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My new Sherwood S2100 II tuner

23.120.34.48
Posted on June 1, 2014 at 08:19:29
sberger
Audiophile

Posts: 3433
Location: no. california
Joined: October 25, 2002
Contributor
  Since: April 3, 2008



Sounds and looks amazing. Great reception(maybe better than my Fisher R-200) and superb lush sound. And of course mates up well with my Sherwood S5000 integrated. Listening to the Sunday Sacred Concert show on KDFC classical in San Francisco is a real nice way to start the day.

 

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RE: My new Sherwood S2100 II tuner, posted on June 1, 2014 at 14:20:59
Timbo in Oz
Audiophile

Posts: 23221
Location: Canberra - in the ACT - SE Australia
Joined: January 30, 2002
 I'll assume it's been serviced. And am thus a bit jealous.

What's driving it?


Warmest

Tim Bailey

Skeptical Measurer & Audio Scrounger


 

RE: My new Sherwood S2100 II tuner, posted on June 1, 2014 at 16:50:25
sberger
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Posts: 3433
Location: no. california
Joined: October 25, 2002
Contributor
  Since: April 3, 2008
 Serviced partially, but will need more. But recently underwent an alignment so pulls in tons of stations. And has wide and narrow band AM, fwiw.

What's driving it? You mean tube layout? Some weird ones in there. 6BS8, 6GH8x2 6BN6,6BN8, 6BE6, 6BA6x2, 6AU6, & 2 12AT7's. PUlls in stations and sounds better than my completely restored Fisher R-200, which is really saying something.

 

Juts twigged on your moniker! LOL., posted on June 1, 2014 at 19:36:15
Timbo in Oz
Audiophile

Posts: 23221
Location: Canberra - in the ACT - SE Australia
Joined: January 30, 2002
 So, anyway what are your FM reception issues?

Try this lot - data reduced sound on-line though it is.






Warmest

Tim Bailey

Skeptical Measurer & Audio Scrounger


 

RE: Juts twigged on your moniker! LOL., posted on June 1, 2014 at 20:07:31
sberger
Audiophile

Posts: 3433
Location: no. california
Joined: October 25, 2002
Contributor
  Since: April 3, 2008
 None. Did I imply that I was having any? Have a good old roof antenna and can bring in small watt stations from 30-40 miles away. The sharpness of those stations using the 2100 really surprised me.

 

mmm-hmmm, posted on June 3, 2014 at 18:47:46
mhardy6647
Audiophile

Posts: 16018
Location: New England
Joined: October 12, 1999
Contributor
  Since: October 23, 2016
 :-)

I loves 'em (the vacuum tube Sherwoods, in general) - the aesthetics are... well... perhaps idiosyncratic, but they sound dandy ('specially for the prices they tend to go for).

Based on my luck with 'em to date, they seem to hold up to the rigors of time rather better than average, too (i.e., they tend to work pretty well, and sound good, 'as found').

DSC_8058
all the best,
mrh

 

RE: mmm-hmmm, posted on June 3, 2014 at 21:21:00
sberger
Audiophile

Posts: 3433
Location: no. california
Joined: October 25, 2002
Contributor
  Since: April 3, 2008
 I agree. This one sounds so good that I plugged into my Fisher 400 so I could compare it to the 400's tuner. Both provide fantastic reception, but the 400's sound was a bit richer and fuller. Probably mostly because it's been fully restored and the 2100 only partially. Could have something to do with the tube makeup as well. But the 2100 remains my favorite stand alone of the several that I own.

 

RE: mmm-hmmm, posted on June 5, 2014 at 05:38:01
Brian Levy
Audiophile

Posts: 2438
Location: Toronto
Joined: June 5, 2000
 SHHHHH..... Do not keep harping on the Sherwood vs Fisher comparison or pretty soon all the name droppers on the block will want one and drive the prices up like they did with the Fishers.

FWIW, years ago I found the Sherwood tube and 1st gen SS units knocked off pretty much all of the period competition including their S8000IV being better than the 500c and IMHO, the best tube receiver made.

I did a few years ago move out my S3000IV tuner and S5000II amp in exchange for a pair of their 1st gen SS units and find them as good both spec wise and in listening.

The company did some rather unorthodox things such as making an actual realistic usable loudness contour system with their tube amp and a great, though confusing for those used to conventional systems, volume and balance control.

One thing you may want to do with the S5000 is to scope it to determine where the tone controls are truly flat rather than relying on the dead of center method. Like most tone controls dead of center is not actually defeating the controls and I have seen enough of the original controls on them to realize they are maybe the weak spot in the component quality.

The S2100 is a bit of a rare bird it seems compared to the S3000. I guess maybe back then people were still using those big old floor standing AM radios.
Don Brian Levy, J.D.
Toronto ON Canada

 

RE: mmm-hmmm, posted on June 6, 2014 at 20:43:47
sberger
Audiophile

Posts: 3433
Location: no. california
Joined: October 25, 2002
Contributor
  Since: April 3, 2008
 Thanks Brian for the suggestions.

Yes it has become clear to me not to necessarily trust dead of center as flat, and I've been experimenting with the S5000. It seems like the right channel has a lot less treble than the left channel so I've been using the balance controls to even things out. At some point I'm going to get this off to Mr. Samra to let him his do his dirty work.

 

That's Purdy! (nt), posted on June 13, 2014 at 05:58:09
1973shovel
Audiophile

Posts: 10117
Location: Greenville SC
Joined: February 25, 2007

 

RE: mmm-hmmm, posted on June 22, 2014 at 10:56:30
Brian Levy
Audiophile

Posts: 2438
Location: Toronto
Joined: June 5, 2000
 I dunno about Mike. The feedback here seems to indicate he is somewhere between a magician and warlock when it comes to get them to their potential. Wish I had know it when I had my S5000II. It was working in spec from the tech results here but, he thought there was potential to get it even better with some changes but he had no experience with the model and did not want to start digging into a customer's unit to experiment. He did buy one to dig into but closed shop and passed away not long after so likely never got to it. He especially loved and was amazed by the loudness contour system and as the old timer said, it was the only one he had ever seen that actually would do what it should with every speaker. i do wish Sherwood had kept it when it went ss. Yamaha in the CA610II used a similar setup. I guess though, Sherwood found the public just did not understand how a contour circuit should work preferring some arbitrary predetermined curve that bore no relationship to the speakers that all other used save maybe one other company.

I had thought about a couple of things he thought about, though. 1) convert the heaters to dc and, 2) replace the tone and volume controls with resistor based selectors though he felt the controls used were decent enough. Or, at least, for 2) mod to add a tone control defeat switch for each control.


Don Brian Levy, J.D.
Toronto ON Canada

 

RE: My new Sherwood S2100 II tuner, posted on July 22, 2014 at 07:02:17
geezerrocket



Beautiful!

I agree with Brian Levy; if we keep saying how the Sherwoods out perform the "big boys" they will become unobtainium at sane prices for the rest of us......Shhhhh.

Here is a pic of my S-5000 with 7189 output tubes, and my S-2200 (stereo).

The S-5000 is at Mike Samra's getting a soup to nuts rebuild.
The S-2200 is bone stock and works great.



 

RE: mmm-hmmm, posted on July 22, 2014 at 07:12:03
geezerrocket
 Call Mikey Samra. He's pretty backed up at this point because of some medical issues he's getting over.

I plan on sending him a Citation II, but not until this coming winter - per his request.


 

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