Excellent sound processing,excellent preamp section, adjustable subwoofer levels, good remote, good clean power for ht.

Beware of buying refurbished electronics from ubid. The unit came with distorted rear channels due to a crack on the daughterboard. This unit was repaired below spec nd had to be repaired as soon as I got it. Good luck tryoing to talk to anyone at ubid. They deliberately set up their business that way. I actually don't have a problem with their high shipping and handling charges. Yes they are high but from a business perspective it guarantees their profit just as long as the product moves. And if you buy non-refurbished stuff such as a pair of BIC speakers and Dahlquist sub, you actually get good equipment at a good price. Just stay away from their refurbished offerings because they probably buy units and have some third party company repair it for a fraction of the cost. As for the receiver's weakness, it would be unfair to judge based on lack of s-video and upgradability, or scarcity of digital inputs because this was on the market in 1997.

I bought this unit solely for home theater. This unit was to go into my addition that has yet been biult. I ended up replacing my Onkyo 474 entry level receiver with this unit. I have listened to B&K and Proceed seperates at some higher end audio stores so I know what hi-end products in this category sound like. I have also listened to many consumer grade audio products through numerous visits to places like J&R, Circuit City, Best Buy, and blah blah blah. This product seems to fit somewher in between the hi-end of cosumer stores and the low end of mid-hi end stores. I can never justify to myself for spending hi-end money for a home theater only system. I much prefer to listen to music. For music, I actually prefer setups designed only for music, because it is so difficult to come up with a system that does both superbly although B&K's front/rear stereo is something to reckon with. My home theater system is in the lower level and in an excellent listening room. The R925 dual Motorola 24 bit processing really shines above the Onkyo 474's processing. Perhaps it is unfair to judge an entry level receiver to a company's elite line. The dynamics of the sound also changed dramatically. The cinema bass adds the bit of extra thunder that enhances the feel of the ultra low rumble and is actually a good feature. I don't understand past reviews of users who complain about the algorithym of the volume control. If the unit reaches the loudness level with no listenable distortion that is all that matters. Not what the dial says. The unit is pretty well made as noted by its weight and quality cvomponents. The pre-amp and amp are clean. when you turn the unit up full volume with no input attached, you can hear nary a hiss. The seperation of the channels is incredible. The pre-amp and processing portions can rival some of the hi-end equipment. The amp is pretty good but not great. This is more evidenced when you listen to music without subs. It seems like it was designed for ht and music secondary, because good ht requires a sub where as music with good music speakers do not usually. Remember when you didn't need a subwoofer for music and the bass was still full. i guess they don't design speakers that way anymore unless you you buy hi-end.
Front speakers-BIC 736 -Best buy
Center speaker-DCM somethind to be replaced by BIC 62clr-read consumer as well as professional reviews, absolutely the best cc you can buy for the money.
Sub Dahlquist ubid 12" special. Not spectacular but does the job cleanly.
Rears-Polk M3II's actually I prefer full range for dd ; will change in future
DVD player Toshiba SD4109- very good as DVD player but not designed as a cd player although it plays HDCDs

Similar Products Used:

Onkyo, B&K, Proceed, Yamaha

Great stereo sound, very good multi-channel

no dts, no s-video inputs

Great two-channel sound. The 100W/channel amps really have the headroom to kick the bass out. This receiver makes the mids and highs very clean on a pair of Dahlquist DQ-28s (which is VERY hard to do). The soundstage and dynamics were surprising. The AC-3 sound was also very good.

I would recommend this receiver to anyone.

Now the down side, which has nothing to do with the manufacturer. I bought this product from UBID as a refurb. UBID advertised it with a 3 year warranty from Newcastle.

About a month ago the audio started cutting out while watching a DVD. Apparently any voltage spike in the household electricity caused this to happen.

I contacted UBID about this. (Call 888-900-8243 for help.) They realized they made a mistake with the warranty. It was really 3 months through them. They offered to refund my purchase price and shipping costs, including the return shipping. Unfortunately, I'm sending it back. Too bad.

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha 5230

Great sound, modest cost

Non-Sherwood remote, some questionable ergonomics

This is my first AV receiver, and it's a fine unit. I had spent years listening to "audiophile" 2-channel music, and so I was surprised that anything this cheap could sound musical. Surround sound still can't touch a good stereo setup, due to various limitations at this time, but dollar-for-dollar, mass-fi is the way to go. Among big-name receivers I have heard, the only one which I would say is comparable or better than the Newcastle is the equivalent Nakamichi. But thanks to Ubid, the Newcastle is much cheaper, hence a better deal. I've tried the 925 with Dynaudios in stereo mode, and it was a competent performer. My current AV setup includes some modified Linaeums and sub. The sound is very warm and liquid, especially for movies, which often have skewed tonality. I would still have to say a used NAD integrated is a better deal for 2-channel-only systems. But for AV, the 925 is hard to beat. I give 5 stars based on cost (and I paid much more than what people are paying these days on Ubid). My gripes include a remote which doesn't seem to be integrated that well with the system. There are things which I cannot figure out how to do through the remote. Also, the digital input scheme is confusing. There have been many times when I couldn't figure out why no sound was coming out. But since I am a closet audiophile, I have to say that these gripes are not substantial with respect to the fine sound.

Similar Products Used:

Harman-Kardon, Yamaha, Sony

Solid construction, good remote, great sound with music.

Loud distortion in front left channel.

This is an outstanding receiver, unfortunately I had to send it back due to distortion coming from the left front channel. When playing the reciever in pro-logic, it sounded extremely good, even with the distortion present. However, when playing in two channel stereo the distortion over powered the music. After discovering that the unit was defective, I reluctantly returned it to Ubid who, by the way were really good people to work with. I have a problem with having to return anything that I purchase by mail because it just seems to be so difficult, but Ubid made it easy and quick. I then purchased a Sherwood R-7106 from a dealer out here in California will review it when it gets here. If my unit did not have the defect, I would have given it 5 stars, no question. But because of the defect, I give it 5 stars for being a great value, and 4 stars overall.

Similar Products Used:

Harman Kardon AVR-20

Great 2 channel stereo and Dolby Digital Reproduction. Nice build quality. Lots of headroom.

Stupid "surround" modes. No on screen display, no s-video.

Another UBID purchase.
Nice receiver overall. Excellent 2 channel stereo and Dolby digital reproduction. Have set up with:
Polk RT55i & CS400
Dalhquist XII sub
Klipsch quintet surrounds
Newcastle 5-disc changer
Panasonic RV31 DVD player & VCR

At the $250 price range nothing can touch this receiver -period. Mine shipped with a THD of 0.03% measured at the factory. I've been really pleased with the sound reproduction of this unit. Only after listening to a Denon 3801 (yes I know it's $1200) did I realize I could do better.

One thing that bugs me on this receiver is lack of 5-channel stereo. Purists may kill me for saying that, but I would take good 5 channel music reproduction over those stupid "church," "hall," etc. surround modes that just sound like your speakers got dumped in a bucket of water.

Final conclusion....if you h/t novice or an audio enthusiat just starting out and would like to save around $500 on a very good receiver this is for you. Buy it, use it for 2 years then sell it on ebay and trade up. If you are looking for the best possible commercial h/w now it's past it's prime.
5 on the value - nothing can touch it.
4 on the overall there are better receivers. (but at a huge $$$ increase)

Similar Products Used:

H/K, Denon, Sony

Price And Quality

No DTS, No upgrade inputs

I was hesistant to buy this reciever, but at $267 from Ubid I figured I should give it a shot. I had a Sherwood 6090, total piece of junk (it was gift) that was and thought that all Sherwood products would be of the same quality. Was I wrong, this thing has plenty of power and the Dobly Digital is absolutely superb! Add to that the price this was an excellent value!

Similar Products Used:

Sherwood 6090

great value, clean sound, good remote

no DTS, no S-video inputs, no on-screen setup

I got the R-925 on sale at 800.com and it's
turned out to be a great value. It sounds
terrific through my NHT's whether playing
CD's or DVD's off my Sony. I'd recommend
it to anybody who wants a good price on
a quality receiver and doesn't mind not
having DTS or S-video inputs. Don't be
misled by the power ratings, though...
try to listen to it in person before
making your final decision. Either
way you shouldn't be disappointed.
I don't know about the regular
Sherwood products, but Sherwood
is making a great comeback with
its superb Newcastle line. Yay!

Similar Products Used:

Sony, HK

nice sounds

NO DTS
NO S-VIDEO

I love this receiver so much. I used it about 5 months. The sound for movie really good and THE MUSICALITY OF THIS RECIEVER IN STEREO MODE IS THE BEST I HAVE HEARD.Built quality is great and the remote is great though it takes a while to get used to. I think that Sherwood has done a great job and this deserves a five rating .

BUILD QUALITY
PRICE
CLEAN SOUND
FEATURES

NO DTS
NO S-VIDEO

I HAD BEEN AUDITIONING SEVERAL RECEIVERS IN THE $900 TO $1100 RANGE FOR THE LAST SEVERAL MONTHS AND THE NEWCASTLE R-925 WAS ONE OF MY FINAL CHOICES THAT I HAD IN MIND TO BUY. THE SONY 555ES, ONKYO 777 AND MARANTZ 780 WERE AMONG THE ONES I LISTENED TO. TO BE HONEST I LIKED THEM ALL.

THEN I SAW THE NEWCASTLE R-925 ON UBID FOR AN UNBELIEVABLE PRICE. I ENDED UP GETTING THREE OF THEM FOR UNDER $900 INSTEAD OF ONE. MY DAD AND FATHER-IN-LAW ARE NOW PROUD OWNERS.

I COULD NOT BE ANY HAPPIER WITH THE PERFORMANCE OF THIS UNIT. IT'S BUILD QUALITY IS EXCELLENT THANKS TO THE BOYS AT INKEL. THERE IS PLENTY OF POWER AND VERY CLEAN SOUND IN BOTH TWO CHANNEL AND DOLBY DIGITAL.

I JUST WATCHED ENEMY OF THE STATE AND WITH MY CAMBRIDGE SOUNDWORKS HOME THEATER 5.1 SPEAKERS THE SOUND BLEW ME AWAY. MUSIC PERFORMANCE IS JUST AS GOOD, COVERING MARIAH CAREYS HIGHS TO THE BIG POUNDING DRUMS OF THE BIG BAND.

EVEN THE REMOTE IS SOMETHING SPECIAL. IT'S SO VERSATILE THAT I'M NOW USING IT INSTEAD OF MY ONE FOR ALL 8090 REMOTE THAT I LOVED. IT HAS MACRO KEYS AND IS EASY TO USE.

EVEN THOUGH THERE ARE NO S-VIDEO INPUTS, I FELT THAT IT ALSO HAD AN AMPLE ARRAY ON CONNECTIONS. TO MAKE UP FOR THE LACK OF S-VIDEO, I BOUGHT A TERK SWITCHER FOR MY S-VIDEO SWITCHING FOR MY DVD PLAYER AND DSS. IT WORKS PRETTY WELL.

ALTOGETHER, WITH THE PRICE, BUILD QUALITY AND FEATURES I THINK THAT THIS IS AN EXCELLENT RECEIVER FOR THE MID-LEVEL CONSUMER. THERE IS ALWAYS GOING TO BE BETTER THINGS OUT THERE NO MATTER WHAT YOU BUY, BUT IT'S NO ALWAYS EASY TO FIND SUPER DEALS.

I MYSELF WAS A DOUBTER OF SHERWOOD UNTIL I ACTUALLY LISTENED TO IT. I HAD THE PERCEPTION ALOT OF PEOPLE HAVE, THAT THEY DON'T MAKE QUALITY PRODUCTS. I AM NOW A BELIEVER AND WOULD RECOMEND THIS TO ANYONE EVEN AT THE HIGHER PRICE TAG. IF YOU'RE LUCKY MAYBE YOU CAN GET ONE FOR A STEAL LIKE I DID ON UBID.

WITH CHRISTMAS NEAR, HAPPY SHOPPING TO ALL!!

OH, I ALMOST FORGOT THIS RECEIVER GETS AN EASY 5 STARS FOR PERFORMANCE AND VALUE.

Price
very clean and clear sound

I've yet to find any weaknesses

I must be another one of the lucky ones that picked one of these from uBid. I can hardly belive that i was able to get such a good receiver for so little price. The sound that the 925 puts out is extreamly clear and compleatly blew my old Awia away. I've only cranked the thing up all the way a couple time, but the sound was crsip all the way up, but there is no way I could listen to it at more than half volume on regularly. Overall i think this receiver can not be beat as a top notch "mid-fi" receiver.

Similar Products Used:

Old Awia