One company that flies a little under the radar yet is still pretty popular with a subset of collectors and enthusiasts is Sherwood. Sherwood was formed in 1953 in Chicago by the engineer Ed Miller and partner John Snow. Miller had designed an amplifier and wanted to design and build equipment under the Sherwood name. This particular stereo is the Sherwood S-7200.
The S-7200 was not their top of the line receiver, more middle of the pack, but still performed very well. It was made from 1973 up until about 1976 and retailed at about $360.00 when introduced. Sherwood even took pride in the fact that they were smaller than the other dominant companies in the audio field. Basically they felt that other manufacturers marketed to the mass consumer market while their equipment was targeted toward the more discriminating connoisseur. So, of course, they would sell far fewer receivers than say Pioneer or Sansui.
And, they did seller fewer receivers than the big boys. In fact, most of their production runs were only 500 to around 1500 units at a time. Still, they were considered higher end and were sold in the same audio stores that sold Marantz and McIntosh. Those days, of course, were the heyday of audio manufacturing so there was quite a bit of competition. While the S-7200 was designed by US engineers it was actually made in Japan.
The Sherwood S-7200 is listed at 40 watts per channel in the advertisement above but I’ve also seen it listed at 32 watts per channel. It’s all solid state but many say it has a nice and warm, yet clean, sound to it.
One of the weaknesses of this receiver is the power switch which is attached to the volume pot. It fails frequently and there is no easily available replacement. So, if yours works treat it gently. These receivers also don’t have the usual screws on the side of the cabinet that are used to get the cabinet off. The screws are actually in the feet which, when removed, allow you to remove the cabinet and get inside.
Sherwood made some good receivers. Since they aren’t as popular as the big names you can find them for pretty affordable prices. They have good specs and reputation. Just remember that the power switch is temperamental so check it out before buying one of these units. Other than that the S-7200 is a great little receiver.
I have one of these and it has replaced my marantz 2235. This thing sounds amazing. I almost hate seeing posts like this because people may catch on. The only difference between this and a marantz is that this doesn’t cost a fortune.
Nothing to worry about. Most of us caught on in the 1970s when Sherwood was rated better than Marantz, Kenwood, and San Sui, but cost half the price.
Have a flawlessly performing S-7900a and couldn’t be happier. Sounds amazing.
The solution to the delicate power / volume knob is to use a power strip and turn it on/off that way.
Need some repairs on my S7200
Can you help me find a repair place–factory, etc
We do repairs. We are out of Baltimore. You are welcome to ship your unit in. Visit our website Just-Audio.com
Love my S7200. Fortunately, the finicky power volume switch is broke in the on position and still controls volume. I’d like to know if anyone has a source for a replacement. Cheers.
There is a guy on eBay who sells his own replacement loudness pots for $90. Can’t speak to the quality but they’re apparently pretty straightforward to replace. Some folks wire an on/off switch into the power cord so they don’t have to keep turning the pot on and off—which I’d what wears it down over time.
The original switch for these old Sherwood “S” Series receivers (also used by Panasonic) is no longer available.
However, Mr. Bud Weaver of Ontario, CA custom builds a new switch If you send him the bad switch out of your unit. He connects two separate switches, a power switch and a volume pot together, to replicate the one in the receiver. He fixed my S-7200 and it is perfect. Looks factory and works perfectly!
Search for him at Audiokarma.org. Just look for Sherwood switch repair.
I have had my S-7200 since new. It still sounds great but have retired it since the selector switch makes a static noise and cuts the speakers out. I was told by several repair shops that this switch is no longer available. The on/off- volume switch works fine. Is there any way to change this switch to a different type that is available?
I managed to snag a Sherwood S-7110B from a local thrift shop a couple of days ago. Works great, power switch is of course no good, but at least broken in the On position, allowing everything else to work well. The sound is surprisingly great with my old Pioneer HPM-40 speakers, but I get quite a lot of hiss when engaging the speakers. Is that something that could be improved upon with repair, or some other additional piece of equipment, or is that just how the thing works? I’ll still always pine after the Pioneer SX-780 (had one when I was much younger, and very foolishly ditched it when it stopped working, not knowing it could be repaired), but I’d certainly love to get the most out of this Sherwood in the meantime. Any recommendations?
Is it possible to replace/update the speaker connections to a more “modern” banana plug?
Amazing unit . Owned it it since 1973. I Judy purchased a receiver for my surround sound
, a 581 Yamaha and have my turntable . Tape recorder &LCD player hooked up .
Ian going to have the state tech people to,disconnect these units and hook them back to the Sherwood which played a pair of Swedish speakers , the OD 2 . Fantastic .!! .
Much better then the 581 Yamaha connected to Paradgm speakers . The person who,wants to,repsir their Sherwood should get in touch with Columbus radio in Winnipeg Manitoba , Canada
Let me put in a good word about Sherwoods. When shopping for a vintage receiver I settled on a 9910 and have been very pleased. I researched and hunted for six weeks before settling on the Sherwood, which I found in B.C. and had fully refinished by a gentleman in North Florida. A Sherwood presents a quality made receiver that looks great, and with the 9910 puts out some real power. It also has the cachet of being a little unique.
Everyone familiar with top quality receivers from the 60’s – 80’s knows Sherwood. It was sold right along Marantz, etc. My Sherwood performs at a high level and is something other than a Pioneer, Kenwood, Marantz, etc. I saw some great Pioneers while looking and came close to buying, but I’ve never regretted the money I spent on the Sherwood. I had been using a pretty decent Sony 7045 and was shocked at how music genuinely sounds better using the Sherwood 9910.
I have one for sale 708 834 8657
Magic.
Mated with an Adcom GCD-575
&
Altec 891Vs, HPM-100s, Polk Monitor 7Bs & JBL L100s in a series/ parallel network.
I have had numerous AR, CJ, Marantz, Threshold FET-10, CM Labs, QED, etc, etc but never have I heard one unit which does so much, so right.
All electronics have their individual strengths & weaknesses and this ancient receiver isn’t the best in the cosmos at anything except incorporating a lot of everything so well that I’m left fascinated by the music, musicians, and musicianship instead of finding myself focused on the depth, imaging, tonal balance, soundstage, width, detail, airiness, blah blah blah, etc.
Tears, heavy breath, chills, relaxation, life.
Them Sherwood dudes did it right!
I have one that works well that I was thinking of selling. NYC area ..Switch is broken in the on position… all functions work..and has a toggle switch for on/off. Any interest shoot me a note.. hyperhank at yahoo.com
I just bought an 7200 at an estate sale today for 25$ and it works! I’m excited to put it to the test.
I too am a lover of Sherwood and am so happy alot of people turn up thier noses at them-It leaves us that are in the know more to be had! I’m picking up my s8900a today from the shop and can’t wait to get her back home. Now if I could find the optional wc-10 wood case
I have one of these. Love it. Currently on my workbench however needing general repair while a NAD 7220PE currently taking its place. Was powering Bozak 300 speakers, now some nice little Paradigms. I need to replace indicator lights – can we find those ?
I found an S 7200 built in 1973 on eBay. I can’t believe how good it sounds. The screws for the speaker terminals are a bit fussy so you should use thinner gauge wire to make a loop or half circle. Banana plug terminals would probably not be worth the expense. It has a very good tuner and it’s very bassy with the Loudness on, which most guys at least are probably going to like. There’s a Yaqin tube amp, a Pioneer SX-780, a Yamaha CR-620, a Luxman R-115, and an Onkyo R-805X left in a house I lived in. I like them all but if I could only have one I’d take the Sherwood. Much design in the 70s sucked (cars, shopping malls, digital watches, etc.) but consumer audio generally looked good and Sherwood is about the best. It looks simple and elegant and to me looks better than Marantz.
I had this receiver recapped. It took 44! This is not unusual actually, and if you’re getting something that’s 30-50 years old you should absolutely plan to replace capacitors. It’s worth it as it will sound like new.
Thanks for the info on the Sherwood company, very interesting. I have a lot of receivers but this one is my hands-down favorite. The warmth is incredible, and the depth of sound I get recording cassettes with it is unmatched. In fact, that is pretty much all I use it for now is tapemaking. The guy who sold it to me installed an ingenious power switch lever right above the volume knob, fixing the issue with that. The one bad thing about this unit is the speaker hook-ups. They are very close together and it’s easy to accidentally short it out. I’d advise buying some small connectors. I thought about getting banana plugs fitted but I like the look and design of the original unit and don’t want to mess with it. And since I only use this unit for tapemaking, I use headphones exclusively. Anyway, if you get frustrated with tricky speaker connections, keep that in mind. Pretty maddening.
I had a S-7210 I bought new in ’74 and used forever until I needed more power for the speakers and also finally getting a decent sized house. After the power switch broke, I installed a toggle switch from Radio Shack in the tape dubbing hole in the faceplate (since the power switch always fail on) and it looked very nice and unobtrusive. Only issue was the sound thump when turning it off. I sold it in great functional and cosmetic condition in 2018. It was replaced by a used Pioneer SA-8500 which I like very much (but I still should have hung on to the Sherwood).
Got one for $20… Works great on the AUX inputs the right channel is basically non existent on the phono and radios. I could use my preamp for the phono and put it in the aux, but was really hoping to use the phono input. My theory is the selector switch (just deoxed), but need to check with a schematic.
Please cover the S-7800. One of the first transistor receivers, EVER (“FET” – field effect transistors!). My family got one in 1967 when I was a tot. It had 140w of power (2×70) and looked bare bones but worked pretty well. Ours failed at the input selector switch. I was too ham-fisted and had kind of destroyed it trying to diagnose caps by the time I realized it was the selector switch.
I have one for sale in Las Vegas…needs a power switch, and it’s moved several times since I bought it in the 70’s , new. Not sure if it plays since I can’t turn it on! If you’re interested send me a note jruppel46@yahoo.com
I have an S-7200 that I found sitting on the curb 10 years ago, it was rain soaked so I rescued it. I let it dry out for a week before messing with it. I had to replace the fuse in back and it has been a workhorse ever since. I have some highend vintage equipment in my collection, but the Sherwood is my favorite, not a powerhouse for sure but has a great tone. When it finally gives up the ghost you can bet I’ll have it restored.
I have a 7200 and a 7300 by Sherwood, love them both great sound and looks both are mint, don’t use my Marantz 4270 at all and it is partially rebuilt, but love these Sherwood Receivers. Have considered selling the Marantz but would want a 1000.00