Customer Reviews

Sherwood RX-4109 Stereo Receiver (Black)

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

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Update (November 12, 2010): This receiver, except for electrical failures, has been on and functioning properly now for more than two years straight.
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I'm an old audiophile, dating back to when "MacIntosh" was not the name of a computer. It was the company name of the most prestigious of hi-fi components. What dismays me is that today's manufacturers of audio equipment (some of them well known brands) rely on the ignorance of the consumer when it comes to audio specifications; and they can get away with it because there no longer seems to be any standards for those specifications. For example, a manufacturer can claim that an inexpensive 15 watt amplifier puts out 500 watts, and that amplifier actually can accomplish that feat at "peak" output at one frequency with very high distortion. Match that amplifier up with very efficient speakers; and voila...you have harmonic cacophony now called a "boom box."

Enough of that....I was looking for an inexpensive, basic, but decent stereo receiver for one large room. Surround sound annoys me. (When you attend a live orchestral concert, the orchestra is in front of you.) After comparing many (some for almost twice the price), I decided on this Sherwood for less than $100. I was apprehensive that its low price might reflect its quality. I was wrong. It is solidly built. I am running acoustic suspension sealed cabinet speakers (no need for a separate bass woofer) that require 20 very clean watts each just to get any response out of them. This amplifier, turned up one third, drives them more than adequately with no discernable distortion...almost as good as my old top-of the line Marantz. What's more you can use this as a base amp by pressing a button on the front ("TON DIRECT"...somewhat cryptic) and disabling the tone controls so that the amp runs flat, allowing for a separate equalizer. (The manual isn't very good about explaining this. In fact, the manual isn't very good about explaining anything.)

Another thing...with 8 ohm speakers, this amp doesn't even get warm, so you can pile stuff on top of it (with a little space in between) without worry.

The FM tuner is fine enough. The AM tuner (at least at my location) is above average, which is unusual in even $400 receivers.

This receiver has a phono input for those who still listen to the pops, the static, and the warp distortion of vinyl. All the other inputs are at the same impedance, so you can hook up anything else to any input regardless of its label, i.e. your dvd player can be plugged into the "tape" input. Unfortunately, if you do so, "TAPE" will be displayed on the front fluorescent panel when you play your dvd.

Don't expect a lot of toots and whistles; but you can expect a good solid product with performance factor that far exceeds its modest cost.

Would I recommend this receiver to a friend? ...yes and no. Most of my friends do not know a thing about audio and believe everything they read...which doesn't say much about me and my choice of friends.
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UPDATE 3/26/2011 The Sherwood is still running strong.

UPDATE 11/2010 not that it matters, but still going strong... it's on 24x7

UPDATE JUNE 2009. What can I say, this unit runs almost continuously in the summer, I turn it off in the winter. It's running under a 6 ohm load which is really pushing it. I have 3 pairs of outdoor speakers with separate impedence matching volume controls, that sort of help with the impedence, and this thing has held up really well. If I crank the volume too high (like really loud) due to the low impedence it will go into protection, but that's not the fault of the unit, it's rated at 8 ohms.

So, in all this has been a great purchase.

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I have what appears to be the BESTBUY version of this receiver, the Insignia NS-R2000. It is identical in all respects, except for the name, and the remote control even works with the Sherwood. So, with that in mind, I replaced a Sherwood 4105 with this unit. I have 3 pairs of speakers connected to impedence matching transformer volume controls. 2 pair are 4 ohms and 1 pair is 8 ohms. The transformers are supposed to present an 8+ ohm impedence to the receiver.

With the 4105 the receiver would go into protection if I put the volume control on -50. I have now run the same speaker configuration with the 4109 for 18 hours and it has worked fine.

In most other respects, this is very similar to the 4105. Exceptions are that the 4109 has much better speaker binding posts and the remote control has bass and treble controls. The 4105 has satisfactory spring loaded speaker connectors and lacks the tone controls on the remote. The 4109 also has a Phono input.

I would say that all of the comments on the 4105 apply to this unit as well. I seems underpowered for a 100w/channel amp. But I am driving outdoor speakers and I don't want them to get very loud anyway.

For the money, this is an extremely good value. I am not sure how they do it. I have paid more money for earbud headphones. This unit was $70 after all the spiffs.

Oddly, this unit does not show up on the Sherwood website, either as a current or discontinued model.

It should be noted that all of the receivers I have looked at in this price range only support a minimum total load of 8 ohms.

This receiver is one of the bangs for the buck for any hi-fi enthusiast. For such a low price, you can get sound quality that rivals most home theater systems that cost much more money. Less is definitely more in this case. The discrete amplification really helped improve the sound quality of well mastered music media, and the radio signals are decent on stations that do not use lots of compression. The option to add 2 pairs of speakers is a plus so that you can use it in a smaller room or a larger room and the sound still feels like it surrounds you with the dynamics fully intact. The phono input is a must for me as I have a huge vintage vinyl collection, so that was a selling point for me. Since the sound quality and the build quality are both excellent, I don't end up having to upgrade to anything else.

I bought the Sherwood RX-4109 back in Dec 2007 to replace a 25 year old receiver. The Sherwood died some 22 days later (would not power up). The replacement failed yesterday (no sound). I have given up on Sherwood.

To its credit, I thought the receiver generated fairly good sound. But its overall design and user interface were clunky, and the FM tuner abysmal.


Bottom line: with two failed units within 18 months I cannot recommend the Sherwood despite its very attractive price.

The Sherwood 4109 receiver is not for the 'Home Theater', 'Audiophile' (although I consider myself one...) or 'Multi-channel' crowd. It is designed for those who want a good stereo receiver, for basic/moderate use, at a very low price. I can vouch for the performance of these units - I own three of them - all used for 'second/bedroom/office' systems. With one or two sets of small floor-standing or bookshelf speakers (only 6 - 8 ohms, no 4 ohm), this unit performs very well. Frequency response can be tailored to suit your speakers and taste - via tone controls. Good number of input options - decent remote - sleep timer, and a few other goodies... Overall, I can't say anything bad about these receivers. Compare them to my 'main' system, which cost me more than a really nice used Lexus...no...of course not..but for the money you can't buy a better budget stereo receiver. I have recommended, or given, several of these to friends, with no reports of any problems. Just use them as they are intended, and they will be just fine. A 'great buy' for the right application, in my opinion.

I bought this stereo receiver to replace a 30 year old Pioneer SA-530 Stereo amplifier. This amplifier had mixed reviews but I was in a bind and needed a stereo receiver and this is what I could quickly buy. I was worried it was going to be money down the drain, but so far it is wonderful. The first thing you notice when you get it out of the packaging is the fact that it looks very nice, and all the buttons are quite easy to use. Also an added bonus is that it has a speaker selector for a pair of A and B. This feature use to be standard but many modern receivers lack it. The FM receiver seemed fine but I don't use it I only tried it for a few mins, and the AM receiver I didn't even bother with but I am willing to bet it works fine though I don't care. I am also very happy that it has a Phono in many new receivers don't have this either. I live in a dorm however and don't have a record player here so I can not say how well it works. Now to the stuff I use and mostly LOVE. The CD input works great its plugged into a high end Pioneer CD player from the early 80's. The sound coming from the two is nothing short of mind blowing I am amazed at this price. I also have its hooked up to my xbox which sounds fine for movies and games. The thing I use most however is my external Hi-Fi audio card into the Sherwood's AUX input. Once again the sound is amazing. It's very crisp. This amp has all the power you could ask for it can deliver clear sound on its highest volume with full bass on. It is putting out peaks of well over 150 Watts without problem. To give this unit a worthy comparison, I have a Carver Cube at home hooked up to a Cambridge Audio pre-amp, and while the sound of this unit is not as good as that stereo, it does come close. Unless you need the best of the best this Amp will give you everything you need. Well worth the meager $100 price tag. This unit is sturdy and delivers high quality audio even at excessive volumes.

PS the remote works wonderfully and is very easy to use

Thank You and I hope this helps

I have nothing but good things to say about this receiver. It looks great and sounds great. I don't need surround sound, just something that plays through 4 speakers. The sound quality is great, the power is great and it has all of the basic features I was looking for like Bass and Treble. All for 89 bucks!

In my research, this appeared to be a somewhat upgraded cousin of the more common Sherwood RX1405. Their costs are generally about the same, and they're both 100W 2 speaker set amps, but this one appears to be easier to use, and very importantly, and rarely amomg modern budget recievers, includes phono ports and phono grounding. I got this in case I got a turntable without a preamp, and I ultimately did after being disappointed with the cheaper preamp loaded turntables. It has 4 audio inputs, labled tape, aux, cd and phono, so you can hook a few things into it (and outside of the phone ports, it's not picky about what's plugged into a given port, all that matters is what mode is displayed on its front display) and also has a pair of output jacks. Example, I have a turntable into the phono, cd player into the cd, and my PC into the aux ports, and might run my a tv into the tape jack. It comes with a remote that's well layed out (including bass/treble functions) and AM&FM antennas that do an ok job; its reception is kind of all-or-nothing. The sound is pretty nice (I have it hooked up to a set of Sony SS-B3000 Bookshelf Speakers with 8" Woofer (Pair) that at its prefered load of 8 ohms compliment it well) and its got enough oomph to really fill an 11x11' room at about 30% volume.

I have connected to a pair of Sony F6000 8ohms 200 watts(great) and subwoofer w3000 8ohms 200 watts(great) playing Sony SCD-CE595(OK) in my great room open to breatfast area and kitchen. It puts out so much power that over 40% volume is too loud but the sound is excellent and I'm glad I bought this product at such a great price.

I purchased the Sherwood and the Teac AG-790A so I can do an informed side by side comparison. The Teac is a good receiver with very good sonics and similar power output as the Sherwood. The Sherwood, however, is not as good sounding as the Teac and would disappoint you unless the speakers you are using are a fortuitous match with the unit. I love bargain equipment and am an electronics junkie so I kept the Sherwood rather than returned it. For the small difference in price, I suggest you buy the Teac.