Sherwood RX-4105 vs Yamaha R-S201BL. Sorry about the poor pics. My camera needs glasses.

Sherwood RX-4105

A few specs:
Power Output at 40HZ to 20KHZ 2x105W at 8 ohms.
THD is 0.04%
Frequency response 10Hz~100kHz
Base/Treble 100Hz/20kHz is + or - 10dB
Weight 19.85 lbs. Hefty!
INPUTS 4, CD, TAPE, TV/AUX,VCR-Really?
COMPLETE SPECS can be found:
www.sherwoodusa.com





Here are a couple nudies...
 This Sherwood sells for around $100. Honestly it's a lot of receiver for the money. Besides the volume knob the front panel is all buttons. Very few options here. Base and Treble, no loudness. There is no phono preamp, the speaker binding posts are all spring loaded. It's just a 2 channel analogue receiver. A couple nice items to mention though you can actually turn off the entire display with the dimmer on the remote, and you can bypass your base and treble adjustments with the tone direct button (from the panel only). The remote is simple to use, but only works for the Sherwood. You cannot use it for anything else.  

If you buy the upgraded RX-4109, about another $25, you get better speaker binding posts, tone controls on the remote (nice), and a phono preamp. Otherwise I think they are the same. This Sherwood is solid. I've used this receiver almost daily for over 8 years with no issues. It has always been with 1 pair of 8 ohm speakers though. I hear they can run very hot with 6 ohm or less. It is very heavy.





Yamaha R-S201BL

A few specs:
Power Output at 40HZ to 20KHZ 2x100W at 8 ohms.
THD is 0.2%
Frequency response
 10Hz~100kHz
Base/Treble
 50Hz/20kHz is + or - 10dB
Weight 14.8 lbs.
INPUTS 4, CD, Line1, Line2, Line3
COMPLETE SPECS can be found:
usa.yamaha.com



A couple topless pics...
This Yamaha sells for around $150. It has very similar
features to the Sherwood. Similar power rating, same number of inputs, it's 2 channel analogue. It doesn't weigh as much (The power supply is smaller). And, like the Sherwood, besides volume the front panel is all push-button. Unlike the Sherwood, you can dim the display, but not turn it off. There is no bypass for the tone controls either. On the upside though, this receiver will eventually turn it'self off if you forget to. The Sherwood won't do that. The remote is simple, it DOES have tone controls and if you happen to have a Yamaha CD player it'll control that too.

 If you buy the upgraded R-S300 it'll Cost another $100, yikes! but it gets, strangely, only 50 watts a channel, knobs instead of buttons (I don't consider that a plus), variable loudness (nice), Top-ART construction (whatever that is), an Ipod dock, Pure Direct which seems similar to the Sherwood with Display off and Tone Direct selected, And an Aluminum front panel. (Both of these stereos have plastic panels.

Yamaha output Transistors

Here are some more revealing pics. These are just some comparison shots for the gearheads.

Sherwood Caps

Sherwood Output Transistors

Yamaha Caps

Yamaha and Sherwood Rear.

So, if you were to just look at the specs, or pick them up, or judge by size, you might think the Sherwood would sound better. It's what I figured, but it looks like I was wrong. The Sherwood sounds pretty good with network TV. And not bad with Very well recorded CD's. But when the recording is less than perfect, or if the music gets complex like maybe rock, or orchestra, the sound seems to get somewhat blended together. You lose definition and range, hard to explain, The sound just flattens; maybe it's best to stick with nice simple jazz, it likes that. It has a very forward sound in the first place. You could read that as lots of midrange and not a lot of stereo separation. For purists the Sherwood has the Tone Direct button, but I defy you to use it. This thing just needs some tone adjustments. The Bass can go up to 10 in increments of 2, it'll get louder but  also muddier as you go. I found 6 to be about the best compromise with the speakers I was using. The treble I could go to 4 at most because it gets pretty shrill beyond that.
    The Yamaha on the other hand, has a very detailed sound. You know what is playing and where. It's not detailed in the way that say an Onkyo sounds (ultra accurate), but a little bit more like a tube amp,  Making that hard edged sound you get from a CD sound a bit like vinyl, all there but smoother. Where with the Sherwood I'm tired of listening after a few hours, I can leave the Yamaha on all day. Turning up the tone controls on the Yamaha makes the base/treble sound closer instead of louder (Bass keeps it's punch and treble gets clearer, a neat effect). A simple way to put it would maybe be the Sherwood sounds like a stereo playing music but the Yamaha sounds almost like being there.
        They say with a little luck you get what you pay for. I'd say that's true with the Sherwood. Mine has been solid and reliable. The Yamaha has basically the same abilities for $50 more. Is the Yamaha worth it? If your ears have a vote, they'd say "yes".