Should I get a Sherwood receiver?

[giantslayer]

I am a newbie to the world home audio. I basically want a pretty good system to listen to music with (I'm upgrading from crappy laptop speakers). My budget is pretty tight. After a few posts and looking through the archives, here's what I'm thinking of getting:
BIC Venturi DV62 speakers (bidding on a pair on ebay right now)

For the receiver, I was thinking of maybe getting a Sherwood of some sort. Is that a good move? My top priorities are being cheap (<$100 shipped; I'm planning to buy off ebay), and having as good sound quality as possible. I'd like to keep open the option of getting a sub later. The stereo Sherwoods don't have a sub output, but the surround ones do. However, they're all rated down to only 40Hz RMS. (Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't most subs go below that?)

Then I suppose that after I get speakers and a receiver, I'll need cables, right? Can I just go down to radio shack and buy what they tell me to buy?

 

[Buckeyefan 1]

I am a newbie to the world home audio. I basically want a pretty good system to listen to music with (I'm upgrading from crappy laptop speakers). My budget is pretty tight. After a few posts and looking through the archives, here's what I'm thinking of getting:
BIC Venturi DV62 speakers (bidding on a pair on ebay right now)

For the receiver, I was thinking of maybe getting a Sherwood of some sort. Is that a good move? My top priorities are being cheap (<$100 shipped; I'm planning to buy off ebay), and having as good sound quality as possible. I'd like to keep open the option of getting a sub later. The stereo Sherwoods don't have a sub output, but the surround ones do. However, they're all rated down to only 40Hz RMS. (Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't most subs go below that?)

Then I suppose that after I get speakers and a receiver, I'll need cables, right? Can I just go down to radio shack and buy what they tell me to buy?

Pay a little extra and get the Onkyo 502 off ubid for $119.

http://www.ubid.com/actn/opn/getpage.asp?AuctionId=10491507

Stay away from Sherwood. Those aren't much better than HTIB's. If you can't land the Venturi's off ebay, go to Amazon for good pricing.

You can pick up a spool of 14 gauge speaker wire - 50 feet, at Walmart for $9.99 in their auto dept. near the car stereos.

If you need component cables to hook up a dvd player, cable box, etc..., get a few sets here. This is a great price. Otherwise, Home Depot has some for a similar price, as well as audio L/R rca's. Radio shack has good pricing on long runs of rca subwoofer cable.
http://www.partexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=189-060

 

[giantslayer]

Thanks for the post. I think the Onkyo is a little out of my price range right now. The shipping on the uBid one is $43, which pushes the package up to $162. Any other recommendations?

 

[Buckeyefan 1]

That's a tough budget. If you really don't care about surround sound, why not check Ebay for some vintage Marantz/Pioneer units? They sound great, and are probably 5x more powerful than the Sherwood.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Marantz-2230-Receiver-Tuner-Amp-Boxed-vinta-audio-NR_W0QQitemZ5807334658QQcategoryZ50591QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[RLA]

Shipping that Sherwood back for repairs will be costly too
Keep a keen eye out for Enty level Pioneer or JVC product

 

[markw]

The sherwood is a decent unit for the price.

A friend has one. I'd recommend it, particularly when it's on sale for $80.

you don't have a big box store in your area?

It's rare that a srereo unit has a subwoofer output. that's why most subwoofers have speaker level inputs. ...so they will work on units without a LFE output.

 

[giantslayer]

Answers and more questions

A friend has one. I'd recommend it, particularly when it's on sale for $80.

you don't have a big box store in your area?

It's rare that a srereo unit has a subwoofer output. that's why most subwoofers have speaker level inputs. ...so they will work on units without a LFE output.

No, no big stores around here. I think there's a small audio store in town, but it might be more car audio. I haven't been in there. I live on a college campus and don't have a car, so it's a little hard to actually go somewhere to audition stuff. Besides that, I'm not really sure I would know what all the important things to look for are. So I'm prettymuch relying on the opinions of you audiophiles.

So does that mean I don't need a subwoofer output to use a sub? That would certainly make life easier. There are a lot of older receivers (like maybe 10 years old) going for within my price range, but most don't have subwoofer outputs.

I was a little hesitant about getting a Sherwood after seeing that they only went down to 40Hz RMS. There are moderately old receivers (good brands, like Onkyo) going for under $100 on ebay. I imagine that'll get me the best bang for my buck? What should I look for in older receivers? Specifications, or info in general, are hard to find on older receivers. If I buy a decent name, should I be pretty safe?

Thanks for the advice so far.

[EDIT] There are a few Onkyo TX-SV414 receivers that look like they're ready to go for a song (possibly as low as $50 shipped). I think it's 'cause they have 4.1 surround. They only do 60 watts per channel in stereo, though. This will probably be powering some BIC Venturi DV62 speakers at low-moderate volumes (this is gonna be in a dorm room). Should I go for something higher power?

 

[MDS]

The Onkyo SV-xxx receivers are Dolby ProLogic and have no digital inputs, bass management, or other such features you routinely find in newer receivers. Still, if you could find one in really good condition for $50, I think it would be worth it at least until you are ready to move up (like after school is complete).

I had an TX-SV525 which is 100 wpc in stereo and 85 wpc in ProLogic mode. I gave it to my brother in law for his garage system and it still works perfectly. With relatively sensitive speakers, it will get plenty loud. The 414 would be close too - the difference between 65 and 85 watts is barely more than 1 dB.

 

[Buckeyefan 1]

No, no big stores around here. I think there's a small audio store in town, but it might be more car audio. I haven't been in there. I live on a college campus and don't have a car, so it's a little hard to actually go somewhere to audition stuff. Besides that, I'm not really sure I would know what all the important things to look for are. So I'm prettymuch relying on the opinions of you audiophiles.

So does that mean I don't need a subwoofer output to use a sub? That would certainly make life easier. There are a lot of older receivers (like maybe 10 years old) going for within my price range, but most don't have subwoofer outputs.

I was a little hesitant about getting a Sherwood after seeing that they only went down to 40Hz RMS. There are moderately old receivers (good brands, like Onkyo) going for under $100 on ebay. I imagine that'll get me the best bang for my buck? What should I look for in older receivers? Specifications, or info in general, are hard to find on older receivers. If I buy a decent name, should I be pretty safe?

Thanks for the advice so far.

[EDIT] There are a few Onkyo TX-SV414 receivers that look like they're ready to go for a song (possibly as low as $50 shipped). I think it's 'cause they have 4.1 surround. They only do 60 watts per channel in stereo, though. This will probably be powering some BIC Venturi DV62 speakers at low-moderate volumes (this is gonna be in a dorm room). Should I go for something higher power?

If you're going to power a set of DV62's for a dorm room, you can get away with a two channel stereo for ~$50, and add a 10 band older eq for great sound. You should be able to pick up an older BSR, Pioneer, Optimus... eq on ebay for ~$25. They make a night and day difference in the sound. That's the beauty of those older receivers. They have tape monitors that allow easy connection for eq's. These older receivers blow away the cheap two channel units produced from the late 80's on up IMO.

http://cgi.ebay.com/BSR-Graphic-Stereo-Equalizer-EQ-3000_W0QQitemZ5808291175QQcategoryZ3271QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.com/PIONEER-SG-9500-Graphic-Equalizer-Stereo-10-Band-EQ_W0QQitemZ5808931375QQcategoryZ3271QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Here's a two channel receiver that most likely sounds better than my $800 Denon 3805. Check out the price.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Pioneer-SX-850-EXCELLENT-CONDITION-LQQK_W0QQitemZ5808010106QQcategoryZ39789QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[Pyrrho]

I am a newbie to the world home audio. I basically want a pretty good system to listen to music with (I'm upgrading from crappy laptop speakers). My budget is pretty tight. After a few posts and looking through the archives, here's what I'm thinking of getting:
BIC Venturi DV62 speakers (bidding on a pair on ebay right now)

For the receiver, I was thinking of maybe getting a Sherwood of some sort. Is that a good move? My top priorities are being cheap (<$100 shipped; I'm planning to buy off ebay), and having as good sound quality as possible. I'd like to keep open the option of getting a sub later. The stereo Sherwoods don't have a sub output, but the surround ones do. However, they're all rated down to only 40Hz RMS. (Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't most subs go below that?)

Then I suppose that after I get speakers and a receiver, I'll need cables, right? Can I just go down to radio shack and buy what they tell me to buy?

Regarding the Sherwood receiver, I, like markw, know someone who owns one. It has worked for several years with no repairs. However, I like the idea of a vintage receiver instead, especially if you listen to the radio. The old Pioneer SX-x50 and SX-x80 (replace the small "x" with a 7 or higher; ideally, a 12 or 19, but you won't get either of those for your budget) would be good, if you can get one in good condition. Almost no receiver these days has a tuner that compares well with the tuners in good receivers from the 1970's.

As for the rating of the Sherwood down to only 40 Hz at rated power, this would not likely be a problem if you are adding a powered subwoofer, as you can adjust its volume independently. (Just because it can't put out the rated power below 40 Hz does NOT mean that it cannot produce those frequencies at all.) Still, it is a sign of a less than ideal unit.

As for cables, do NOT buy whatever salespeople recommend, as they usually recommend spending more money than you should. At your budget, use whatever wires come with your source, and buy speaker wire that is 16 gauge or larger (larger is with a smaller number, so 12 gauge is larger than 16 gauge). Do not buy expensive speaker wire; it should cost you about $10 for all you are likely to need.