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Sherbourn sr-8100 A/V receiver

3K views 8 replies 6 participants last post by  mlcarson 
#1 ·
I'm in the market for a new midrange receiver with stress on sound quality. I recently came across the Sherbourn sr-8100. Although it doesn't have all the inputs I would like and lacks the features of most of today's popular midrange receivers I've read that the sound quality rivals that of higher end recievers, which is a big plus. Does anyone have any experience with this receiver or any thoughts? Thanks
 
#2 ·
I just purchased one today. I plan on using it with an HTPC and a Dish receiver. My thoughts on it were that it got rid of a lot of the connectivity features that I didn't need and concentrated on what a receiver is meant to do. I'm also hoping that there's less to go wrong since the receivers for the past couple years have had a lot of reliability problems. It has a 5-yr warranty which is longer than any other receiver I was looking at in case it does develop problems. I like the low profile form factor and like it's current price of $549.


I was considering the Denon X1000 (5.1) and X2000 (7.1) before the Sherbourn but think I got better value with the SR-8100.
 
#3 ·
I purchased one last week too. The sound quality is great and is a step up from my prior HTIB receiver. I have it in an apartment set up and use only 50% volume and is plenty loud for my needs. Sound quality is great even at low volumes. It definitely gives my Arx A5s justice. I'm happy about my upgrade and even got compliments from my wife about the SQ.
 
#4 ·
I've had mine for a few weeks now. This is THE buy @ $549! It has the sound quality of much more expensive AVR's without all the BS that comes with them. If you want internet, USB and 50 different surround formats, then this is not your receiver. If you care about sound quality first and can appreciate a more minimalist approach to your needs, then this is the one to get. I haven't used any legacy ports for a few years now so not having many is no problem for me. Using only HDMI fills my needs. I also use Apple TV so I can stream anything I want to. What's nice is the two zone outs. The 2nd zone has a separate DAC so you can sent another digital signal to that zone out that is independent from the main channel. Both zones will output the HDMI audio on the main channel. I know a lot of AVR's can only use an analog input for this. I love the auto calibration set-up that the 8100 has. You also have 11 bands of parametric EQ on each of the 5 surround channels and 3 bands for the sub. I was able to fine tune the auto calibration even more with my RTA and calibrated mic. It also has 3 internal cooling fans in case it gets really hot. Mine only gets moderately warm during use. The 80 watt rating is VERY conservative. It has much more headroom and cleaner sound than the higher power rated Yamaha receiver it replaced. You also can't beat the 5 year warranty.
 
#5 ·
SR8100 Troubles

I haven't seen a lot of feedback on this receiver so I'm going to add my 2 cents. I'm about to send mine back for service for a second time in less than a year. The first time was for something simple. The unit arrived with the IR sensor out of place so this resulted in remote control operations to be within 5 feet to work which was totally unacceptable. I was advised to not open the unit to try a self-repair and to just send it back which I did. Shipping 34 lbs of equipment cross country isn't exactly cheap though. You also much ship back using the original packaging or they'll reject the return -- I kept mine but I suspect a lot of people wouldn't so would have no warranty.

Today my unit stopped powering up reliably. It would not come out of standby mode without repeated attempts (like 5 minutes worth). Tech Support actually had me open the unit up to check for blown fuses on the power module which I found strange since they didn't want me to open it for a simple IR sensor positioning issue. It wasn't the fuses. It sounds like a capacitor issue to me but I'm not an electronics expert so I guess it could be anything. One of the reasons I purchased this unit was the limited features set (it had what I needed and would use but not so much to make it overly complex and failure prone) and a strong warranty. They are honoring the warranty which is good but 2 returns within a year isn't high reliability.

The unit functions as advertised when it's working. I've got two little issues with it. One of them is that because it's not as popular as some of the other receivers -- my Tivo and Dish receiver remotes didn't have codes for it on their remotes. The other I think has to do with the Audio Return Channel feature. I can use my other remotes to control the amplifier volume via the TV volume control but only if I turn on the TV before the SR8100 is turned on. One of the features I like is the bypass mode so I don't have to have the receiver and my speaker system on all of the time for things like the news. I typically only use the system for home theater type stuff rather than normal TV viewing which is why I'm kind of surprised a lightly used system has already had a power supply issue.
 
#6 ·
I would look at the Emotiva Fusion 8100 as it's the successor to the Sherbourn which Emotiva bought a couple years back. If you have measuring equipment and software like REW, the 8100 has a full PEQ which can yield great results. It also has very good power capable of driving speakers with harder loads. All that said, I would still look at Denon and Yamaha as they make great receivers in this price range so long as your speakers aren't difficult to drive.
 
#8 ·
If your'e asking if that's right, it is. The unit spent most of its life in bypass mode except for the home theater movie stuff. No idea what prompted the issues it's now having. It was on a surge protector and there weren't any storms or anything between when it worked and when it didn't.
 
#9 ·
Resurrecting this thread from the dead just to indicate that I've had yet another power supply issue on this apparently days after the warranty ended. It's actually been in it's original box for at least a year (probably two) because I was in a rental unit and just moved into a new house again where I could actually use it. It was working when it was packed away but now the power supply is autodetecting 220V rather than 110V so is trying to run on the wrong voltage. I sent an email to Emotiva and just got a response exactly 1 month after I first sent it telling me that I missed the warranty window by a few days and that they no longer service out-of-warranty Sherbourn gear. They're just referring me to a third party repair shop or a trade-in value of a whopping $120.

This product has been quite the lemon.
 
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