white_shadow Posted July 16, 2004 Share Posted July 16, 2004 Whatever happened to realistic. I'm curious. Were they related to Radio Shack? A friend of mine had one (an amp) donated by a soon to be father in law, and it rocks. It came with a set of Pioneer bookshelf speakers. We replaced the woofers in the speakers with new ones we had on hand and were amazed, at both the amp and speakers. On the amp side, it looked to be 30-40 years old. I know its not from the 80's, because the 80's produced nothing but junk. For example Yugos, mullets, INXS, beta, Video Disc, and David Hasselhof. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBrennan Posted July 16, 2004 Share Posted July 16, 2004 Beta was superior to VHS in picture quality, it was certainly not junk. As for video disc; well laserdiscs were FAR superior to VHS and Beta in both picture and sound and was the finest home video format until 2nd and 3rd generation DVD players. THe RCA capacitive disc system also had a better picture than VHS and Beta. There was an early digital format on small discs that looked like Hell though, can't recall the format's name. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgb Posted July 16, 2004 Share Posted July 16, 2004 I think Realistic was just Radio Shaks "House" brand. They changed it to Optimus later, now I don't even know if they have a brand. I think they sell RCA now. Don't know if Realistic was always a R.S. brand though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mighty Favog Posted July 16, 2004 Share Posted July 16, 2004 It pretty much was, Tandy was another one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
picky Posted July 16, 2004 Share Posted July 16, 2004 From what I understand about this, Radio Shack was formerly owned by the Tandy Corporation. "Realistic" is one of Tandy's product brandnames. I further understood that "Optimus" (another Tandy Brand) was a sort of "step-up" from the Realistic Brand, although I could be wrong. Radio Shack seems to have slowly moved from maketing their own store brands to more popular name brands such as Advent ever since they began trading on the New York Stock Exchange as "Radio Shack" (sym: RSH) rather than the former "Tandy" in the year 2000. There are still some Realistic brand items in the store such as turntable styluses and such. I don't know if they still offer Realistic speakers, however. Tandy also used to sell computers under the brandname "AST", and they ran the "Computer City" chain of computer stores. I own a pair of small (about 8" tall) 2-way Realistic speakers with metal housings that I have mounted up in the rear corners of our living room. I use them as the rear channels of our Dolby Pro-Logic system. I have another pair of Realistic speakers out in the garage (about 12" tall and made of plastic and MDF), hanging on the wall above my work bench. They boast "liquid-cooled tweeters" and they have flat, square woofers. They are quite old and the woofer rubber surrounds have begun to deteriorate. They sounded pretty good for what they were in the day. Tom: Were you thinking of (Sony) "MiniDisc" (MD), perhaps? Finally, I happen to have enjoyed INXS. -But, that's just me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndyKlipschFan Posted July 16, 2004 Share Posted July 16, 2004 "Back in the day"... LOL.. Rad shack had some stuff that was exactly the same... They just had their label on them.. e.g. styluses and some mics. You could get a good deal if you knew what you were looking for. They will always have parts and batteries for what you need. I almost find it amazing in some ways they are still around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdm56 Posted July 16, 2004 Share Posted July 16, 2004 Realistic, Optimus, and now RCA. As far as speakers sold at Radio Shack, these are just marketing names. Although to use the "RCA" name, there must have been some kind of partnership entered into by the Shack and RCA, the company. We use a 5.1 Optimus set-up in the family room (Pro 77's / Pro SW12). Not bad for the tiny amount they cost. I bought'em all "on sale": the sub for $100, the sats for $40/each. I also use a pair of Realistic Minimus 77's (earlier version of the same speaker) in our bedroom with a little RCA 8" sub. OK, but don't turn'em up! Lastly, I also have another pair of the Minimus 77's that currently live in a closet somewhere, just waiting for their number to be called. So, I could say I've had some experience with the Realistic/Optimus/RCA thang. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edwinr Posted July 16, 2004 Share Posted July 16, 2004 Realistic, or Radio Shack by another name actually produced some ok receivers back in the early 1980's. But their best effort was the magnificent little Realistic Minimus 7's. A little metal cabinet wonder, made in Japan, that produced an outstanding sound for a few dollars each. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrWho Posted July 17, 2004 Share Posted July 17, 2004 Is the minimus that small (two way?) speaker inside a black metal cabinet? about 4" wide and 6" tall? If so, that's one amazing sounding speaker (considering the size and price and all that). To be honest, I use a pair for tracking in my studio (they're not the only thing i use...im not that crazy, lol) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnA Posted July 17, 2004 Share Posted July 17, 2004 Every Realistic receiver and amp I've ever touvhed was crap and over-priced. Uber distortion was particularly a problem. I'm listening to a Realistic mini integrated amp now; 1.8 watts at 1% THD and no freq. spec. The chip specs say it hits 10% THD easily! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynnm Posted July 17, 2004 Share Posted July 17, 2004 The Minimus 7 is a nice little speaker indeed. I have a pair of the walnut case version and am still prowling the garage sales looking for 3 more so that I swap out the speakers that came with my HTIB. The Minimus 7 is a dead nuts copy of a Hungarian speaker called the Visonik David which in about 1969 or 1970. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffinator Posted July 17, 2004 Share Posted July 17, 2004 The only product RatShack ever marketed that I ever liked was the Linaeum surface-mount tweeter. Nifty little dipole tweeter for car stereo installations - really enhanced the stereo spread. In a car application this is huge, because if you're sitting in the driver's seat it sounds like the whole field is leaning left, as it pretty much is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boomer9911 Posted July 17, 2004 Share Posted July 17, 2004 test 1 - 2....spare them, still there as ole faithful.....RAT SHACK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrWho Posted July 19, 2004 Share Posted July 19, 2004 ---------------- On 7/17/2004 1:55:35 PM Griffinator wrote: The only product RatShack ever marketed that I ever liked was the Linaeum surface-mount tweeter. Nifty little dipole tweeter for car stereo installations - really enhanced the stereo spread. In a car application this is huge, because if you're sitting in the driver's seat it sounds like the whole field is leaning left, as it pretty much is. ---------------- Is this something that they still sell? I've been looking at putting some new tweeters in my car to help even out the stereo image. for what it's worth, i've being eyeing the stuff over at partsexpress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cornwalled Posted July 22, 2004 Share Posted July 22, 2004 I just happened upon a Realistic LAB-420 Turntable while browsing yard sales- picked it up for a cool $20. Has a Shure R1000 EDT cartridge in it, which I've never seen before. Has a clear plastic cover that swings down over the needle while not in use. I haven't really used it much though, just tested it quick to make sure it works. The needle looks a little funky, might be damaged. I haven't been able to use it to much since I just upgraded to a Yamaha Digital receiver which lacks phono input, so I'll have to get a phono preamp first. Might need to replace needle. -Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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