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My Tube Sherwoods
   

The great variety of cosmetic and technical design makes collecting Sherwoods very interesting. I have 4 integrated amplifiers, as of yet - two S-5500II's and two S-5000's - mk II and IV, respectively. At the picture the S-5500's at the left, the 5000's to the right. The top 5500 is an early version. This can be seen by the power rating - "64 watts amplifier" and the square letters used at the front. The lower one is also a mk II-version, but the power rating is now: "80 watts amplifier" and the lettering has been changed to italics. A difference in the controls can also clearly be seen. A phono input sensitivity control is added and there has been a rearrangement of the other knobs. "Double-concentric" controls are fewer.

One particularly nice feature on the earlier versions of the Sherwood amplifiers, is the "level" control. This is a sort of second volume control that makes adjustment of the "loudness" - meaningful.

 When the loudness switch is engaged you get a bass/treble lift at lower volumes. (To compensate for the deficiencies of your hearing). However, this can never be correct if you cannot adjust the volume relative to the various input levels or the sensitivity of your speakers. At the 5000's a similar "evolution" can be seen. On the lower unit, obviously a later production run, lettering is also changed to italics and, like-wise, a phono input level control is added. However, they have deleted the headphone socket, which, in my opinon, is a drawback. There is also a difference in the "double" controls, which can be seen on the 5500, too. Both the 5000's are "80-watt" amplifiers. The interiors also have many variations, to the extenct that the user manual often do not correspond to "real" life. Speaker connection mode also differs and only one of my Sherwood integrated amps have hum controls. A control I find very useful. They all work beautifully - not a lamp or knob missing. Anybody got a couple of cabinets?
 
   

The Sherwood tuners have, if possible, even greater variety than the amplifiers. Sherwood had an important position in the tuner market. They had the most sensitive, quietest and selective tuners of all the "consumer" brands. At the picture can be seen, at the left, two pieces of S-3000IV. The front controls are identical, but the lettering has the same variation as on the amplifiers - "square" and "italic". My mk IV's have interior stereo decoders and are very flexible. In addition to the front control AFC in/out and "hush" in/out, there is a also a "blend" control - selectable "hush". On the backside is an output level control and there are interior (stereo) balance and separation (stereo) controls. But the output jacks are positioned at different places.

In the middle is a S-2000 mk II. It has the golden trim of the older models and "square" lettering. My 2000 is mono, but has provision for connecting to an exterior stereo decoder. At the backside are outputs for FM signal and "MPX" - which is the output signal to the eventual decoder. It has both an FM and AM tuner. The signal strength can be monitored on a vertical front panel tube. The S-2000 is supported by a S-9000, one of Sherwood's first solid-state amplifiers.

 The coolest of my Sherwood tuners is, in my opinion, the S-2200 - top right. This is a FM/AM tuner with provisions for FM/AM multiplexing. That is - stereo reception combining both the FM and AM bands. At the same time it is ready for mounting an interior separate pure FM stereo decoder. At the front are several push-buttons for on/off, FM, AM and adjustable "hush". On the backside are separate level controls for FM/AM. It has the golden front trim. My S-2200 has a rather shabby front panel, even if all the controls are working, but the interior is extremely clean. Which makes me wonder if somebody has used its original front for another unit. My prettiest Sherwood is the S-3000V tuner - lower right. It is clean through and through - works beautifully, too. The 3000 mk V was, to my knowledge, the last tube tuner Sherwood made. Excluding the receivers which continued with tube tuners for some time. It has copper chassis, as have the mk IV's, too - the front controls are simplified to a bare minimum. The left knob is a combined on/off/level control. The two slider switches hush and AFC on/off. It has a "modern" d'Arsonval center tuning meter. Same as they used on the receivers. I am missing a few cabinets, tuning knobs and rubber feet, but I am working on it
 

 

 

  

"The Lone Ranger" - my only Sherwood tube receiver - a modell S-8000 IV. Which, to my knowledge, was their final tube receiver model. It works admirably, but is lacking both cabinet and rubber feet. It is supported by - so it shall not be too lonely, a S-7900A. Which is only befitting as the S-7900A was the top receiver model in the seventies. I also have a S-8900A, which is the pure FM model. The S-8000 also is pure FM - the S-7700 had AM as well. The FM tuner of the 8000 can be compared to the separate tuners. It has a d'Arsonval tuning meter. The 8000IV has the same type of power amp as the 80-watts 5000/5500 integrated amps. It is also very flexible with phono input adjustment at the front, selector for reverse/mono, and hush level. One particularly useful control that all Sherwood amplifiers have, is the phase reverse switch. It has separate tone controls for each channel. While the front is extremely clean, the copper chassis is only about 7/8 on my unit. 
 
 
My e-mail address is:
frleand@online.no