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Realistic 2100D receiver


Rxonmymind

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Paired to my Bells. Prior to having it sent off the receiver exhibited fading left to right and just lack of overall Sonic's from top to bottom. 

Just got it back after over a year wait. Allow me to give a shout out to Randy Buckner with Out west vintage audio. An engineer by trade and perhaps a 1%'er when it comes to the quality of work he performs. My wife, daughter and I got to meet him in AZ when I had my Marantz 2500 recapped and his his wonderful wife offered their place to stay the night at their home instead of a hotel. Don't meet people like that too often. 

Anyway, packing was outstanding without any issues. Plugged it in and for the last several days I've playing this non stop to compare it to my Marantz. Approximately 70 caps were changed out with new soft start power and power filter caps. 

It's definitely a hard hitting receiver. It has authority and grip on all spectrum of sound in the music. While it lacks the smoothness and refinement of the Marantz as it leans a tad more towards it being a party/work out receiver I've had no ear fatigue after hours of listening. It has a tad more touch in the bass than the Marantz and I'd characterize that as "faster" while the strings on the guitar are plucked with a little more force. Again, the comparison are hardly noticeable unless you are sitting here and comparing going back and forth between the two with the same music. My wife and kids didn't notice a difference while my wife really likes.it. You can count me in that group. The best part of all this? Having a wife supportive of this hobby and a daughter singing while we are playing Otrio tic tac toe on the living room floor listening to the Bells.

About as best life can get. 

Cheers

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just did an extensive A& B test with this receiver against the Marantz 2500 which Randy also recapped. Had several hours to myself on Thursday nursing a bummed knee that swelled up which was my first experience with such an "injury". Odd to say the least. 

Anyway the test as imperfect as can be, is easily summed up as a near tie as far as my ears are concerned. Keeping both volume as near  identical as I could and using a Cheeky CD on the Yamaha CD-1.

Grading in detail & bloom, attack & decay, soundstage and grip on the music.

In all these both were virtually tied with the Marantz on some tracks offering a bit more soundstage. Take a shaker for example on some jazz tracks and they went wide beyond the speakers on either right or left side where the Realistic stayed in the speakers. But the the virtual vice grip the Realistic had on bass was welcomed while in some guitar strings had more tangible "echo" this revealing a tad bit more detail. Stopping some of the music every 20 seconds and dissecting it while flipping back and forth offered insight to both receivers. Then I let the song flow to get a feel for it's entire length and honestly I can be happy with either in rotation. But just to show how far technology has come neither were able to detail a chair being knocked over in the background on Rebecca Pigeon Spanish Rose solo as it did on the Wharfdale Denton. On the other hand the Denton's don't come close to letting her breath as natural as the Klipsch. With the Klipsch she is HERE as if standing in front of me.

Anyway, glad to have another outstanding back up. If you do want a monster receiver I'd highly recommend a Realistic 2100 and no need to get a Marantz 2500. 

Cheers.

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Just had an "extensive" listen to the Sony str 7055 vs the Realistic 2100 today. To say it was a TKO would have been an understatement. After a listen to the Sony I switched to the Realistic and immediately started to laugh a little. It was no contest. Ever have one of those face offs? 

The Realistic just knocked it out in every category while the biggest area was the shear authority it commanded in the bass department and overall control of the music. But again it's 55 watt vs 120 watt yet,  it's more than watts at play here. My wife even commented it sounded much better than the Sony going further, said it's better than the Marantz 2500!  

Well, crap. I think she's right. Anywho, the Sony in this second round match got the boot from the bedroom. Didn't think it was possible. 

Thanks for the read. 

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Sony has been kind of famous for being crappy in the sound department.  My brother in law went through a few and I heard them all, and that confirmed what others have said here---sony audio is horrible.  Someone here might know who manufactured the realistic, I don't.

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1 hour ago, oldtimer said:

Someone here might know who manufactured the realistic

The STA 2100D and STA2300 were Fostex 

 

49 minutes ago, MookieStl said:

Plus it is useful during the winter months to help heat the room.

The 2080 can double as a popcorn popper. 

 

On 1/19/2019 at 12:09 AM, Rxonmymind said:

Just did an extensive A& B test with this receiver against

Doing that is the only way I can find a keeper. Glad you like yours. They are bass heavy and that's something the Belle can use. I had the Rat Shack STA78, STA2080, STA2300 receivers and the SA2001 amp and matching tuner...Now I have seller's remorse. 

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6 hours ago, oldtimer said:

Sony has been kind of famous for being crappy in the sound department.  My brother in law went through a few and I heard them all, and that confirmed what others have said here---sony audio is horrible.  Someone here might know who manufactured the realistic, I don't.

Well, it's not that it's crap just something was better. Having been fully restored it's actually an excellent receiver. It's able to reveal little details like a chair being knocked over WAY in the background in Rebecca Pigeon Spanish Harlem that's very difficult with say some others I've had. Some songs that use a fluttering sound  from one speaker to another one is able to follow it distinctly from left to right. So it's strength is being really smooth non offensive. Where the Realistic is forward, more powerful in it's presentation. That has it's cons sometimes in long listening session and may be the case six months from now. It's definitely has a wow factor right now. 

 

 

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4 hours ago, Woofers and Tweeters said:

The STA 2100D and STA2300 were Fostex 

 

The 2080 can double as a popcorn popper. 

 

Doing that is the only way I can find a keeper. Glad you like yours. They are bass heavy and that's something the Belle can use. I had the Rat Shack STA78, STA2080, STA2300 receivers and the SA2001 amp and matching tuner...Now I have seller's remorse. 

You are spot on. It's bass is definitely a tad heavy. Had to knock down the bass knob to neutral. Otherwise, very um, " I'm here!" Type of receiver. Lol. 

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21 hours ago, oldtimer said:

Sony has been kind of famous for being crappy in the sound department.  My brother in law went through a few and I heard them all, and that confirmed what others have said here---sony audio is horrible.  Someone here might know who manufactured the realistic, I don't.

Sony ES in the mids to late 2000s was decent..... Overpriced?  Sure.   But Def decent. 

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