Yeah yeah yeah I know.
Another friggin stereo post.
This little receiver was begging to be adopted.
The guy I got it from - Harry,
had listed and relisted it so many times,
and his prices fluctuated like the corner gas station.
When it dropped down to under 2-20's I had to bite.
The receiver was hooked up at his house and sounded crispy enough for my ears.
His cell picture rivaled my blurry droid pictures,
so I was pleasantly surprised with the condition.
The design is really simple.
Not sure if this is because it was made in the US
or if it was just an early solid state low budget model.
Of course I had to open it up as soon as I got home.
This is an old one about 1971 or so,
and has the cool slip in wooden cover.
Really nice wood veneer too.
The thing was like brand new inside.
At 17 wpc,
this is the smallest receiver I've had.
The inside parts were really tiny and sparse.
It looked closer to a pre-amp than an amplifier.
I am spoiled with 110-300 watt systems I guess.
As I looked closer,
it was obvious this thing had been recently gone through.
The capacitors,
those purply battery looking things,
had CE (Conformité Européenne) labels all over them,
which means they were at least 1993.
Hmmm.
This one was definitely worth a hook up.
The little receiver is half the size and weight of the onkyo tx-8500,
and almost 20 percent of the power!
The good thing is it sips only 100 watts at max volume,
versus the 400 watts of the onkyo.
Funny thing is I got the onkyo from the same guy,
and he had done the same price fluctuation thing,
but he actually delivered it last time!
Still one of the better stereo deals I've done.
At first run I've got to say I was a bit overwhelmed with the sound.
These are supposed to have a warm tube-like sound.
Instead it was clean but with a super thumpy bass.
I was cheating using the IPOD's equalizer,
so that was easily flattened out.
The other problem is I don't listen to studio recordings,
usually live refined bootlegs,
which are tougher to dissect the sound with.
After a while the speakers gelled a bit better,
and I got some work done,
with the sound going into the background.
I'll give it a chance over the weekend.
I'm kinda thinking that whoever owned it never really played it,
and maybe all the electrolytics(?) need to be burned in.
I left the radio on all night just to test the theory.
Still I think I'm one of those guys that likes to listen to a strong stereo at lower volume,
than a weaker stereo at a higher volume setting.
Stay tuned...
TP
** Okay so I gave it a good workout over the weekend.
Actually left it on overnight just to give it some good run time.
I've got to say at 17 watts this thing packs a punch.
It did warm up to the speakers the more we listened to it,
not sure if it was me or the receiver settling in.
Now I'm on the fence whether or not to put the big onkyo back...
Another friggin stereo post.
 |
| sherwood s-7100a |
This little receiver was begging to be adopted.
The guy I got it from - Harry,
had listed and relisted it so many times,
and his prices fluctuated like the corner gas station.
When it dropped down to under 2-20's I had to bite.
 |
| little chiquita - sherwood s-7100a |
The receiver was hooked up at his house and sounded crispy enough for my ears.
His cell picture rivaled my blurry droid pictures,
so I was pleasantly surprised with the condition.
The design is really simple.
Not sure if this is because it was made in the US
or if it was just an early solid state low budget model.
 |
| sherwood s-7100a guts |
Of course I had to open it up as soon as I got home.
This is an old one about 1971 or so,
and has the cool slip in wooden cover.
Really nice wood veneer too.
The thing was like brand new inside.
 |
| sherwood s-7100a inside |
At 17 wpc,
this is the smallest receiver I've had.
The inside parts were really tiny and sparse.
It looked closer to a pre-amp than an amplifier.
I am spoiled with 110-300 watt systems I guess.
 |
| recapped s-7100a board |
As I looked closer,
it was obvious this thing had been recently gone through.
The capacitors,
those purply battery looking things,
had CE (Conformité Européenne) labels all over them,
which means they were at least 1993.
Hmmm.
This one was definitely worth a hook up.
 |
| blurry onkyo tx-8500 |
The little receiver is half the size and weight of the onkyo tx-8500,
and almost 20 percent of the power!
The good thing is it sips only 100 watts at max volume,
versus the 400 watts of the onkyo.
Funny thing is I got the onkyo from the same guy,
and he had done the same price fluctuation thing,
but he actually delivered it last time!
Still one of the better stereo deals I've done.
 |
| klipsch heresy + kg4 + sherwood s-7100a |
At first run I've got to say I was a bit overwhelmed with the sound.
These are supposed to have a warm tube-like sound.
Instead it was clean but with a super thumpy bass.
I was cheating using the IPOD's equalizer,
so that was easily flattened out.
The other problem is I don't listen to studio recordings,
usually live refined bootlegs,
which are tougher to dissect the sound with.
After a while the speakers gelled a bit better,
and I got some work done,
with the sound going into the background.
I'll give it a chance over the weekend.
I'm kinda thinking that whoever owned it never really played it,
and maybe all the electrolytics(?) need to be burned in.
I left the radio on all night just to test the theory.
Still I think I'm one of those guys that likes to listen to a strong stereo at lower volume,
than a weaker stereo at a higher volume setting.
Stay tuned...
TP
** Okay so I gave it a good workout over the weekend.
Actually left it on overnight just to give it some good run time.
I've got to say at 17 watts this thing packs a punch.
It did warm up to the speakers the more we listened to it,
not sure if it was me or the receiver settling in.
Now I'm on the fence whether or not to put the big onkyo back...
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