Sherwood makes no secret that they make receivers and electronics for many other AV companies and, with this level of economies of scale, their own house brand of receivers are quite good, especially for the price. At $1,199, the Sherwood R-872 HDMI 1.3 receiver comes loaded to the gills with all of the coolest features any Blu-ray-boasting surround sound freak would ever want. Interested in HDMI switching? This $1,200 receiver has four HDMI inputs and one HDMI output. Want Dolby TrueHD and or DTS Master Audio pulsing through your 7.1 speakers system? The Sherwood R-872 can do them both, as well as just about every other legacy surround sound format you have on any shiny disc in your library. The internal DACs in the Sherwood can boost your audio to 24/192 resolutions. There is an internal Faroudja video processor that can scale some of your legacy video formats to higher resolutions, matching the native resolution of your HDTV.

High Points
• For a shade under $1,200, the idea that you can get this many cutting edge features in one component is just absurd. I guess there are advantages for Sherwood in making everyone else's products, because when you buy a receiver from them, you get everything and the kitchen sink for a very fair price.
• There are 24-bit 192 kHz in internal digital to analog converters on all channels to give you that audiophile sound when inputting a signal that needs it.
• The video up-conversion is better than you might expect from a $1,200 receiver and is likely much better than any scaling you get from your HDTV.

Low Points
• 100 watts per channel is pretty good for a receiver, but if you have a larger room or have a penchant for cranking up the volume for long listening sessions, you might want to consider either a larger receiver with bigger amps and/or adding a separate multi-channel amplifier to your rig.
• Four HDMI inputs just one year ago was state-of-the-art, but there are other receivers and AV preamps boasting more inputs today. It's very possible that, for a system with a Blu-ray player, some form of DVR connected via HDMI and maybe a game console or a legacy DVD player with HDMI, four HDMI 1.3 inputs is all you will ever need. You will have to make that call.

Conclusion
Sherwood's R-872 is a true sleeper. I can't imagine they could pack any more features into this receiver, but I likely failed to discuss three-quarters of what this impressive receiver can do. In a world with HD audio formats for movie surround tracks and 1080p video beaming through HDMI cables, the Sherwood R-872 is prepared to handle every format you might ever need with ease and grace. This is one hell of a receiver.