Sherbourn PT-7030 Review

[Yamaki]

I recently purchased a Sherbourn PT-7030 pre-amp/processor and here are my first impressions.

It came double boxed, which most of us audio aficionados have come to appreciate, and the foam supports inside could definitely take more abuse than my unit did during the shipping process. The fabric wrap around the unit is a nice touch.

All of the accessories that come with the pre/pro are well packed and placed in such a manner so as not to bang into the unit's case. The only thing missing was a printed manual. However, there is one available to download in a .pdf format at the Sherbourn product website. I strongly suggest you do get one as it will come in very handy as you configure the unit.

Be ready for a bit of a workout lifting it from the box. While it is no where near as heavy as one of my monoblock amplifiers, it is hefty. I thought my DHC40.1 was big but this unit makes the Integra look downright puny. The PT-7030 front panel is clean looking, with a small array of brushed aluminum buttons and two knobs, one for power and the other for volume. Below the digital display panel are four small buttons used to select sound fields, options, turning On and Off the display and selecting zones. Directly below that that row and flanked by the knobs are eleven more buttons to select inputs, the USB plug-in, multi-channel selections and a mute button. They are all very small and, as with most components, not used in the normal course of viewing or listening.

My impression seeing it for the first time is it's a substantial piece with a look that is purposeful, almost business-like. No frills here. This thing was made for a purpose and anything else that does not contribute to that purpose is not included. More on that later...

Making the connections at the back is accomplished much the same as many pre/pro's as long as you understand how the input priorities work. The scheme here is fairly simple but a good read of the manual you just downloaded would be in order. The PT-7030 has an impressive array of connections to choose from. Some would say it looks a bit bewildering, however, all you really need to do is understand what your other components offer for interconnection choices. Today's components are in the unhappy position of having to accommodate a wide array of current and legacy connections that add to the "busy-ness" of the back panel and my suggestion would be to utilize the most efficient and highest value connections you have on the rest of your components.

With 6 HDMI inputs plus 2 outputs, all your connection needs of that type will be met. The feature set I most appreciate is the balanced XLR input and output suite. However, understand that one of the input priorities comes into play here. If you utilize the "Reference Stereo Input/CD" XLR inputs, it takes precedence over any audio that may accompany an HDMI input plugged in at HDMI In 1. That input can be used, say, if you wanted to listen to music over the XLR input and still watch TV with no sound on HDMI In 1. However, I'd suggest a call to the maker's tech line about the assignment scheme in that instance.

As mentioned, the PT-7030 can accommodate almost any connection need, including component video, single RCA video and audio inputs/outputs (such as is provided with the early Wii units and similar video games), four digital toslink and three digital coax inputs with one output of each type, I/R connections, three zone RCA inputs and outputs, six pairs of audio unbalanced inputs, a bank of 7.2 unbalanced inputs and outputs, an accessory unbalanced RCA audio out circuit (perfect for that headphone amplifier!), a 7.2 panel of XLR balanced outputs and six 12v trigger outputs. Bottom line is you can hook just about anything up to this unit and make it work.

Once all the connections were made, I powered up the unit for the first time. It boots fairly quickly with no drama or hesitation whatsoever. The front display is clear and easy to read, even for a pair of old eyes from a distance of 10 feet. One item of note...the display is cannot be dimmed. It's either On or Off. That's it. For those of you who own an XDA-1 DAC, the color of the display light will be very familiar. It does match up well with the rest of my Emotiva gear.

I thought it best to list the other components it will be playing with just to set the stage, so to speak, on where all the inputs and outputs are going.

- Two Emotiva XPA-1 monoblock amps
- One Emotiva UPA-200 2 channel amp
- One Emotiva UPA-1 monoblock amp
- An Emotiva XDA-1 DAC
- A SimAudio Moon 180 audio streamer
- An Oppo 93
- A standard Comcast cable box
- Two Panamax M5400-PM power centers
- A Samsung 64" plasma monitor
- Vienna Acoustics Mozart front, Theatro center & Waltz rear speakers
- An Emotiva XRef-12 subwoofer

So, I had a bit of gear to hook up but there were no problems in doing so.

Now, the first part of the setup, a bit more about the 12v trigger scheme and the menus will follow after I give my fingers some rest and relaxation.

[jdandy]

Michael.......Nice looking preamp/processor. The revew is good so far. Keep I going.

[Yamaki]

Thank you, Dan. You are too kind, sir.

On with it then...

After making up all the connections, I spent some time perusing the manual. I was curious about the remote control and how best to utilize it for the next part of the setup. Since one of the HDMI outputs goes right to the monitor, simply pressing the remote's "Set Up" button took me right to the menu.

My choices were:

Input setup
Video setup
Zone setup
Preferences
Speaker size
Level calibration
Speaker Distance
Crossovers
Sub Level
Equalizer

Also included is a selection called "System Status" which shows which zones are active, what the Record Out source is and the version numbers for your current firmware.

I started with Input setups. There are inputs to set up, which are reflected by your choice of HDMI or any other input you have selected for a component.

The manual indicates that you can customize the input level by 0.5dB increments but I left all input levels at 0 for now. If I find that one input (cable box, DVD, streamer, etc...) has a higher input volume I'll match the others to it and not have to do much, if any, volume adjustments as I switch sources.

Much like other processors and AVR's, you can title your input, identify the audio source/input, the video source/input and to set a default sound field for each input. The sound field settings are pretty versatile and a good range of types are present including Dolby PLII (my TV setting), Dolby 3 Stereo, 5 or 7 channel stereo, DTS Neo:6, and PCM 2 CH.

It is here in this menu that a couple of cool and handy features can be set. One is the "Triggers Active" feature in which you can customize which amp or combinations of amps will be triggered for this input.

For instance, when I select "TV", all triggers are active except #3, which turns the DAC On or Off. That trigger is active only when I select "Music". When I select "Music", the amps that trigger the center and surround channels are not used, the trigger for the DAC turns on and off I go into 2 channel land.

The other nice feature is that each input has a "Lip Sync" feature that allows you to add milliseconds of time to catch up with the video synch. All of my inputs appear to be fine at this time but I have yet to try streaming via the Oppo to see if it syncs OK. If not, I can always fix it.

One annoying feature on audio is that at times when a commercial ends and the designated program comes back on, there may be a second or two or three of silence before the processor catches up with the audio input. It's a known issue but I have it on good authority that Sherbourn is working on it.

The video setup allows you to set the lowest resolution, which is handy for older video games. I have one of the early Wii's with analog audio/video input. This feature allows me to upscale the Wii video to 720p which looks a lot better than the default Wii setting on a 65" monitor. Of course, an instant improvement in audio and video quality I could pass through would be a new game machine. In any event, this is a set it and forget it feature. You can also designate the HDMI audio path. Your choices are "To Amplifier" and "To TV". Since I run all my audio and video through the processor, this is a no brainer.

I set up the speaker size (all "Large") and since I ran a 7.2 balanced output to my subwoofer, selected "Yes" for this setting to insure that my sub gets a signal regardless of what input is on, be it DVD, cable or the music streamer.

I mentioned earlier that this is a no frills unit and this is confirmed by the fact that there is no automatic room calibration system included in the processor. So, I did an initial set of the levels by speaker using a borrowed SPL meter, input my speaker distances, then did a bit of listening. I did adjust one main speaker up by 2 dB's, then adjusted it down by 1 to level out the front. I still have some work to do for 7.1 channel source material and will do a bit of that tomorrow.

I did do some crossover settings for the front, center and rear speakers but expect I'll be doing more as I delve into the 7.1 source settings.

I have yet to touch the sub levels feature and probably won't as I can manually tune the levels at the subwoofer. I may try the MAX setting in the speaker size menu for the sub and go from there if I feel I need to make a change.

Lastly, but by no means least, is the Equalizer menu. I have not touched it and will be spending some time reading the manual on how this menu works. It will lead to more fine tuning of the audio output for all sources, however, I will focus mostly on the best mix for 2 channel music. It is handy to have a full parametric equalizer function where I can tweak any and all of my speakers to my liking. Another nice function is that you can set the equalizer to Global (one setting applies to all speakers) or you can set it to Individual where you can fine tune each speaker. I think this may come in handy for me given the architecture, shape and furnishings in my room.

While I still have a bit of work to do on the rest of the settings, I don't think I am going to mess with what I have now too much as I have planned an entire interconnect upgrade which is sure to change how things will sound.

Oh, and about how it sounds...well, more on that in the next installment.

[jdandy]

Michael.......The Sherbourn PT-7030 sounds like a very nice surround processor. I am impressed with the lip-sync feature, a truly useful adjustment when that issue crops up. Also noteworthy are the independently controlled triggers and the independent or grouped function for the parametric EQ. The feature set seems thorough.

[Yamaki]

Dan...The unit does lean more towards the type of component a custom installer would use vs. your general consumer's AVR.

I will be delving into the subwoofer set up a bit more today. It's a bit dense and boomy at this point.