Insignia NS-R2000 stereo receiver partial review

[Seth=L]

It looks like a Sherwood, because it is. The front is very generic looking, the buttons are different from the Sherwood RX-4109 other than a few key parts, such as the hard power button and the volume knob. When it become immediately obvious that these receivers are the same deal is they have the exact same rear and internal parts. The connections are exactly the same, even gold plated RCA jacks and binding posts. The power consumption is also the same.

Admittedly you can get the RX-4109 for the same price as the Insignia, and you get the added benefit of it not saying "Insignia" on the front, but it remains to be a useful and fairly reliable product (not like the KLH receivers Best Buy used to carry).

The connectivity is pretty limited, only 4 audio inputs (2 loops) and one of the audio inputs happens to be a phono with ground. The binding posts seem to be of decent quality, but nothing special and only accept bare wire and banana plugs.

The remote that comes with the unit is functional, but not exactly the easiest to use. No glowing or backlit keys here, but no surprise at under $100. The crucial buttons, like volume control are too small in comparison to less used buttons. Setup..., what setup? You pretty much just plug this 19 pound receiver into the outlet, your sources via stereo phono cables, and connect the speakers, DONE!

During my minimal listening tonight I discovered that I am an idiot, I accidentally swapped the speaker wires, left to right and right to left, it seemed "off" and I caught it pretty quickly and corrected my error. After being connected correctly it seemed to perform as it should, but the noise floor is a bit high. This isn't typically a problem for me when the furnace is running and/or I am listening to music at virtually any level past 10 on the receiver (scale 1-63). It is presented as hiss, not hum, which is a great comfort to me, I hate hearing transformer hum coming through my speakers.

I will post pictures and more detailed impressions of this receiver at a later time when I am no longer constrained by the time of day.

 

[Seth=L]

A few things I found and observed while using this receiver. It has a dimmer feature that dims the display to half brightness, then completely off. No LEDs or display features are on when the display is set to off, but as soon as any buttons are pressed on the remote or front panel the receiver reverts back to full brightness and requires pressing the dimmer function again on the remote to re-instate the display off feature.

It also offers digital bass and treble controls, as well as balance.

Found this as well, for anyone interested. A foriegn audio company called Proson has receivers made by Sherwood rebadged as their own, even a Newcastle model. The nearest match to the Insignia from Proson is the RV-2200.

The sound is that of a receiver, go figure. Other than the noise floor being slighly higher than most receivers, it delivers clean power to my speakers. I haven' been able to notice any clipping, but then again I don't need to give the Bostons much power. I can take it louder now than with the Teac, but chances are I won't be listening at those levels for anymore than a few moments because I wouldn't want to damage these golden ears.

While using the supplied antenna for FM the tuner performance was decent and pulled in quite a few stations pretty clear. Probably 10 clean stations.

The following post will include pictures.

 

[Seth=L]

Rear panel
Inside top
Inside front
Inside rear
Remote control

The capacitor ratings are 63v 6800uF. The input power rating is 2.5 amps at 120 volts.

 

[Haoleb]

You say this is under $100, How much do these run exactly? While its certainly not an overly impressive unit, Im betting you could put together a system equal in cost to one of those "Mini systems" that would be considerably better. Although even at under $100, I think I would go used and vintage in this pricerange.

 

[Seth=L]

You say this is under $100, How much do these run exactly? While its certainly not an overly impressive unit, Im betting you could put together a system equal in cost to one of those "Mini systems" that would be considerably better. Although even at under $100, I think I would go used and vintage in this pricerange.

This one was on sale and was had for around $80-90 I believe. What mini-systems? No mini system for sale anywhere in my city could compete with the SQ of the Insignia receiver paired with those Insignia bookshelf speakers. I don't think hardly any brand new system, if any at all, could compete with that in the $150-200 price range.

Buying used, while one of my favorite things, is cheap it has many disadvantages, such as no warranty and not being the first owner. Finding used equipment with all accessories such as remote (if it had one to begin with) manual, box, and any other stuff would be pretty impossible in this price bracket. Old electronics, like vintage stereo receivers with all analog have issues as well, like dirty pots. I am not saying this kind of stuff doesn't present a good value, because it often does. I still think that this Insignia/Sherwood receiver has it's place in the market as a useful and cost effective product.

 

[Haoleb]

What mini-systems? No mini system for sale anywhere in my city could compete with the SQ of the Insignia receiver paired with those Insignia bookshelf speakers. I don't think hardly any brand new system, if any at all, could compete with that in the $150-200 price range.

You misunderstood me. I said you could probably put together a system [with this] equal in cost to one of those mini systems that would be considerably better.

 

[Seth=L]

You misunderstood me. I said you could probably put together a system [with this] equal in cost to one of those mini systems that would be considerably better.

Oh, I gotcha now.

Well, there is my Teac Mini-system doodad thing. But I wouldn't put it in with the mixture of "mini-systems" since the head unit and speakers where sold separately if wanted (the speakers that come with the system they offer suck) and the head unit holds it's own. It operates much like a receiver with a CD player inside of it. It has dramatically better build quality and in my opinion, the amplifier is better in the respect it makes less noise than the Sherwood/Insignia.

 

[W4DXL]

You say this is under $100, How much do these run exactly? While its certainly not an overly impressive unit, Im betting you could put together a system equal in cost to one of those "Mini systems" that would be considerably better. Although even at under $100, I think I would go used and vintage in this pricerange.

Vintage gear has it's problems. I just bought one of these Insignia receivers to replace a couple of old Nikko 7075's. One Nikko I got from a friend a long time ago and the other was an ebay purchase. The one from ebay has been a desaster. Caps going bad left and right. Now for some reason it kicks it's power breaker. I used to work on this stuff but I'm rusty, don't have the time and don't have a place to work on it. The Nikko's are at least 33 years old so I think they are at the end of their life span. They lasted longer than the company that made them. The other Nikko has lots of wear and the tuner is very scratchy. I've never had good luck cleaning tuners.

I'm not a big bass freak but the Insignia is very light on the low end. The Nikko with the loudness lever on was very boomy. I can't get anywhere close to the same amount of bass on the Insignia even with the control all the way up.

This is an inexpensive receiver but hopefully it will last and won't be as troublesome as the Nikko's which still have a soft spot in my heart.

 

[markw]

these receivers aren't made for "us", and I don't mean this in an elitist fashion.

Well. maybe I do to some extent but it's not meant in a derogatory sense.

This is like a Kia or Hyundai. It offers better performance than one can reasonably expect with a VERY entry level price. As long as one accepts that what it does, it does well and that it's not going to perform the same or offer the same goodies as a more expensive car, like a BMW or Mercedes, they are quite a bargain.

"We" tend to be a bot more demanding with our electronics simply because the price differential is a bit different between cars and electronics. "We" know that by spending another hundred (or two) dollars or so we can greatly increase it's performance. Likewise, we're more likely to put it through it's paces.

Now, for the average, non- "audiophile*" type guy/gal who just wants plain, simple decent sound with no bells and whistles, these entry receivers are just the ticket. And, wit a decent set of speakers can pump out music of a quality which would not embarrass anyone.

I've recommended those Sherwoods 41055's for two friends and, to this day, they still work fine and when we are over there and music (or the TV sound) is played, they do a durn nice job. Now, I'm sure I could put on my perfectionist ears, listen critically and find fault but that's not what these are made for.

We're talkin' a NIB $100 receiver. I bought my first stereo amp in '64 or so (6wpc Lafayette LA-224A) for $60. That would be a bout $400 in today's dollars. Considering what's available for one quarter that amount today, that's quite a bargain.

Oh, I have that same $20 Philips switch-box from Walmart. Handy little device. It does component and S-video switching as well.

Oh, I drive a Hyundai Elantra and love it

* I abhor that label but you know what 'm getting at, I hope.

 

[fmw]

When you think about it, it is pretty amazing that they can sell something with all of that functionality and reasonable performance at that kind of price and still give everyone in the chain their margins.

 

[Seth=L]

When you think about it, it is pretty amazing that they can sell something with all of that functionality and reasonable performance at that kind of price and still give everyone in the chain their margins.

I would say a good part of the low price stems from the fact they produce these receivers in massive quanities. Sherwood makes a large amount of receivers, and not just for themselves. OEM is their big business, they have proven consistantly they are good at doing it.

I was just listening to NIN with this receiver and the Infinity IL10s in my living room, I can't believe the level of output I was getting and they IL10s where imaging very well with a deep immersive soundstage. I was for lack of better words, FLOORED! Those bookshelf speakers sound massive.

 

[yettitheman]

I would say a good part of the low price stems from the fact they produce these receivers in massive quanities. Sherwood makes a large amount of receivers, and not just for themselves. OEM is their big business, they have proven consistantly they are good at doing it.

I was just listening to NIN with this receiver and the Infinity IL10s in my living room, I can't believe the level of output I was getting and they IL10s where imaging very well with a deep immersive soundstage. I was for lack of better words, FLOORED! Those bookshelf speakers sound massive.

I told you the IL10's image well!
What were you smoking???

 

[yuki]

just picked up this amp the other day based on your review and some searching online, that's how i found this forum. matched with the Insignia NS-B2111, I am more than happy ^^.

I have not noticed the noise floor though, maybe the newer builds are built a little better or the speakers I have are not as sensitive. Thanks again for helping with the purchase ^^.

 

[Seth=L]

I am glad you like it. Some people are instantly biased against this stuff just because it's Sherwood OEM.

 

[anamorphic96]

I picked up the Sherwood version and it's a pretty impressive receiver for the asking price.

I do here the slightly higher noise floor. But only when I put my ear up to my speakers. The noise does not seem to increase with volume which is nice.

I'm driving my old Energy C1's and they sound quite nice with the Sherwood.

It's amazing the kind of systems that can be put together for dirt cheap these days.

Sherwood is actually offering some tremendous bargains these days. The HT receivers are not bad for the asking price. The other nice thing is they stand behind there products and offer good customer service. Not sure how the service is with Insignia though. But at least they chose a good manufacture.