Sherwood RX-4508 bluetooth receiver

First of all, thanks very much for those reviews, they were very interesting and informative. I can’t figure out the high price either. One reviewer said it was 459 Euro, perhaps that was really in Dutch Guilders or something like that.

The Amazon price of $150 is right in the ballpark, I think.

Have fun with your 4508!:)
 
Not trying to revive any of the tension and drama from earlier on this thread, but rather trying to get it back to a proper discussion of the Sherwood. And I appreciated your level headed thoughts expressed earlier.

However, it's not exactly a $100 receiver. I get your point though. I PAID $133 at a discounted rate. The original MSRP on the RX-4508 was something like $569.00 when they were introduced. I have no idea if anyone ever paid that much, but that's what I read in one of the reviews I posted last year. How could it possibly be a $133.00 receiver? Back when I bought my first receiver in 1978, a Pioneer SX-650, that $133.00 would have bought $34.00 worth of electronics. Conversely the $250.00 that an SX-650 cost in 1978 would equate around $1000 today. Something doesn't add up because this certainly isn't $34.00 worth of electronics in todays world.

Am I making any sense? :rflmao:
As for the price, I base my opinion on the fact it's been available at this price point for yrs, and could be purchased locally as well as online at numerous locations at the price. Watts are cheap these days, so 100 watt receivers are cheap, this isn't a bad thing, it is what it is.
 
I recently acquired a used Insignia (Best Buy) NS-STR514 receiver and thought of this thread. After taking a closer look I’m fairly certain the Sherwood and the Insignia are clones with a slightly different layout on the front panel. (EDIT: I see Drumolator mentioned Insignia earlier. EDIT #2: not quite a functional clone, the Insignia doesn’t have a phono section).

The build quality Isn’t bad. A really beefy transformer, a discrete amp section, and nice binding posts. Also note the jumpers galore — never seen so many in any unit. Not sure what that’s all about.

As for sound, it was really thin until I bumped up the bass a bit, but it now actually sounds pretty good.

Here are some nudies.

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Yes, with the exception of the Sherwood's phono input, the Insignia's audio input on the faceplate and the slight variation of the controls positioning they are identical units. Clearly from the same manufacturer and Branded under the Sherwood and Insignia names.
Still very happy with my RX-4508 after nearly two years of service.

 
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It had been mentioned that when using a phone or tablet to play music by bluetooth a person can use the remote to change tracks. My question is, when playing music over bluetooth, does information about the track show on the display? Artist, album, song title, that sort of thing?

I've wondered the same thing about the display capabilities on the cheap Yamahas, but have never found any information.
 
Yes, the remote can be used to play, pause and skip tracks from the connected device. There is no track info displayed whatsoever, not even a track number. It would be nice if it did do that though.
The display simply reflects the commands.
BT PLAY
BT PAUSE
BT FSKIP
BT BSKIP
 
Yes, the remote can be used to play, pause and skip tracks from the connected device. There is no track info displayed whatsoever, not even a track number. It would be nice if it did do that though.
The display simply reflects the commands.
BT PLAY
BT PAUSE
BT FSKIP
BT BSKIP

Thanks. I thought that might be the case. Darned shame, but par for the course. You have to give up some things to keep those prices low. Plus, I guess if you are sending from a phone or tablet you can always just glance at those screens for the info, so no big deal.
 
It's really not an inconvenience at all. I'm always bluetoothing from my PC which is in the same room as the receiver so the info is right there.
002.jpg
 
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As a guy who has owned and used a number of Sherwood receivers, I have some suggestions for you.

The owners manual shows the clearance needed to allow the unit to breath properly. Be sure to follow the distances recommended! I lost a 4109 because I didn't follow those guidelines.

The recommended speaker impedance is a minimum of 8 ohms. Follow those instructions! Playing 4 ohm speakers is a recipe for early failure of the unit. 6 ohm speakers are borderline and if you use them play close attention to heat buildup and try not to play them too loudly. Safest is to stick with 8 ohm speakers.

If you are an old hand, you are used to wiring your speakers to the receiver connectors as + - + - the new way they, and others, work is + - - +. Positive on the outside and negative on the inside, this give less chance of a short. If you use the old method and then wire your speakers +- +-, you will have an out of phase system.

I like that Sherwood continues to have a phono input. Bluetooth will open up your choices to limitless sources available on the internet. On my iMac I use My Tuner Radio Pro app to program in my favorite sources. Wonderful choices out there!

Have fun!:music:
 
I am interested in hearing from the person who complained about his 4508 shutting down on numerous times and he returned it. Can you tell us what the impedance of your speakers were?
 
I remember selling Sherwood and the Sherwood Newcastle receivers way back when. Sherwood is quite a venerable name in this industry, but unfortunately not that well known, because you don't see many or any ads for them, like you would other popular brands. I still highly recommend them because it's hard to outperform them within the same price range or even a bit higher.
Personally speaking, I would choose a Sherwood over many popular brands in the market. When it comes to Bluetooth audio, I say pass, and use a wired connection, unless you like the "convenience" factor as opposed to sound quality.
 
I use my iPad and run “My Tuner Pro” on it. If you have Bluetooth on your amplifier or receiver, either built-in or via a Bluetooth adaptor connected to an aux input, the iPad becomes a super tuner with world-wide reception.

To tell the truth I have not noticed the audio being poorer because of Bluetooth reception.
 
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