Radio Shack Optimus STAV-3100 and STA-2170 - 100WPC made by Sherwood

Are you looking for a good receiver? “Sure would!” That was actually a stupid joke in the 90s my friends and I had, because we had Sherwood stereo components and car amps.
So after a little bit of digging, it looks like two receivers I’m showing tonight are made by Sherwood, for RadioShack Optimus.And I have to say I’m pretty impressed with the build quality, ergonomics, and sound output. This is around the tail end of where I stop collecting.
First is the STAV-3100. This is an AV receiver with a lot of features including -20db muting, hi and low filters, and dubbing buttons. Also has a remote. I picked this up last weekend on Facebook marketplace locally for really cheap. There was nothing wrong with it. I cleaned it out and it’s working fine.
Second, I’ve had an Optimus STA-2170 receiver in my collection for a few years, I picked it up at Goodwill for like $10. It’s also 100 watts per channel and unfortunately has a very cheesy power meter. But who is to complain, the following year there probably were no power meters whatsoever and have been gone ever since.
Both of these units have a similar gain and sound profile, and if I were a betting person, the 2170 is newer because it has less clear plastic and fewer buttons. Which was the transition to 90s receivers. These are not direct comparisons to each other, but generally, the trend would be for things to be a little more simplistic as the 90s evolved.
That said I’m going to give both of them a work out tonight. Definitely great sound quality and both are putting out solid 100 watts with discrete transistors.
I predict that very soon RadioShack will get their time in the collectors spotlight, I find nothing wrong with what they did over the years. There are a couple monster receivers from the late 70s which already gain attention, but I think they are going to have their time in the spotlight very soon.
Final note that distortion is from the phone recording, my ears are in pain!

[@AudioElectronicsChicago]

I like these 👍🏻