Price Paid:  $119.00 from A-V Street.com

Summary:
Bought it in December 2001. Great receiver for the limited in budget. Would loved to have bought a Denon, but couldn't afford the AVR-1802 at the time of purchase. Aside from the lack of DTS processing and S-Video inputs this a great A/V receiver with which to start the AudioPhile journey. The unit does get heated quite often (every day) but I have never had it overheat. This unit has been as reliable as I would expect a Denon to be. Very impressive effort by Sherwood. The remote sucks, but hey $119, come on. What the remote lacks I feel that the unit makes up for. With my limited experience with A/V equipment (2 years or so) I don't know if the following statement has validity or not. The unit makes a very annoying sound (pop) when switching audio formats and layers on DVDs. I am only running 4 speakers with the 5.1 split to them foregoing the Center and Sub channels. Like I said before limited budget. Here's the setup Fronts: JBL HLS-620 Rears: JBL N-26 I find that this unit has no trouble pushing these speakers, without distortion in almost all cases, to the units volume limit. Overall a great unit. Not my first choice for a receiver, but by far destroys all receivers in this price range. Have my eyes set on the Denon AVR-1803, hopefully it won't be long before I can upgrade and finish up the speakers. I highly recommend this receiver or one of the other Sherwood line to anyone who wants to get a receiver and doesn't have enough cash to get their dream receiver. Far exceeded my expectations of any $120 receiver.

Strengths:
Awesome sound for the money. 5.1 Digital processing. Dimming front panel for night viewing. Lots of bang for the buck and sturdy construction.

Weaknesses:
Remote. No fan in the unit (heating up can be a problem) :( Oh well.

Similar Products Used:
Some old Sony 2 channel receiver. Sony pro-logic receiver.

Price Paid:  $119.00 from buy.com

Summary:
Great product at this price. Great audio quality in Dolby Pro Logic, Dolby 5.1, and stereo modes. They say you get what you pay for; in this case I''d argue you get just a little more. This receiver is excellent for a den or other secondary application. If you are a true home theater enthusiast, you''ll definitely want to consider another receiver.

Strengths:
Easy to connect and set up. Optical and coax digital inputs for Dolby digital sources.

Weaknesses:
Cannot process DTS or PCM digital audio data. No S-VHS connections.

Similar Products Used:
Denon 2802 and Sony STR-DE545.

Price Paid:  $139.00 from Circuit City

Summary:
I'm very happy with this receiver except for the silly design weaknesses. The power output is fine for me. My Pioneer does 100Wx2 so I figured if the 65W of the Sherwood for the front channels wouldn't be loud enough, I could use the Sherwood's wonderful preouts and let the Pioneer take over the fronts. The price is the main reason I bought this receiver. If I had paid much more, I would have returned it due to it's less than perfect signal routing behaviors. But maybe most Dolby Digital receivers are similar in behavior.

Strengths:
super clean 24-bit DAC, 6ch preouts, 6ch input, quiet (no fan), 2 digital inputs, when you enable the sleep timer it displays GOOD NIGHT

Weaknesses:
powered subwoofer preout not enabled in stereo listening or dolby pro-logic, which is not cool; must use the remote to put the unit in standby because the power button on the receiver switches the mains; can't run digital stereo inputs through the tape monitor; the heat coming through the top vents will roast anything on top of it; the DSP modes are poor

Similar Products Used:
Pioneer VSX-454 (piece o' crud for Pro Logic decoding!)

Price Paid:  $179.00 from Fry's

Summary:
There is no question the olde audio cliche about one getting what one pays for is generally true - 20-plus years of audio addiction has proven that to me time and again.
But then again, sometimes you run into a product like the 6090 A/V receiver. It is that rare avian, a real bargain. For less than $200, you get more than enough power for most listening needs and environments (65 per in 5.1 mode), crystalline Dolby Digital decoding, a very respectable pre-amp section and (even rarer for A/V gear) quite easy to set up and enjoy.
Playing through Infinity fronts and center speakers, Klipsch rears and a Paradigm sub (all of which are, admittedly, quite efficient units), the 6090R does the home theater obstacle course (Gladiator, Terminator 2, Jurassic Park and Amadeus) with minimal fuss and considerable grunt. Clarity is the primary virtue, even when clipping approaches. This thing can't be used in huge spaces (mine is about 12' by 15'), but in your average den or family room, the 6090R more than fills the space.
Just as importantly (for this reviewer anyway), the 6090R handles music-only demands with finesse and real musicality - whether in 5.1 mode or in regular olde stereo (remember stereo, kiddies?). Hard rock (Metallica, Pantera, Iron Maiden et al) crunches satisfyingly; be-bop (Monk, Miles, Ornette, Coltrane) has real immediacy and warmth; and classical has shape, focus and a very tangible sweetness.
Okay, there are compromises: The tuner is barely adequate, with hissy stereo locks the norm. The remote control spends 80% of its real estate on other Sherwood components you probably don't have, rather than allowing buttons for a number of important A/V functions. And this unit, I discovered after taking it home and hooking it up, WILL NOT play DTS-encoded DVDs without hooking up the 6-channel inputs from a DTS-capable DVD player with those outputs (check around, there aren't many for less than $400), despite promises to the contrary from the 6090's face and controls, the owner's manual AND Sherwood's own Website. (For your info, the Sherwood 6095R, for about $50 more, DOES accept optical/coaxial digital inputs for DTS and Dolby Digital. You live, you learn, right?)
In sum, though, this unit is quite the bargain, and an ideal starting point for that all-important First Decent Home Theater Setup. By all means seek it out.

Strengths:
musicality, clarity, (relative) ease of use

Weaknesses:
tuner section not the best in the world, NOT DTS-capable (as it declares on face and in manual)

Similar Products Used:
Pioneer, Technics, H/K, Denon

Price Paid:  $180.00 from Circuit City

Summary:
For the price this reciever can't be beat. Perfect for a bedroom setup where you don't need high volumes. I don't think I can replace my Sony with it in the living room, but for the bedroom it sounds just as good.

Strengths:
Both Dolby digital and 5.1 inputs.

Weaknesses:
No DTS, low power.

Similar Products Used:
Sony STR-DA30ES