Sherwood stereo receiver with phono input on sale at Radio Shack for $99.99

I do have the same model, it is just that mass market electronics have good and bad batches.

 

I have this Sherwood receiver hooked up to 4 speakers...2 Pioneer CS-620s from early 80s on the floor with 2 Pioneer BS21-LRs sitting on top. Sounds good. Only thing is when I'm playing records I get slight hum. Hooked turntable up to a Technics amp and hum is gone. Have fooled around with the wires and ground but still get this hum. Something faulty in receiver? I would probably buy another. It powers those 4 speakers fine . Definite drop-off in sound when all 4 are turned on with Technics amp. Not as powerful. Think I need a new Sherwood?

 

At Radio Shack yesterday, they had a Sherwood receiver going for $49. I notice Amazon has one for $49 as well.

Pretty good deal, if it even sounds half decent; add Dayton B652s and a DVD/CD player with RCA outs, total system cost ~$200 - you've got music!

 

I thought Radio Shack was for sale for $99.99?

 

Probably bankruptcy clearance.

 

Found my RX-4109 at an estate sale a couple years ago for $15. Works great, but it's been relegated to the bench in favor of the SA-600 I found a few months later.

 

I would steer clear of the Sherwood. Spend a few more dollars on an Onkyo TX-8020. The Sherwoods power ratings are worthless as well. If your budget is only $100, look for a used Yamaha or Onkyo 2 channel receiver on ebay, etc.

 

When I first separated after my 17 year marriage collapsed and I was very tight on funds, this Sherwood was an ideal way for me to hook up my low end Technics TT that had been in a box for 15 years or so and start playing my old records again. Little did I know then that I was going to enjoy the SQ of records so much, and participating in RSDs twice a year, and rediscovering albums and artists that I had long neglected.

Music in general (and vinyl in particular) has been a big part of my coping and healing these past two years. It is the SHF version of retail therapy!

 

This is a nice little unit, nothing wrong with it at all. Especially when more expensive amps don't have the phono inputs. Price is great.

 

Count me as another voice in support of the Sherwood RX-4109; it's currently the centerpiece of my ad hoc two-channel system and I love it. The price was right and the possibility of a turntable in the near future is a splendid option. If not for this thread, I wouldn't have stopped while browsing at my local Radio Shack and wouldn't be enjoying this little gem. Thanks again to everyone who commented favorably upon the item in question.

The value of this one has me considering the RX-4208 as an intermediate step.

 

Picked one up today for $49.99 as a backup. My main vintage beast of a receiver is overheating and awaiting repair and my lesser vintage receiver is being repaired. Hooked it up and is very serviceable. I suspect the phono section is a better preamp than many of the bargain basement stand-alone phono preamps that so many use.

 

Indeed you are right that the phono section is an excellent phono section compared to the bargain basement standalone phono preamps that many use and this receiver costs as much as the bargain basement phono preamps.

 

Mine likes to go to sleep after a few hours (even with speakers turned off, so nothing is overloading). Anybody else having this problem? May not be any more local units for me to exchange this with, sadly.

 

I bought one a few years back from Amazon for $99. I needed a solid stereo amp for my rear speakers with two inputs. I wouldn't have purchased if they had those crappy spring connectors that cheap and even mid priced receivers were famous for. I found the build quality to be excellent for the money and found the sound quality was quite good. It never gave me any issues. I preferred to purchase new rather than have to deal with some of the newer used (and often with issues) receivers on eBay.

This is a fine entry level stereo receiver for someone on a budget, phono input is a great extra, allows for buying a second hand turntable and a few trips to the thrift store for some previously owned vinyl, find a pair of speakers lying around and you have a really great budget analog two channel system for a couple of hundred dollars. Get an inexpensive Roku box and add digital streaming services. For a few bucks, buy a cord with RCA connectors on one end and a miniature phone plug on the other end and plug in your smartphone or digital player to the headphone jack and you have a practically free digital sourced stereo set up.

I retired the Sherwood recently and replaced it with a Sherborn 50-WPC stereo amp that is like an upgraded Emotiva Mini-X amp, having two inputs. (This same amp is currently being offered by Emotiva under the name Fusion Flex).

The reasons that I retired the Sherwood is that:

1) I like to have the volume set to a certain level on the power amp and then control the overall room volume level controlled by the attached main preamp. Because I split my preamps output three ways, the input volume available to the Sherwood is less than it would normally be, so I have to have the volume set higher than normal on the Sherwood. When I turn off the amp and turn it back on, the volume will not exceed a pre-set "safety level" and has to be adjusted manually. This is one of these unwanted consumer protection safety issues that can not be defeated. I liken it to newer washing machines that won't fill with water while the lid is open. I wish people would back off on all of these protections for my safety.

2) If the amp clips even for a very tiny fraction of a second, the protection circuit kicks in and instead of muting the audio for a second or so until the amp is no longer clipping, the amp shuts off completely and you have to start it up wait for the circuit to stabilize then adjust the volume again.

These are a couple of points worth mentioning but they should not prevent the average user on a budget from purchasing this product.

Something else to note. The amp features both A and B sets of speakers, where you can select either set of speakers or have both on at the same time, here is the issue. If you read the instruction manual carefully the amp is designed to run only one set of 8-ohm speakers or two sets of 16-ohm speakers, in the case of A+B. Since very few will be running 16-ohm speakers, best not to consider hooking up two sets of 8-ohm speakers unless you will only be running one set at a time.

This receiver is not designed to handle 4-ohm speakers!

 

For 50-100 bucks, the Sherwood name and a good phono stage, this is a no-brainer. I've had mine 3 years and no issues with it.