Any opinions on the Realistic Mach One speakers?

They had several much earlier speakers models that sounded vastly superior....I have a few of them. At best those horrid sounding things were only just meant to be the ultimate expression of a kids over-sized boombox for sound.

 

Does that show you lack of experience in listening to a wide array of speakers, or your hate of the Mach One?

I have heard them numerous times at a friends home in his basement set up, and they are not even close to Horrible.
They are not refined and detailed, but simply middle of the road sound wise, but able to do really loud and strong bass well.

They will walk all over most smaller speakers in regards to sheer power, and volume.
They are not the last word in refinement, but are actually fairly listenable.
They work great on Classic Rock and stuff that was never audiophile to begin with.

With his EQ bumped up at 32Hz, they literally shake the walls.

I would rate them somewhat similar to some of the larger Cerwin Vega speakers, but not as efficient and a bit less forward.

 

"They will walk all over most smaller speakers in regards to sheer power, and volume."
Hhahahahah! Why would you even say that?

They are FAR from a small speaker, how in the world would that comparison even make a shred of sense???
they had a 15", I would hope that had some bass.
They were total trash, period.

I've heard enough speakers in the last 48+ years including more than a few systems with those piece's of garbage to know trash when I hear it.

Radio Shack had a hell of a lot of different models over the years, I have 3 different ones laying around right now from their glory days, and the Mach One was easily among their worst ever "Top of the line" speaker.

It was not some mid or lower level offering, it was supposed to be their best, at $200 each, and their boast was "if you like the sound and feel of wall shaking bass you'll love this speaker"!

Certainly not a description of something no one other than someone who wanted to make as much noise as possible would want.

 

There is a very long, very comprehensive thread on the Realistic "Mach" series on AudioKarma that gets very detailed on the speakers and how to wring every last ounce of performance possible. (Think: extensive crossover mods.) They also get into various suitable substitute drivers to replace unobtanium originals. For anyone with a pair, it's an interesting read on many facets of speaker design, pitfalls of designing for a price point, and how newer measurement and crossover techniques applied to these older models of speakers can unlock hidden potential in them. Plus if you like to get your hands dirty, parts lists, instructions, and vendors for implementing the various crossover mods etc. are also there.

Mach One 4024, 4024A, 4029 Information and Upgrades! | Audiokarma Home Audio Stereo Discussion Forums

 

Yawn...............

 

I had a pair of these running in my boathouse system two summers ago. I needed something that was loud and pumped out a lot of bass as they were being used in more of a PA application than an audiophile situation. Was driving them with an old Realistic STA-2100 receiver of the same vintage as the speakers.

Depending on what was being played and how loud it was being played, I'd describe the sound as "musical" but definitely not detailed nor anywhere near a "reference" type of sound. They were cheap and loud and had a bunch-o-bass which is what I going for. I got what I paid for. YMMV

 

I was one of those young and poor lads with barely a crapster stereo to hang my records on so many hours consumed paging thru Radio Shack catalogs back then. I couldn't afford a thing out of those pages cept maybe a record cleaning brush. Mach 1's were on the front page I believe in one or more of their catalogs. So maybe 10 years ago I saw a pair on Craiglist for next to nothing and picked them up. Well, they stunk.

 

Your thread is puzzling OP; you are 51 years old, a member here since 2005 and list an all McIntosh system (including speakers) in your profile. Other than an irrational childhood fascination, why are you messing with these?

Edit: My bad, this thread was started over 11 years ago! I seriously doubt any of this is actually relevant anymore. The real question is, did OP end up convincing himself that he really liked/needed these?

 

There were actually several "versions" of the speaker sold by RS, with slight driver differences, and some are more favored than others. How much you like or dislike them depends on which particular model you've got.

 

My memories of this speaker are incredibly bad. So-so components in a poorly designed enclosure, at least in the examples I experienced personally.

 

I agree largely, but... I have not heard every large CV, but the Mach One cannot hold a candle to my 311p. The 311p is clearly superior in every way. And supeerior to most other CV's I have heard. I have tried to love my Mach Ones I bought at an estate auction 12 years ago(for 16 USD!), but I just cannot. I have tried them in different configurations (tube. ss, home theatre). They just seem to be lacking something that I cannont pin down. I have no doubt the crossover mods would help considerably, but too many other projects have kept me from that. I am keeping the Machs. Maybe some day I will get into the working of them.

 

They are right up there with the Klipsch Heresy and JBL L100 as far as love em or hate em.

 

Mach One, I've played with Heresy/L100. I know Heresy/L100. Heresy/L100 were friends of mine. Mach One, you're no Heresy/L100.

 

They are not worth enough to bother selling if you are still enjoying them. I would fill them with damping/stuffing, put some cross-bracing in, coat the inside of the cabinets with vibration absorbent compound. I did that for a friend's husband's speakers and the transformation was dramatic.
Step 2 would be to post on maybe DIYAudio.com asking if someone(s) would be willing to help you measure the speakers and redesign the crossovers to improve the sound. THAT would be a really cool project!

 

These were called the 4024, 4024A and 4029? A four digit model name beginning with ‘4’, with revisions denoted by a letter added to the end? Looks to me they are borrowing from JBL’s playbook (4311, 4311B, 4312, 4320, 4343, etc).

 

There was a thread on another forum about exactly that.
http://www.levlhed.com/docs/tier1.pdf
It also had ideas to fix a few things that after many years get ruined from just aging and ruin the sound a good bit.

(Foam in the midrange horn driver that degrades, and slight capacitor changes that fix some issues also)

The Mods are not drastic, but a bit tedious. Helped my friend do this on his set, and admittedly it did alter the sound a good bit for the better.

So, not sure if many that heard the Mach one, are hearing it in it's Full glory, or hearing the effects of the bad caps and Mid range driver issues mostly.
Remember we are talking in many cases speakers that are literally over 35 years old.

Still not a great speaker, even after the mods, but truly far from horrible in any way.

 

I too was a teen in the 70's and lusted after these. Honestly, I think anyone my age that says they didn't is being less than truthful!

The first time I saw Ruthless People, The Mach One was what came to mind when they showed the Dominators. No they weren't expensive, but they were out of reach for me so they may as well been thousands a pair. I had to make due with my Minimus7's (Still the greatest thing ever sold by RS and a true classic) that is until I got my Epicure 10's and Kenwood KA3500. Isnt that where we all started? lol