Are you looking to get a stereo cheap? A few weeks ago, I came across a couple of interesting stereo components that could have led me to the construction of a pretty nice sub-$30 old school stereo.
First, in a Goodwill in the far flung suburbs of Atlanta, I found two stereo receivers for $24.99 each. The first component was a Sherwood RX-4100 receiver. It's a 105 watt 2-channel stereo unit with 0.05 THD distortion. The Sherwood RX-4100 Stereo Receiver
received mixed reviews on Amazon.com due primarily to the lack of tone controls. If you need a manual for this stereo receiver it can be found on manualslib.com.
received mixed reviews on Amazon.com due primarily to the lack of tone controls. If you need a manual for this stereo receiver it can be found on manualslib.com.  |
| Sherwood RX-4100 Stereo Receiver |
The second component was an Insignia 200 watt stereo reciever. Insignia is well known as the house brand of Best Buy.
Finally, a solitary Lxi brand single-disc CD player was selling just down the aisle for just under $4. Of course, the $20,000 question remains: will a $4 CD player work? It did power on and off. The door also opened and closed. A simple CD player from Goodwill just might work. It's the multi-disc CD players that get clunky.
That's a lot of stereo for $29. Of course, speakers are another matter. However, I've often seen mondo speakers for as low as $20 a pair. Small bookshelf speakers could go for as little as $10. As long as you can see that there are no tears in a speaker cone and that the foam surrounds around a speaker are intact, you almost can't go wrong with speakers from a thrift store. However, there are also some great speaker deals on the Internet.
We live in an era when any resourceful kid can put together a great stereo. We are lucky to be living in the twilight of a golden age of stereo technology.
