledge of Audyssey will help them understand how Trinnov works in this processor. So, I believe there are many things not mentioned about Trinnov and the R-972 that would have been enlightening to people had reviewers known about them.
The one thing that I want to talk about here, and that I dont remember reading in any of the reviews on this unit, is how that 2 channel analog stereo works with Remastering, Pure Audio and Trinnov.
When using two channel RCA stereo L/R out from my old Philips CD-50 CD player into RCA L/R in on the Sherwood some magic can happen:
1) Remastering - Remastering is a feature that only works with 2 channel stereo. Ive tried both HDMI and analog, and it definitely works better with analog. When engaged, Remastering upsamples the source material by 2x. If you have a CD that is 16/44.1khz it will be remastered or upsampled to 24/88.2. If your source material is 88.2, it will be up-sampled to 176.4. Resolution maxs out at 24/192. The sound is pretty amazing with Remastering engaged. There is a noticeable improvement in sound. I would like to know if this feature is available on another processor.
2) Pure Audio - When engaged, it turns off all video circuitry and this supposedly enhances audio quality by eliminating any potential degradation of sound by having video processing circuitry on at the same time. This feature is not exclusive to the R-972. Ive read mixed reviews though on whether Pure Audio mode really affects the sound, but with the R-972 it is definitely unmistakable. This took the audio to another level. Having Remastering + Pure Audio on at the same is really something to hear. Flat sounding CDs got fatter in tone. More high frequency clarity. More defined bass. Better separation and localization of instruments.
3) Trinnov - Initially, I thought that it only worked using HDMI. But, Trinnov also works in 2 channel analog stereo as well! Not only can you apply a number of Trinnov presets to change to the EQ of your choice, but more importantly to me is that Trinnov takes over total bass management/EQ of your sub(s) as if you were running via HDMI, but again, this is 2 channel analog stereo via RCA ins Im talking about! The sound is already amazing with my 15 year old CD player. I cant imagine using an Oppo BDP-105s dedicated stereo outs with this setup. Im sure it would benothing short of amazing. But Remastering my redbook CD's from 16/44.1 to 24/88.2 + engaging Pure Audio +turning on Trinnov to the "Audiophile 1" setting and all this on in analog stereo is a combination that has an fantastic sound.
I dont know enough about Audyssey to know if it does any upsampling plus room correction in 2 channel stereo via RCA? Maybe someone could chime in about that. I would like to know. All I know is that now that I am spoiled by this 2 channel sonic nirvana. Does anyone know if Audyssey has a feature like this?
The one thing that I want to talk about here, and that I dont remember reading in any of the reviews on this unit, is how that 2 channel analog stereo works with Remastering, Pure Audio and Trinnov.
When using two channel RCA stereo L/R out from my old Philips CD-50 CD player into RCA L/R in on the Sherwood some magic can happen:
1) Remastering - Remastering is a feature that only works with 2 channel stereo. Ive tried both HDMI and analog, and it definitely works better with analog. When engaged, Remastering upsamples the source material by 2x. If you have a CD that is 16/44.1khz it will be remastered or upsampled to 24/88.2. If your source material is 88.2, it will be up-sampled to 176.4. Resolution maxs out at 24/192. The sound is pretty amazing with Remastering engaged. There is a noticeable improvement in sound. I would like to know if this feature is available on another processor.
2) Pure Audio - When engaged, it turns off all video circuitry and this supposedly enhances audio quality by eliminating any potential degradation of sound by having video processing circuitry on at the same time. This feature is not exclusive to the R-972. Ive read mixed reviews though on whether Pure Audio mode really affects the sound, but with the R-972 it is definitely unmistakable. This took the audio to another level. Having Remastering + Pure Audio on at the same is really something to hear. Flat sounding CDs got fatter in tone. More high frequency clarity. More defined bass. Better separation and localization of instruments.
3) Trinnov - Initially, I thought that it only worked using HDMI. But, Trinnov also works in 2 channel analog stereo as well! Not only can you apply a number of Trinnov presets to change to the EQ of your choice, but more importantly to me is that Trinnov takes over total bass management/EQ of your sub(s) as if you were running via HDMI, but again, this is 2 channel analog stereo via RCA ins Im talking about! The sound is already amazing with my 15 year old CD player. I cant imagine using an Oppo BDP-105s dedicated stereo outs with this setup. Im sure it would benothing short of amazing. But Remastering my redbook CD's from 16/44.1 to 24/88.2 + engaging Pure Audio +turning on Trinnov to the "Audiophile 1" setting and all this on in analog stereo is a combination that has an fantastic sound.
I dont know enough about Audyssey to know if it does any upsampling plus room correction in 2 channel stereo via RCA? Maybe someone could chime in about that. I would like to know. All I know is that now that I am spoiled by this 2 channel sonic nirvana. Does anyone know if Audyssey has a feature like this?
Living Room: HK AVR 354 as pre/pro, 2 x Polk Audio Micropro 4000, Adcom GFA-7500, 2 x Mirage OMD-15
2 x Mirage OMD-5, 1 x Mirage OMD-C1, APC H15, Sony S790, Philips 52" LCD, Beogram 3000, FAT (Firestone Audio Tobby DAC), Harmony One
Den: Sherwood R-972,as pre/pro, 2 x Velodyne SPL-1000R, 3 x Crown Drivecore XLS1500, 2 x Polk Audio Lsi9
1 x Polk Audio Lsic, 2 x Polk Audio Lsifx, Sony S790, APC H15, Dspeaker Dual Core 2.0, W4S DAC 2, Keces DA-151
2 x Mirage OMD-5, 1 x Mirage OMD-C1, APC H15, Sony S790, Philips 52" LCD, Beogram 3000, FAT (Firestone Audio Tobby DAC), Harmony One
Den: Sherwood R-972,as pre/pro, 2 x Velodyne SPL-1000R, 3 x Crown Drivecore XLS1500, 2 x Polk Audio Lsi9
1 x Polk Audio Lsic, 2 x Polk Audio Lsifx, Sony S790, APC H15, Dspeaker Dual Core 2.0, W4S DAC 2, Keces DA-151