Sherwood S-8900 vs 8900A vs 7200

[59volvo]

any one who has these can comment on the SQ of the original S-8900 vs the 8900 "A" vs the 7200? was the 8900 "A" made by a contractor in Japan - like Foster or in Chicago like the 8900?

 

[jpreza]

I have an S-8900 that I'm in the process of restoring.

 

[Robie]

I have an 8900A, 7200, 7100A, and 7100. None have been completely gone through by a tech. Only the 8900A was made in the US.

Of all of those, I think the best sounding is the 7200. That's just my opinion but all are very nice receivers with great tuners.

 

[A23gt]

The 8900 and 8900a were made in the USA and are more powerful. They also sound more modern that the S7200. They have a more clinical sound than the S7200. The S7200 sounds more tube like for some reason. For the price I found the S7200 to be excellent. I have all three and won’t part with any. My S8900 is on the long list of to be serviced, but is still a nice sounding receiver.

 

[Keving3]

The 8900 and 8900a were made in the USA and are more powerful. They also sound more modern that the S7200. They have a more clinical sound than the S7200. The S7200 sounds more tube like for some reason. For the price I found the S7200 to be excellent. I have all three and won’t part with any. My S8900 is on the long list of to be serviced, but is still a nice sounding receiver.

I'm pretty sure the 7200 had output capacitors, also was under 30 wpc, the 8900a used darlington outputs, was direct coupled at 60 wpc, sounded fantastic until the outputs blew.
Sherwood's engineers learned a hard lesson regarding transistor specs vs real world usage. They were driving TO-3 outputs with teeny weeny TO-92 drivers Poof!!