RadioShack/Realistic/Optimus branded audio hardware: were there any gems in the bunch?

From 1969 to the mid 1970s, Realistic brand reel to reel and cassette decks, and similar systems with speakers, were made by Hitachi. Hitachi had little US stereo component distribution then, but Hitachi had some models of both types that were listed in the guides that were identical or nearly so to RS. Hitachi may have made other things too for RS. "Gems", I don't know, but I bet they were ok for the price and times.

 

I had a Realistic CD player made by Sanyo. It sounded horrible, but I didn't know that until I bought a better Sony player in 1990.

 

Optimus Pro LX5 speakers:

 

I bought a pair of those too - they were cheap and the Linaem (sp.) tweeter was outstanding, with very wide dispersion. Not so great for the rest of the sound, but OK.

 

FYI: Miracord was not their idea, it was a respected turntable manufacturer they bought from.

LECTROACUSTIC GmbH is a German company best known in most parts of the world as ELAC or Miracord.

Their turntables from primarily the 1950s through 1970s are very well known. They were distributed in the USA by Benjamin Electronic Sound Corp. who sometimes re-badged them as Benjamin Miracord. In Canada, they were distributed by White Electronic Development Corp. Ltd.

In the late 1940s they introduce their first turntable using the ELAC brand name and produce 5600 the first year.

They will eventually produce approximately 4 million turntables.

 

Haven't been in a Radio Shack in years (we have one left here). I went to their website and it looks like the sell HDMI Cables and cell phones. I went into the "Receivers" section and there was nothing of interest there. I guess they don't really deal in audio equipment any more? Totally unrelated to the thread this reminded me that in 1996 the Radio Shack where I grew up had a murder. In 1996 the Radio Shack I used to frequent in Knoxville, TN was robbed and the clerk was murdered. A really quiet, low crime area I remember being shocked at the news.

Looks like the Realistic brand ceased production in 2000. I remember my brother had this one (and he probably still has it and still uses it, I will ask him).

 

I have a pair of ancient Minimus 7's. Indestructible.

 

Man, Realistic was my gateway drug to this hobby.

I went from a Juliette portable cassette recorder, eventually hooked up to my guitar amplifier, to a Realistic stereo receiver and turntable. Thought I was in audiophile heaven, right? This was the late 60s. I went through more pieces for many years, including two different quad setups (but that didn't last long).

Today, even though I've graduated to other brands, I still use every day a pair of Realistic Linarium speakers (like these below) in my office system. Say what you want, I remember the Radio Shack, Realistic, Optimus and Archer names fondly. "You never know what you've got till it's gone."

 

I still have a pair of all metal box 2- way speakers I bought from Radio Shack about 25 years ago to use with my first Pioneer Receiver for surround speakers. They were built very well for I believe the $120 I spent on them.

 

Born in 1966 I remember Radio Shack stuff as being for the most part junk. In the 90s they used Pioneer to OEM a lot of the stuff which was very obviously re-branded.

I've learned since that their more expensive stuff was actually pretty good. Occasionally they had some gems. Those Linaeum tweeter speakers were LOVED for home theater - the dispersion pattern was fantastic for surround sound. The LAB-4xx turntables were good for a few years - notable the LAB-400, 420, 440 which were OEMed by CEC, who built for a number of makers, but AFAIK only sold under their own brand in Japan proper. The family resemblance to similar vintage CEC (Japanese), Marantz, and Rotel tables is easily apparent.

I love this turntable that I got a few years ago on Craigslist for $50. My system is nowhere near "high end" but this gets the job done for me.

 

P.S. I'm also using a passive PRO SWS 500 sub with a 10" driver from Optimus in my office - and it sounds really fantastic to my ears.

 

The Realistic TR-802 was one of the finest 8-track players/recorders ever built. Did it sound as good as a Wollensack or Akai? No, but it sounded nice, wasn't as finicky and would play nearly anything you could throw at it. Plus, it made great recordings--well, as great as an 8-track could be, which is maybe not so great. I still use mine sometimes, and it's gotten far more use over the years than the Wollensack or Roberts/Akai.

 

Beautiful units. I think having the Realistic name turned some people away. I know I didn't think they were worth buying, but funny thing is, these units were probably a lot better than the Sansui 8080 I had that ruined many speakers.

 

I bought a pair of those for the heck of it. No thanks.

 

It was the Optimus CD-3400. Radio Shack Optimus CD-3400 portable CD player »
Seems like there were a few mods and tweaks recommended to get the best sound out of these. I had one that added
a "tick... tick... tick..." sound to one channel only.

 

I remember in the early 80's my friend was shopping for a boombox. We went out looking at all the usual suspects (Sony, Sanyo, Pioneer, etc), his last stop was Radio Shack. The Realistic boombox was at least 75 bucks more than the others he was looking at, the salesman had the gift of gab and talked him into buying the RS model. Three months later the knobs were falling off, it was eating his tapes and eventually the speakers crapped out. He was not a happy camper as he worked all summer to save up the cash.

 

I always found the RS fuses and resistors handy in a pinch!

 

I could never bring myself to buy a RatShack component back in the day.

But their premium interconnects with the gold (or was it "gold") connectors were good performers.

I still have a long-run pair providing daily service in the 2-ch room.

 

I have one of those for 8-track restorations. The electronics were pretty terrible, so I transfer flat and equalize it in software. All the machine needs to do is pull the tape across the head and change tracks.

 

The RS interconnects weren't bad at all, I still use several. Plus the fattest RS speaker wire.

 

The radio station had an account there, so I could just go and charge the stuff needed to keep us on the air. And back then, they actually had good inventory. I needed a regulator transistor for a cart machine... and they HAD it! I sure do miss those days.

 

My friend had the first minimus bookshelf speakers- light wood with beige grilles. they sounded really good.

 

Yes I remember those speakers well. They did sound good particularly for how small they were.

 

My God, I used to LIVE in Radio Shack.

 

they were great for the amateur electronics tinkerer. i built a set of speakers when i was in high school sourced from radio shack drivers and crossovers and they had them all in stock at the store! - including 15" woofers and horn tweeters and all the crossover parts!