RADIO SHACK: History of the Realistic Receiver - Realistic STA-47
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00:00 Intro
01:01 History RadioShack/Commercial
03:54 RadioShack Catalogs
05:08 The Realistic STA-47
07:27 Skillshare Ad - วิทยาศาสตร์และเทคโนโลยี
![[UNCUT] รัฐสั่งหยุดปล่อยคลื่น! แต่หยุดพลังปะทุ “น้องหญิง” ไม่ได้ I คนดังนั่งเคลียร์](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/RmQh47eIiV0/mqdefault.jpg)
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As a kid growing up in Baltimore in the early 80s I would study the Radio Shack catalog for hours on end cover to cover
Pretty much how I spent the 90s in Liverpool as a kid 👍🏻
Porn for geeks.
DC Northern VA and same.
Built my first speakers 8" Polypropylene woofers 4" Ferro fluid midrange and 1" Mylar dome tweeters 1983 I was 19.
As kid in Brooklyn and Queens, NYC, I did the same thing, and worked there in the late 70's.
in 1982 I walked into a radio shack store and bought the sta-2300 they had it on sale from 699 to 499 it produced 120 w per channel still have it today
It's also worth much more than that now. A great receiver! Surely built to last!
I'm still using my STA 2300 too.
Built by Pioneer I think..
That’s alot of money then
Ya know, you have to admit, their stereo receivers they had could really kick some ass out there and hold their own with the big boys out there such as Pioneer and Maranz, Kenwood, Serwood, Scott, Panasonic which produced the Technics stereo receivers from back at the time. I also liked the MCS stereo reciever and component systems that JC PENNEY'S also sold that were pretty great sounding stereo equipment to.
I was a Radio Shack store manager in the '70s and my favorite memories was the little old ladies that would come in with their Free Battery cards and get a free 9 volt battery for the transistor radio. Occasionally they would buy a new earphone for $1.49 to replace the one for thier radio that they lost or broke. Love the Radio Shack catalog site you mentioned. It is a great resource for specifications for the old equipment. I still have 4 pairs of Minimus 7 speakers, our best selling speakers, that I still use for my surround system.
Awesome to hear Rich! Just picked up some new Flavoradio's to add to our collection.
Have a pair of MC-1000 that I still listen to
I've got one of those Realistic Clarinet all in one units from 1979. Still has the manual with the full schematic in it. Something you would buy for a dorm room.
I don't currently have them hooked up but I also have a set of Realistic Minimus 7W's. Got them from a yard sale a few years ago for $5. Though I ended up changing out the woofers in them. But I do still have the original woofers that were in them. They still worked so I kept them as backup. :)
I still have my minimus 7s.
In 1976, I was 15yrs old. I had been bugging my parents for a stereo system. I wanted a pioneer sx650 and large advents. Dad was a teacher who didn’t make a lot of money. One day, dad came home from work and asked me to get something out of the trunk of our 74 Chevy Impala. Begrudgingly, I went out to the car and opened the trunk. Inside was a brand new Realistic STA 77A receiver and a pair of MC 1000 bookshelf speakers. I could have his old Garrard turntable. That little system started me on my 40 year stereo addiction. A couple of years ago I found a mint STA 77A with a pair of Optimus 1B speakers. I can’t believe how nice that vintage system sounds!
Worked at Radio Shack in Canada in the '80's. I remember cracking open a few Realistic Receievers and seeing parts stamped with Pioneer, Technics and other well known brand parts.
I REMEMBER SOMETHING LIKE, THE TANDY CORPORATION ?
@@jodyguilbeaux8225 Tandy owned Radio Shack. You may also remember Tandy Computers. They came out of the same factory as IBM computers.
Definitely IBM. I ordered TRS-80, to my surprise Radio Shack send the AS/400..
Yeah, right. @@thomasauslander3757
When I was a young man I spent so much money at radio shack I cannot even count it today I absolutely loved radio shack stereo equipment and electronics way back when
Radio Shack was great in its prime. About 1970 my first stereo was a small amplifier and tuner pair. A few years later I was buying resistors, caps, and even ic's there. It was great that living in a small town, you still had access to most things you wanted.
In the Seventies their catalogs always offered stereo component combinations, in "good, better, best" configurations. And who could forget their "Lifetime Guaranteed" vacuum tubes?
I have an STA-47 with a pair of Bose 201 series two in my living room. Technics linear turntable, Magnavox cd player, and JVC cassette deck. A sweet little system! Radio Shack used to be very hobbyist oriented, but when our local one finally closed it resembled a cell phone store more than anything. A shame.
Agreed. That's when it went downhill fast.
I used to love going to Radio Shack when I was kid in the 70's and 80's. All the electronics of the day. I had a Technics Audio System that was pretty nice and a great turn-table and would buy the replacement needles at Radio Shack. Next door was a Tower Records, so I would ride my bike, go to Radio Shack, buy a new needle cartridge and the go buy a new record. Man that was fun times for me. - John -Tempe AZ
That sounds like a pretty fun childhood actually!
I worked for radio shack in the early nineties. I sold George Foreman a camcorder to record his training sessions before he regained the heavyweight championship. I loved the realistic receivers back in the day.
Did he try to sell you a George Foreman grille?
@@davidjames1684 probably not. The GFG came out later. I worked for radio shack in Rosenberg and in 1991 Sold Bum Philips (Former Oiler Coach) a huge TV antenna system ($400) one Saturday and the next Saturday he came in again to see me and bought a 9 foot Satellite TV system for about $3000. Those two sales helped me buy my first pick up:)
Just curious: did Radio Shack give commissions to sales staff? Thanks!
@@davidjames1684 apparently nobody else thought that was funny. I lol'd
@@matthewbowen5841 Free "jokes" (get what u pay 4)
Vintage receivers were so beautiful to look at. I enjoy being able to get any music on a device by just asking it, but I miss the golden age of FM radio and spinning the dial to tune it in just right.
Early 70s: the Radio Shack at the mall across the street from me had a tube tester and they sold tubes. That store helped the 11 year-old me restore not one, but two old RCA tube radios back to operating condition. I needed a few tubes and stuff, and they had everything there. I'd buy needles for our record player there, plus their house brand blank cassettes. It was a great place to geek out in.
It definitely was! Thanks for sharing!
As a kid getting into electronics in the 60's, Randy Shack was amazing. Everyone working there really was a knowledgable hobbyist. So sad to see what they eventually became.
this!
Even in the late 80s, we had two nearby Radio Shack stores, and although the one at the bigger mall had mostly gone to selling the sales item (and their staff wasn't very brainy), the store at a strip mall had this guy named Bill. Bill knew pretty much everything they had in the catalog at the top of his head, and always had good ideas. In college, I had made an electrical starter for a potato launcher (aka spud gun) as I didn't like epoxying an "aim & flame" style lighter into the launcher, and that was the norm at the time.
Bill had all sorts of great ideas of what components to buy and how to wire it. He helped me draw a schematic, that worked once I got the components and did some soldering. Glow plug and some Radio Shack gear + 9 volt battery. Replacing the battery was infinitely easier than dealing with a lighter glued into your launcher. :D
One of my college buddies was manager at a Radio Shack for a few years in the late 90s - his store was very good, and he was a big geek who helped his customers with lots of details you couldn't find at most Radio Shacks by then. Sadly most RS stores had just "retail" (i.e. they had no idea what they were selling) staff and focused on really shitty Nokia cell phones and similar junk by that point. The real RS was long dead at most stores.
I most definitely have a radio shack story for ya bro...back in the 90's I put an application into 1 of my local radio shack stores to work over the Christmas holiday season for some extra spending cash and I got an interview for a position at that store with the store manager...on the day of the interview I arrived early as I generally do for interviews,now it should be noted that back In the day I had really long curly hair as i was and still am a metalhead,so I had my hair in a pony tail as I normally wore it as well as a pair of jeans and a long sleeved blue denim style shirt...this was radio shack not a fancy gig so my style of dress was appropriate for the business in question,anywho,the interview was going good as far as I was concerned I answered his questions etc and was feeling pretty good about the prospects of being a radio shack associate,well that's when he told me that I wasn't going to be hired to work at that store and I replied with ooookay...after I said okay he replied by telling me that I wasn't getting a job at that store because and I quote "your too rock & roll for the job" end quote...now mind you this is radio shack we're talking about here,they're customer base are people like me,rock & rollers,metalheads etc...so to sit there and tell me I was too rock & roll to work there was also telling me that I was too rock & roll to shop there as well and he basically said the same thing towards all of his customer base who are like me that he didn't need them coming to his store to shop and you better believe I told everybody what kind of ass he was as I was leaving that store with a half dozen others who decided to leave after hearing what I said about the management of that store and his fucked up attitude...now I don't know how long he remained at particular store as I never stepped foot back in the place after being discriminated against like that,but I will say that I highly doubt with that attitude that he remained there very long...at the time I was pissed off over it but now all these years later with radio shack basically gone from the American landscape it leaves me with a pretty cool story to pass along,I hope y'all enjoyed it...btw,if anybody else has stories along this line as I'm sure I'm not the only 1 that manager discriminated against I'd love to read em',the store I went to was in mesquite Texas off of town east boulevard not far from town east mall,it was there back in the 90's and I don't know if it was there past 2000 as relocated to a different state that year...
@@CaptainHowdy1969 that was likely a "Texas thing", as we had RS employees with dyed hair color on occasion, but nothing like a face full of piercings - so it wasn't like the dress code at Hot Topic or Spencers (where "the freakier the better"). They were definitely more tame than that, but not nearly as anal as you're calling out... that was likely just the local (illegal) "standard".
I lived down there for a few years, so I can call it for what it is without mocking the entire culture - but sometimes you have to anyways; the old school Texans were about as hate-filled and unaccepting of ANY small difference as you could possibly be, even in the more modern suburbs.
Sadly the collective mood in TX often got the better of them, and they failed to get that despite saying how hospitable they are, they were very very unwelcoming to any influence that could rock the boat.
Punk rockers were even worse than hippies to some of that crew, and even for me living down there mostly in elementary school (in a nice suburb) you could tell the "native Texans" from the many who had relocated there; the "normal people" didn't seem to mind, but several of the little baby Texans had already been so brainwashed with hate by mommy and daddy that they actually gave me shit (or tried to anyways) for befriending our token black, Jewish and later Korean classmates. A couple suggested I could be friends with _them_ or "the minorities", and I basically told them (in as full of a vocabulary as possible out of a high potential student without getting in trouble for swearing) exactly what I suspected of their family genetics, their received parenting, their sadly brainwashed attitude, their hatemonger flag for a supposed "Christian", etc. It's really funny to remind a (brainwashed) baby hatemonger that bad people do NOT get to go to meet Jesus. It was so funny to see them squirm... doesn't matter if you believe it or not, if they do, it's a good lever to remind them to not be jerks.
Sometimes it worked, and sometimes you just had to tell them bluntly "my friends are smart, you're a moron who sounds like a complete hick despite being only 10 years old" due to such a think accent some of those locals would have. Also odd cognitive dissonance from down there... seeing the "third+ generation Latino" proud Texas residents actively treating the recent illegal arrivals like they are complete dirt, despite being cousins with them. It truly was the oddest thing ever to have some brown kid calling some other brown people with that "wet" word you'd hear all the time.
The hierarchy was very silly, but it was a thing... and as you mention, "rockers" were also considered "bad" by many. Such a "loving place"... I wonder if they will ever enter this century? I also wonder if they'll catch on that "Southern hospitality" means "friendly to your face, but absolute monster behind your back if you're not 100% fitting the mold"; i.e. being a dick for fun.
@@CaptainHowdy1969 you didn’t get the job because of your poor attitude, lack of people skills and inability to dress appropriately.
@@watogo7664 no...although I spose there are some similarities as far as me being from Texas etc...but that's pretty much it...
When I was 12 I saved up enough to buy a STA 2300 and 1 Mach 1 speaker. I was mono until Christmas when my grandma got me another Mach 1 and a turntable. The Machs were sold a few years later to buy my first pair of Cornwalls. That giant receiver now powers a pair of vintage BICs in my office. 40 years later, still rocks.
When I was a kid back in the 70s I had a cousin/good friend that lived in our country town near Charleston, South Carolina. His dad had a radio and electronics store that was a RadioShack. They probably sold almost every TV and radio antenna in town. They sold lots of CB radios, telephones, TV’s and other electronics. My first stereo was a Realistic from that store and around 1979 or 1980 my dad got a new stereo from there with the big Mach I speakers. They were loud and sounded amazing! Realistic made very good stereos back then. And he was in fact a ham radio operator and had his antenna on a tower well over 100 feet in the air. I would spend hours in that store as a kid. I loved it.
We had the RadioShack catalog and I also loved the JC Whitney catalog and I remember thinking when I got old enough and had my own van all the things I wanted out the JC Whitney catalog for my van which ruled the 70s. And of course it would’ve had a CB radio from RadioShack in it.
Man those were the days! So great to be a kid back in the 70s. My dad also got popular science and popular mechanics each month and I would read them cover to cover.
Radio Shack and JC Whitney! What a killer combination of “wishbook” catalogs! Tinkerer and gearhead HEAVEN!
@@martinthompson2425 JC Whitney - how my dad kept his Beetle running! Memorized THAT catalog along with the RS catalog..... :)
@@AlanElBee. Yeah, I hear you! It was always a special day when the new catalogs came out!
Everything I ever purchased from J.C. Whitney was top quality! As late as 1990, I purchased a set of high lift leaf springs for my Nova. I think it cost like $220.00 - shipped! Today, the shipping alone would be that much!
@@d.vaughn8990
Man do I remember those days. Cuda’s, Nova’s, GTO’s. Ice chest full of cold beer in the trunk, couple of hot chicks in the back! Going cruisin’ on Friday and Saturday night!
I tried explaining cruisin’ on Friday and Saturday nights to my two nieces in their 20s a couple of years ago and they looked at me like I was insane! Lol. I thought it would help if I broke out some Foreigner, rev on the red line, made them look at me like I was even crazier! I just smiled and said nothing you’re listening to today will matter 20 years from now. My music will still be popular 50 in 50 years.
Then I told them to go watch “Almost Famous” & “Dazed and Confused”. Kids today watch those movies and are horrified by the political incorrectness and the thought of having that much freedom! Me and my friends were more mature at 13 than these kids are at almost 25.
These kids today don’t even have stereos! WTF?! Ah hell, time to go listen to some Foreigner, Skynyrd, and the Allman Brothers!
Virtually lived at Radio Shack in my teenage years , always building something : )
Great to hear!
After getting my first job in High School, the first stereo I purchased with my own money was a Realistic STA-90 receiver with a Lab 50 Turntable and Nova 8b speakers.
I had the exact same system except for the turntable.
@@toddwalker4301 if you didn’t have the turntable it wasn’t the exact same system. 😑
@@jessihawkins9116 Look up the word except. It's in the dictionary.
Living in the UK, we knew Radio Shack as Tandy, they sold a wide range of electronic items from components
to Hi-Fi equipment.
If you waited for the special offers, you could buy good items with a big discount.
I can remember the catalogs, and spent many hours reading them.
What killed it for me was when they reduced the range of electronic components, they were never the cheapest
but if you needed just a few vital parts that would take ages to arrive by mailorder, Tandy often had them.
All the UK stores closed by the end of 2012, but i have just checked and was surprised to find a Tandy UK
online store selling components.
Happier days when we made and repaired our own gear, sadly today few have the interest or skills to make
or repair electronics.
TRS= Tandy Radio Shack.
It is not about desire or skill. It is now impossible for a human being at home to even see the individual component on a printed circuit board, much less repair it.
I worked for an electronics manufacturer and my job was quality control of the finished boards.
To even SEE the components, I had to place the board on a microscope stage and gaze through the eyepiece to ensure, for example, that the resistor was placed in the correct orientation.
No one pushes component legs through holes and solders them anymore. I worked for TDK who manufactures components for the cellphone & automotive industry. After manufacture, all of our components are adhered to a plastic tape reel. At the manufacturing process, the reel is placed on a machine that is programmed where to place each component. Using "pick & place" technology, the machine picks the component off the reel and places it on the printed circuit board.
The board is then brought to the "wave soldering" machine where all soldering is done at once.
Nowadays, it is cheaper to replace the entire board rather than attempt to replace an individual component.
I meant I had to ensure that the DIODE was in the correct orientation. Of course, orientation of the resistor is irrelevant.
I love Radio Shack because it felt like a DIY paradise. It was the original brick and mortar Parts Express.
Very true John!
When visiting a Radio Shack, I was probably there for a niche electronics part. I'd walk right past the un-cool receivers and speakers to the back wall where they kept the diodes, resistors, toggle switches, and ten different sizes of alligator clips (and a thousand other little things that I had no clue what they did. )
In those days, electronics did indeed contain "User Serviceable Parts. My Dad would remove the vacuum tubes from our TV, placing them carefully in paper bags. When we got to " Radio Shack," he walked to the Tube Tester machine and separated the bad from the good. He gave the cashier the list of the tubes we needed and while the cashier was in the back, I browsed all of the Electrical Treasures.
I was 10 years old in 1976 when I discovered Radio Shack. I started by buying small electronic parts and educational kits such as the Science Fair 150-in-1 kit. For Christmas 1979, at the age of 13, I purchased my first serious Realistic audio component, the 35 wpc SA-1001 integrated amplifier. (I wanted its big brother, the SA-2001, but decided I couldn't afford it. Fortunately, the SA-1001 turned out to be a fine amplifier and I've never had any regrets.) During the next 6 years, I gradually built my system, adding a pair of Optimus 10 speakers, a Realistic LAB-420 turntable, a Realistic TR-3000 open reel tape deck (a TEAC X-3 in disguise), an SCT-32 3-head cassette deck, Realistic's first 10-band graphic equalizer, a pair of Optimus 27 speakers for another room, and their first CD player, the Realistic CD-1000. I only had a few non-Realistic components (purchased elsewhere): my first stereo cassette deck in 1979 (an Invicta 6000), a JVC AM/FM stereo tuner, and a dbx NX-40 noise reduction unit for use with my TR-3000 open reel deck.
After high school, I attended Carnegie Mellon University and earned a degree in electrical/computer engineering. While my professional career has been focused on low-level embedded software, during the past few years I have rekindled my love of vintage audio. I still have all my original Realistic components, and I have added many other vintage audio components (both Realistic and non-Realistic). I have a particular love for open reel tape decks (I'm up to 10)! I have a well-equipped home electronics lab. I am gradually restoring all my own equipment, as well has performing vintage audio repair/restoration work for friends. I will very likely expand this effort into an official business one of these days.
The Radio Shack in the 70's was the place to be. I visited the store every Saturday for years.
Owned many Realistic speaker systems and receivers over 20 years. Radio Shack also was the place to go for parts. Later in the 80's they got into computers in a big way. By the 90's they were going down hill and by 2010's they were pretty much a phone store. So sorry to see them go.....
*Radio Shack Story:* Proof of how they lost their way...
Not too many years before they closed all their stores, I was in one of them near my home. A young woman in the military was talking with the two employees, trying to buy some CB radios and accessories. Her commander had given her a list for her to buy and bring back to their Middle East deployment for truck convoy communications. (Yes, I know...)
The employees were clueless. They told her the mobile CBs (27 MHz) did not come with a hand mike; they had no idea what an SWR meter even was let alone what to use it for.
I ended up talking to her, tried to give her directions to the other, much older Radio Shack at most two miles away. I finally had her follow me over there. I told the actually knowledgeable staff there what had happened with their clueless counterparts. They sold her radios (that came with hand mics!), an SWR meter, antennas and more.
It was sad to see what Radio Shack became, living up to the parody of their old slogan, "You have questions? We have cell phones.".
Also their motto in their later years: "You got questions, we got blank stares!"
@@DJPenguino51 Also true. I mean, I worked with electronics repair, radio, television, data communications and computers for a living, so of course I didn't expect the RS employees to know as much as I did. But when the average one was so totally clueless that they didn't even understand the basics of their own products and would give incorrect information to customers, I knew their days were numbered.
Radio Shack was like "Parts Express", awesome in the 70's, you could get almost everything or ordered for DIY speaker projects.
The best thing about our local Radio Shack was the employees, most of those guys knew their stuff. I got to know a couple of the guys and their electronics knowledge was a huge help before the day when google had all the facts. The RS batteries were as good as any on the market at that time and much cheaper than the big names. I bought my first digital multimeter from them in the 80’s and it is still in use. My father has a working analog multimeter, also still fully functional.
Yes _iused to browse around radioshack for Parts -wasa ;earning Experience!! Remeber their P~BOX kits - I hada Regenerative SW Radio kit from them !! I wish they could bring those RED Colored things BACK!!!
I used to work with a guy in a computer dept who worked at RS. He was a bit of a genius. He could recite any part number for anything RS carried. ANY PART.
Toward the end however, most of the employees might as well have been shoe salesmen. They literally didn't know the difference between a vacuum tube and a vacuum cleaner.
I LOVED Radio shack. In the 70's, I had the free battery card. I was about 14. I saved my money and bought a Realistic Astronaut 8 shortwave radio. It was incredible. The very first foreign station I got was HCJB in Quito, Ecuador South America. I wrote them and they sent me a QSL card. I truly miss Radio Shack. Good equipment and smart employees.
Wonderful walk down memory lane. I worked for Radio Shack in the 70's & 80's and had the privilege of meeting Mr. Tandy on a couple of occasions. I still remember the day he died. RS president Lew Kornfeld sent a telegram to all of the stores informing us of Mr. Tandy's death. It was signed, "With profound regrets, Lewis Kornfeld." I learned so much about running a business during my time there. I went on to manage retail stores for other companies, as well as, open several businesses of my own.
From the time I was in like 4th grade I was a Radio Shack fan. I saved up for the portable I could afford, and aspired to the big systems that were highlighted in the store and in the catalogs. I even had a “Battery A Month” card, and went in every month for the spoils of that membership.
Each fall they would offer a free flashlight with a coupon. These were usually given out around the same time as their annual catalogs. I'd hop on my bike, coupon in hand, and head for my local store (a couple of miles away). It was always an adventure.
Radio Shack, I really miss Radio Shack neighborhood stores. People made DIY projects from products off the shelves from Radio Shack. 👍
I miss those as well, I wonder how many small shops are left if any
@@LennyFlorentine
People now shop online in Japan and China for DIY projects and parts. There are lots of websites in the Asian market.
@@LennyFlorentine There is still one were I live in east TN, but its more of a cell phone store than anything else. I really miss the old store as it was in the 80s and 70s
My dad and his brother each bought Realistic stereos in their time before I was around, but then I grew up listening to that gear. It was known to be pretty good for the price. Sadly it was all sold for new stuff in the 2000s, but now as an adult I bought back some Realistic stuff again and enjoy the STA-2600 like we had in our house when I was a kid with Mach 2's.
I'm a trivia junkie and I really enjoyed the history of Radio Shack.
The first stereo that I ever bought was an STA 120B receiver with Optimus 5 speakers but I can't remember the turn table model. I'd love to have that stereo today.
I loved Radio Shack growing up, 80s-90s. Why were Realistic so good? I opened one up, just because, as a kid. most of the parts inside were from a Japanese company that still exists today. You would be surprised at the number of components inside with the "Sony" label.
That's largely because Sony and some others built gear for RS.
I was a deejay in the 80s and my first mixing board was a Realistic from Radio Shack that I bought in about 1981. I still have it and it still works great. I also have a complete deejay studio in my home, and a large vinyl record collection, but the Realistic mixer is not a part of it. Time has passed it by, and these days it’s hard not to use a modern mixer with a built-in sound card. But the old Realistic still does the job it was designed to do and does it beautifully.
I also had what I believe was one of the first jam boxes, a Realistic portable AM/FM stereo that had AUX inputs and great sound. A very similar model is shown in that 1976 catalog, but I had the model without the built-in 8-track.
I loved going into Radio Shack when I was a kid. My father would bring my brothers and I to the mall on Saturday as a treat if we were doing good in school or behaving well during the week. We always took a look around SEARS to see if there was anything new. When we exited back into the mall from SEARS, Radio Shack was just outside across the hall so we'd stop to take a look at what ever whacky type of toy or rc car Radio Shack had to offer. Then just a few steps away from Radio Shack was Kay-Bee Toys so we'd get to have a look in there as well.
Of course, once we were done in Kay-Bee Toys, Service Merchandise was just around the corner on the same end of the mall so we'd get to have a look in there also. Then we'd stop off real quick to Electronics Boutique or Babbages on our way back to HILLS. Which is where my father always liked to enter and exit the mall at whenever we'd go. Our trip was ended with sodas from the soda fountain and big ass bag of pop corn.
I still like visiting the mall every now and then. But visiting the mall was so much better as a kid then it is now. It was a treat that you got once every weekend or two if you were being good. Now I can head there any time I want after work so it's not as exciting. There's also not really much left because the internet has killed off the point behind physical stores to some extent and what is there is mostly clothing stores. It also doesn't help that all of the cool stores went out of business a long time ago because of bad management and business decisions. :)
Reminds me of when I was younger for sure. KB Toys and Electronics Boutique were where I spent many days!
@@LennyFlorentine We weren't rich by any means. But we still had some stuff other kids only dreamed of owning. I remember when computers were becoming more popular among the masses around 1995 or so. Babbages was a store we stopped off at quite frequently when computer software was becoming more widely available to the average family. The fact that it was all being sold on cd's instead of 3.5" floppy disks made the experience even cooler. Of course computers didn't come with cd-rom's in them and they were crazy expensive. But once you had one installed a whole new world of games and learning software was available to you. :)
From 1977 through 1995 ALL of my stereo equipment came from Radio Shack. I always believed that their equipment was as good as any and as long as you bought it on sale (usually at a 40-50% discount) I was getting a good deal. Beginning with my first Radio Shack unit, an SCT-8 stereo cassette deck. followed by my first receiver, an STA-52 (12 watts.channel)r and a pair of Pro-1 headphones with homage speakers (built using a pair of Allied model 838 8" 3--way speakers) and an old Soundesign turntable. I then upgraded to a pair of Optimus 27 speakers (with 8" psddive radiators) in 1980. In '85 I upgraded to an STA-860 (65 watts/channel) and a pair of Optimus T-120 apeakers. I kept those speakers for10 years. In '86 I finally replaced my old turntable with a LAB-1600 (linear tracking) and replaced my receiver with a TOTL Realistic Model 40 Digital receiver (100 watts/channel), which lasted me through '95.. After that I got away from Radio Shack and moved into audiophile level equipment. But for over 2 decades, Radio Shack ruled my home and every catalog was eagerly awaited...going through that catalog was the most fun person could have by himself...LOL!!!.
I loved Radio Shack I've bought lots of stuff there over the years from cb radios to cables for my stereo and even a security system for the house that I lived in the 90's. I still have a 10 band EQ that my mom bought me for my birthday back in the early 90's and it still works great today. I also have a multi band radio that I got from there over 20 years ago and it still works and in fact a few years ago just on the am antenna that was on it I was able to get wsm radio in Nashville and it's about 1000 miles away from where I live in Mn.
The Realistic multiband radios still work well to this day. Great on AM. Pulls in two lower power AM stations that play retro Top 40 without problem. FM, shortwave, and weather band pick up great. I read where the 80s and 90s Realistic multibands were Sangean products.
Loved perusing Radio Shack (next to K-Mart) as a kid to see the high-tech radio equipment, Realistic equalizers, Tandy computers, and other gadgets.
Radio Shack was an amazing part of most late boomers life growing up. There seemed to be a store in every mall, each of them somewhat unique in presentation and such. They were amazing for great stereos on a budget, CB radios that were often as good or better than the mainstream competition, parts, pieces, and just tons of stuff. The catalog was the highlight of the fall season, enjoyed daily and used to prompt parents into buying an interesting Christmas or holiday present.
Even when the computer revolution came along, they looked to be ahead of the curve rather than behind it, but in the end they got squished. They are the retail equivalent to the most powerful dinosaur in the electronics world. Insanely powerful at their peak, they are but a meme these days.
Early GenX too.
I always looked forward to the new Radio Shack catalogs being released. My friends and I loved buying the latest Radio Shack electronic kits and building them to show to our electronics teacher Mr. Wolfe. Those were very special times. I have to admit, some of the Realistic stereo systems looked and sounded great. Very nice receivers with some beautiful speaker cabinets. Patterned wood removable front grills. The higher wattage receivers were the better choice. The Lab line of turntables back then were fairly decent. I even miss the British made BSR turntables with ceramic cartridges that were standard on the all-in-one stereos of that time. A kid being able to buy individual parts and kits at a local Radio Shack was great. I remember building two of the color organ kits. They looked awesome in the wood-grain veneer speaker cabinets. I also purchased two of the Tandy aluminum sloped front cases with wood-grain veneer. They had solid front and rear panels that you could custom drill for switches, chrome LED holders etc. I built a stereo amplifier kit in one case and a stereo VU meter for the other stackable case. High school electronics / science fairs were very popular back then. Later on we started designing and etching our own PCB's. A fun hobby that eventually turned into a great career in electronics. I've been retired for many years now so I keep busy building things as a hobby again. The renewed interest in hobbyist electronics here in America was a very pleasant surprise. Tons of fascinating things to design and build nowadays. The actual Radio Shack neighborhood stores closing up across America was a sad time. But at least we have some really good parts companies and PCB manufacturers in America now. Even Amazon and Ebay have some decent things to purchase. 😃
Just wanted to say that Radio Shacks Realistic line of stereos got a bad rap over the years, very understated. Glad to see you're doing a video on the Realistic brand. I always wanted a Realistic Stereo ever since I was a kid, but never could afford them back then, well 50 years later I have one, and it's Realistic Sta-2080 and O am very proud of it. I have spent the last 12 years piecing my ultimate stereo together, and I am almost done, so far I have the STA-2080 receiver, LAB-440 Turntable, SA-1001 Pre-Amp, Mach 1 Speakers, T-200 Speakers. I am looking for the Realistic SCT-3100 Cassette Player and the Realistic- Reel to Reel! My Realistic Stereo system is a great sounding unit, I have had every piece of equipment gone over and repaired when needed. I wouldn't trade it for any other stereo on the market. I will try to send a picture of my system, she's pretty sweet looking!
Ed, thanks for sharing all the details of your Realistic system. You have really put together something very nice!
Just Audio, send me your email address, and I will send you a picture of my set up, I think you'll be impressed!
I just turned 70 this year. I have been going to Radio Shack most of my life. I understand that there are two stores here in Mobile Alabama. I intend to visit a store this week. Years ago, the sales staff not only had great knowledge but they knew everything that was in their store. We're talking about hordes of resistors, capacitors, transformers, power supplies, stereo equipment, and tons of other items. If you needed something, even if the item was not a "top shelf" item, they most likely had it. It's been a few years since I was in a Radio Shack store, so my memory is vague. This week I expect to fully inspect one of there stores here in town. No telling what I'll find... Best Regards and Thanks.
I bought a pair of Realistic Optimus 10 speakers back in 1979. They had a lifetime warranty, so I put the receipt and paperwork in a ziplock bag and taped it to the back of one of the speakers. These were awesome speakers and I used them for over 20 years until I noticed a crackling sound. The speakers had gotten brittle and had multiple cracks. I took them down to Radio Shack and the guy at the store couldn't believe I still had the paperwork. He was very excited to send them in for repair. I got them back and they still sound great.
Good move saving the receipt that way. No receipt, no warranty, even if it was "lifetime" (though by 1979 it was reduced to a 5 year warranty).
the Shack was the shit!!! you could get all the little bits to work on and fix your own Hi-Fi gear and a person could buy about everything they needed other than the cabinets to build your own speakers, they were more or less the neighborhood hardware store for Hi-Fi, i truly miss RS. I still have an awesome LAB-440 turntable that i put a Nagaoka MP-110 cartirdge on that i still use daily among my other turntables. \m/ \m/
My cousin was a big Radio Shack fan of their audio equipment. He lived in a small town and it was his only source of electronics. I liked Radio Shack for my electronics hobby, but I never thought I would own Realistic audio equipment, but found two separate Minimus speakers that I like as bookshelve speakers. One pair on my headboard, another bigger pair with a ribbon tweeter set up near my desk. My school years bedroom setup included a 30 watt per channel Pioneer SX reciever and used the A / B speaker selector.
Later, after I had a "career job" that paid more, I spent much too much time and money in audio stores test listening to many speakers and audio sources, receivers, amps, etc. I still have my 40+ year old higher power SX-3800 and 3-way Design Acoustics "bookshelf" speakers set up in my office. And I still own a 120W/ch Carver receiver purchased in the 1990's still in it's original box that is in storage. *You should do a show on Carver.* Mine has been in storage for over 20 years. What can I say my wife doesn't appreciate good sound and didn't want a stereo system with big speakers in the livingroom. 😕
My main and only is the SX-3900 with a pair of HPM-100s 200 Watt version and they still work great. I also had the SX-3700 nice as well....bought at Luskins Northern VA 1980-81.
In the mid 70's before they were making powerful car stereos, I attached a pair of Minimus speakers on the optional swivel mounts to my old station wagon drop tailgate. Powered them with a pair of Realistic car amps, ganged for left and right. Sounded great in the car and especially with the gate dropped for beach parties. Radio Shack speakers, amplifiers, EQ's and electrical components were the budget bomb.
Radio Shack was my favorite store growing up in the 70s. Going in to browse all the stereo equipment, toys, projects, parts and even lighting was one of my favorite things to do when we would get into town to go shopping. I even signed up for their "Battery Of The Month" club back when I was 12 or so lol.
Last time I was in a Radio Shack I looked at a fake store display phone and the antitheft cord was broken off. I told the clerk who said he needs to throw it out. I asked if I could have it and he gave it to me. Later that day me and my friend would leave the phone at various places to watch ppl try to steal it. I was 32 years old but still very immature lol. Great video guys I miss Radio Shack, they had a lot of cool stuff
Thats hilarious! I would have joined in as well.
Quatravox was the same as the Dynaco Quadaptor circuit.
Very interesting! Thanks Herb!
It was a simple circuit, really. It cancelled out audio common to both channels and left echoey artifacts to play through rear speakers. Not real 4 channel like SQ, but a nice fill in effect. I think it was there to sell an extra pair of speakers.
I was a frequenter of the nearest Radio Shack. There were two fortyish guys who really ran the store along with a teenager each shift. I was never absolutely clear on their background other than that they both learned electronics in the military ( end of WW2 in one case, in Korea in the other). I never asked a question that one or the other of them couldn't answer, sometimes with the help of huge books they retrieved from the bookcase behind the counter. Gave me an excellent start in my primary hobby, something that has lasted for the rest of my life.
The first new receiver I ever purchased was the STA-85 which was available only in 1978 and 1979. It had a brushed black faceplate with cream-white dial, simply gorgeous against the woodgrain cabinet. I was a teen then and owned used receivers of other brands but this receiver had a better "flatter" response than most other receivers I owned, which sounded great on my Koss Pro-4AA headphones. In 1979, still a teen, I went to work at the Chicago-area Radio Shack service center. I practically memorized the RS catalogs, and loved seeing Arthur Fiedler on the cover!
Radio Shacks were kind of cool in the sixties and seventies. My first receiver was a STA 2000. They were a good value, and Radio Shack often had sales. Their speakers weren't that great, but the rest of their gear was good. It seems many of their products were made by Hitachi among others. I always enjoy your videos.
Loved Radio Shack as a kid, the store was filled with so many amazing and magical items and it seemed that you’d never seen it all. I specifically remember in the late 80’s seeing my first Bose book shelf speaker system demo’d in Radio Shack and was blown away by the sound from the small speakers, much later when I could afford them I bought a set.
I got into Radio Shack in the 1960s
Self built AM Radio hobby set.
Buying Shortwave Radios .
Stereo set, and countless parts.
Loved the catalog and read it over and over.
The last time I was in a full service Radio Shack was in 2015 in Alabama.
I found them in 1975 when I was 15 years old. Loved them! I made sure to get a catalog every year and I think I knew every item in the catalog. Eventually I worked there for a year in 1979. Great memories!
Radio Shack brings back lots of great memories! I remember having a Realistic stereo tuner with the wood case around the house when I was growing up. I loved going to the mall with my parents when I was young, and my dad and I would always end up in Radio Shack, because he was a ham radio operator and general electronics enthusiast. I also remember getting my first RC car from there for Christmas when I was around 9. Thanks for the awesome content and stoking some good memories up!
Realistic was a brand I delt with in my early Dj carrier I bought a 2 channel mixer and a EQ which was great but soon pawned it for better gear plus right now today I have a pair of Vintage Mach 1's that I refurbished that sounds awesome great wall shaker's Lol 😂.
I still have a litte Realistic mixer I bought in the early 80's - still works too. Made a TON of money DJ'ing in the 80's with it
In the late 70s, friend of mine had a RadioShack system. Everybody I knew had stereo systems but he had a quad system. I certainly can’t remember the model. But I remember if you had a quad eight track, his system was awesome. I particularly remember Santana’s caravan album. I remember there weren’t too many albums that took real advantage of that quadraphonic sound but that album did.
I also know a radio buff who built his first radio from the RadioShack kit.
My father had a Realistic STA-2600 Receiver, the Realistic EQ 31-2010, and the Realistic Lab 2200 turntable back in the day. I want that receiver back. I loved the power. Never had to go past the 50 volume mark, ever with his Pioneer floor model 7 way speakers.
I worked at Radio Shack in the early 1990's, which was well after the golden years. It was not a great job. The staff was unreliable, and taking inventory was something out of Dante's 4th circle of Hell. The store was in an "okay" neighborhood, but I was essentially babysitting the store stock while it was waiting to be shoplifted. I told the district manager we should close the store. They didn't listen. The day after I left (actually, the following night) - the store was broken into; the perps backed a sedan through the front glass and cleaned out a bunch of stuff. A short time later, the building was bulldozed for a new strip mall building.
I worked on a LOT of stereo equipment in the 70s during the “hi-fi wars”. Our shop did warranty and regular repairs for most major brands. It was common knowledge that Realistic products were inferior. Cheap, minimally engineered electronics on the inside, shiny, handsome cases on the outside. Made to appeal to non-discerning consumers and sold at prices comparable to the better brands. They succeeded with their target market, but were never considered a serious contender.
Very interesting Terry! Thanks for the info!
That was my experience as well.
They definitely were not "cool." The freshman kid in college with a Realistic receiver definitely had an uphill climb in the dorm for respectability. But RS did fine with rhe Moms and Dads, as did Sears.
Exactly. The weakest link in the line was the speakers, with a few exceptions. Although they did come with a lifetime warranty which was later discontinued.
I loved stopping in my local Radio Shack to browse and test out the stereos and speakers when I was younger. The Optimus 400 speakers were my favorite and probably the best sounding floor standing speakers they ever made. Super hard to find. Sad that so many look down their noses at this stuff. They had a lot of quality gems.
For me the Optimus 7 made in 1973 the holy grail. The most expensive speaker they ever offered. They are a sleeper can find them 250.00 a pair and they sound fantastic with classical, blues, jazz, rock or any thing you throw at it they produces accurate sound.
Growing up in rural Alabama in the late 1970's, our town of 8000 had a Radio Shack. It was an hour drive to the bigger city to Sears, so Radio Shack was the place. I had a used Realistic receiver picked up at the flea market, and it did very well to annoy my folks and younger siblings. Rush Hemispheres and Pink Floyd albums were constantly playing on the turntable.
My first 8-Track player was a Realistic, my first portable cassette player was a Realistic, my rechargeable batteries and the charger were Radio Shack, my multimeter and soldering iron are both Radio Shack and I learned to program COBOL and BASIC on a TRS-80 Model III... Radio Shack was a HUGE part of my life.
I loved Radio Shack. I had a CB, Car stereo, home stereo, EQ and Tape Deck. I got lots of components and cables from there. I wish they were still around ... it drives me crazy to have to order that stuff on line or buy through work. I still have my Realistic STA-870 w/ IMX expander
Thabks for sharing Shannon!
Still using my Realistic 10 band equalizer/expander after 35 years. Works fine.
I had an STA-2200, their first synthesized digital tuning set from 1980-2005. Its draw to me was the amplifier was driven with MOSFETs. I was just entering electrical engineering study in college. The only other 'affordable' being the STR-V45 from Sony, which also had a switched-mode power supply. It went from front line duty to my office when an AV set arrived. Its build was massive, so many boards they had almost everything mounted vertically.
What mattered most about RS, was there enough of everything for the electronic enthusiast at any level. I still have several Micronta multimeters, built the 2-transistor OTL amplifier (Science Fair) kit at age 9, Science Fair Globe Patrol at 12 and others. I remember that same summer reading their "Mathematics for the Electronics Student." If you want people to do more than software you need a place to hunt parts, build kits and learn.
The STA-2200 is the best sounding Realistic receiver, and it's not even close. But it wasn't the first MOSFET receiver manufactured by Tandy Electronics. That honor goes to the Pacific Stereo Quadraflex 650FET R.
I love people who trash Tandy electronics and realistic radio shack but yet they praised concept receivers from California. Yeah they don't even have a clue😅@@TheShackGuy
Now I've that RadioShack jingle stuck in my head.
I worked for ‘The Shack’ from 1972 to 1979 first as a salesman at a retail store then as a bench tech. This could be arguably be called the ‘golden’ years of RS because they offered reasonably priced quality audio equipment at the beginning of that decade to being one of the first companies to offer a home computer called the TRS-80 at the end of the decade. I do remember repairing several STA-47s as well as other receivers. One of my favorites was the STA-18; it was low power and low cost but had a very clean sounding amp and great FM separation. If I could find one today, I would buy it. Anyway, great memories.
I never really took the realistic brand seriously until a friend of mine who knows I'm into audio gear rescued a Realistic SA-1001 intergrated amplifier and matching TM-1001 tuner from a curb side garbage pile and gave it to me. The right channel was dead on the amp and they were filthy but I fell in love with both pieces. I put alot of time and effort into restoring the amp and I'm absolutely blown away with how good it actually is. They are both currently my favorite pieces. Maybe the magic is in the simplicity of the design. The amp really sounds amazing and has plenty of power for the average listening space . Under all the dirt and grime they were actually in great cosmetic condition. I have a new respect for Realistic gear. If you happen upon A decent example definitely go for it!
I have that TM-1001 Tuner. It has a fantastic FM section. From San Francisco, I picked up stations from Sacramento to Fresno. 40+ years and it still sounds great.
Yes the Tuner is also Excellent!
I will have to check both those out! Thanks for sharing!
The Lab 400 turntable was top knotched on quality. I love this discussion about radio shack. And, the other about Lafayette
@@kevinfestner6126 was that T-table made by Garrard???
I recently picked up an STA-960 with one channel out, very nice design, and an easy fix. I am super impressed with the sound quality and power. It drives my Kossfire 210's very well, so much so, i have put my Sansui g-4500 on the bench for recapping and a good cleanup. It might be hard to switch back.
LOVE your ENTHUSIASM and reverence for the 70-90s REAL audiophile boom times! I was SO fortunate to have my own business and cards from 5th grade on for Transistor and Tube radio Repairs, and grew up in NJ/NYC visits to restock Tubes and parts from the ELECTRONICS MECCAs of RS, Lafayette Radio and Heathkit where I bought a GR-64 as my Novice Ham/SWL receiver. Then in HS/College worked at the Parsippany LRE store's Alltronics Service Labs doing LRE & Pioneer Factory Authorized service, and bought a SX-1010 I still have as an employee at $470 cost. I had a RADIO SHACK 9 transistor radio I mounted on my 10 speed bike as a kid, and by stretching the coils in it, picked up Air Band and used it travelling to Europe with my Mom - wow did it come alive in airports! For much of my Ham Hobby, Electronics Consulting work I used plenty of the RS Proto Board and blinking LEDS and many parts from the Shack! I loved your VA Stereo Emporium Buyout video too! I still have my Phase Linear 4000 Preamp, 700B Amp, OHM F speakers and B&O 3000/S45 Speakers too, and did Revox authorized service at Acrosound in Flanders NJ. I built FM preamps and Ham Radio stuff and still working in EE stuff at ADVA supporting EMC &Reliability Testing there for up to 400G Fiber Optics systems from these combined hobby experiences. Radio Shack was always there to help inspire and fix stuff, till they lost in the Cellphone wars with the big carriers.Thanks again for expanding the very special History of Audio/Stereo for all of us! Hilary W4HDL
Thank you so much for the story! I'm glad you enjoy the videos and they help keep the memories alive!
My brother and I got my dad to help us buy a Radio Shack stereo system (in probably 1970), which consisted of a receiver, two bookshelf speakers, and a turntable. The whole thing probably cost $325, which was some serious money back then. It was amazing, and we used it for many years.
I worked for Video Concepts which was was also owned by Tandy. Early 90’s.
I will have to look that place up!
@@LennyFlorentine
Just a little info, our store was located in the mall, (Columbia Center, Kennewick. WA) most were. We sold, home audio, tv's, camcorders, vcr's, laserdisc players, for a short time sold some odd things like bag cell phones, pagers, computers. ( Never car audio) We were shut down at the same time Radio Shack was. Kind of a forgotten store. Tandy owned I think somewhere between 150-200 stores.
Enjoy your channel. Keep it going!
I still have my Dad’s mid-80’s stereo receiver and turntable. Sounds great for being forty years old.
I have a Realistic STA-225 . It has 50 wats per channel and the Quatravox mentioned in this video. When I bought it in 1975, I bought speaker components from RS and built my own cabinets. Recently I removed the case and cleaned all the pots. It still sounds amazing!
Wonderful receiver.
Back in the 60's I bought a HEATH KIT AM/FM RECEIVER from RADIO SHACK. It was a kit that had to be assembled piece by piece. I spent many weeks assembling it and it turned out great. Hooked up a RADIO SHACK turntable and a set of OPTIMUS SPEAKERS and the sound was fantastic.
Great memory! Always wanted to build one!
I have an STA 2080 that I'm still using. Powerful amp! (and heavy) Feels higher than it's rated 80 watts per channel.
They typically are!
@@LennyFlorentine That's when the FTC had teeth when it came to audio amplifier specs.
"On May 3, 1974, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) instated its Amplifier Rule to combat the unrealistic power claims made by many hi-fi amplifier manufacturers. This rule prescribes continuous power measurements performed with sine wave signals for advertising and specifications of amplifiers sold in the US."
The sta 2080 receiver is a fabulous receiver and the best looking of the bigger sets they produced ( IMO ) , I only recently heard one of these and must admit I was shocked how good they sound. Would love to see you do a video on this modem , very much the sleeper in their late 70's range.
In 1977, we installed this receiver in our family restaurant. Initially, my brother and I were annoyed that an employee picked this up for my dad, without consulting us first. At the time, there were Pioneer, Technics, Kenwood, and Marantz receivers which were much better, and only slightly more expensive. But we tolerated this. It certainly sounded better than we expected for only 12 watts per channel, with plenty of dynamic range. The tuner section was pretty stable, and overall was easy to use. At night, we'd crank rock music up really loud after the customers left. Amazingly, this receiver played without any problems, 16 hours per day, 7 days per week, until my dad retired 40 years later !
As a kid in the mid 70's I happened to pass by a RS store in our local "Shopping Center", and I saw the 100-n-1 electronic kit in the window. Damn was I mesmerized, I had never seen anything like it, and was instantly infatuated. We were quite poor in those days, but long story short, a Christmas/Birthday (I don't remember which) present was opened one day and there it was! I built every gadget it could do several times over, and configured a few new ones (I believe that was the point of it). I will never forget that the rest of my life, it truly set me on a path. BTW, when the catalog came (They had our address now...lol), I skipped right to back for all the "High End" audio gear, remember the giant speakers, Mack 1's? Awesome....
12 watts per channel is very adequate for the majority of listeners who have average speakers. I have an Advent 300 receiver that produces only 15 W per channel but the sound it produces punches well above its weight!
12-15 watts per channel into an efficient set of speakers WILL fill the room quite well. I play around with a lot of really low-powered hardware (3-5 WPC) and again, with good speakers, small amps will surprise the hell out of you.
It's all about the speakers, baby!
I loved the catalogs in the 70’s I remember the auto tuning device-cb base station radios-the patrolman scanner-mach speaker headphones with liquid-minimus speakers-most things were on sale at some point-they always asked for your phone number when you bought something-I thought the managers were cool-listening to the stereos on display was cool-
I enjoyed shopping at Radio Shack. I went there for parts, solder, wire, multi-meters, radio's, speakers, and lots of other stuff. It was a great place to visit. 😎
I loved Radio Shack. I lived in Jackson MS and there was a Radio Shack in the shopping center on McDowel and Suncrest Dr. just down from the Eckerd's and TG&Y. I would ride my Bike there all the time until I could Drive at 15. I loved their speakers and always wanted some Mach Is. This is in the mid to late 70s. We didn't have a lot of higher end stereo stores near us that I could ride my bike to. There was a store called Hooper Sound that originally came out of the MS Delta, but had a store in West Jackson near the old Alamo Hotel and Battlefield Park. It had pioneer and all the higher end stuff, but it was hard for me to get there. as I lived in South Jackson near Forest Hill. Radio Shack had great receivers, speakers, and turntables. I also built several sets of speakers and could buy really nice drivers there. I LOVED it.
Thanks for sharing your story!!
Open some of these Realistic audio products up and find the same parts as Pioneer used. My STA 52B is a 32 wpc "music power at 1kHz (IHF)" or 22wpc both channels driven playing through A Channel Realistic Nova 8 speakers B Channel Minimus 7 speakers and it rocks pretty decent! Speaker placement is KEY with these components.
Because at that time they were all made in Korea.
Your STA-52B is rated at 16 WPC rms. And Yes, they were made by Tandy Electronics in their Masan, Korean facility.
@@TheShackGuy Well, I have the original box and manual. I will type now exactly what is printed. And I quote ...RMS audio output power less than 0.8% total harmonic distortion, 1khz both channels driven 22 wpc . Music power at 1 kHz (IHF) 32 wpc. Frequency Response (1watt) 15-25 Hz +/- 2db. Harmonic distortion (at 5 watts) 0.2%. Tone control action Bass +/- 10db @ 100 Hz Treble +/- 10db @ 10,000 Hz
General Description. Your STA-52B represents one of the best values in a high quality receiver. It's power and versatility make it an outstanding buy. 44 watts of clean honest power will drive almost any speaker system - even two sets of speakers!
I could go on but I'm boring even myself. Serial number G 949457 "Custom manufactured in Korea"
Once upon a time, I worked at a Radio Shack in a very large shopping mall. Back in those days, the mall and stores were all closed on Sundays, so Inventory counts were planned for Sundays. We pushed the Mach 1 speakers into the empty mall, and cranked up the STA2000 to the max. The music orbited the entire circumference of the mall three times. Each song would end... would end again... would end a third time, as the sound travelled in circles. The mall security guard found it funny.
Realistic brand was high quality at very affordable prices...for kids with very little money and a love of electronic gizmos it was a veritable paradise.
Radio Shack fostered my interest in electronics, during my formative years I purchased every electronics kit they sold, every Forrest Mims electronics note book they had and built and stocked my first Electronics lab with their electronic components and test instruments. I went on to earn by BSEE and today I am Electrical Engineer all thanks to radio shack. It was a real shame to see them move away from their roots and even a bigger shame that they are no longer around.
Right on. Coffee in hand. Ready to listen
Enjoy!
Nothing replaced RS stores! As a electrical engineer who works in the field they were handy for fuses, solder, wire, switches etc...all non specialized components.
There really isn't any store that replaced them. Fry's did for a while but now they're gone too....
They made a lot of money on parts. The store markup was 500%.
As a child in the 1970s, I looked forward to the Radio Shack flyer in the sunday paper. Sometimes they'd have a coupon for a free 5-cell flashlight or a small red plastic toolbox. I also had my "Free Battery" card where I could go in and get a free battery every month! Once I was in the Navy, my first stereo system consisted of a Realistic STA-112 Receiver, Realistic CD-1000 CD Player (the first model RS made), and a set of Realistic Tabletop/Bookshelf speakers. I can't find them online but they had a 5-6" speaker and a tweeter in a brownish hard plastic enclosure with a metal front grill. They stood about 18" high and 10-12" wide and sounded awesome. I remember being told to wake everyone up in my barracks so I threw an Ozzy CD in, opened my door, cranked it up all the way and played the beginning of "Crazy Train". "All Aboard!!!!" and people came running. "What the F*** was that???" That was your wakeup call, sailor! Up and at em!
Great story! Appreciate you sharing!
I have the same receiver , I bought in 1976 and still playing in my work shop. Works great never a problem.
Tandy Corp. fond memories. I went through those catalogs every year. My first quad Sq was from the shack. It must of stuck because I built two great quad systems in the last 20 years. I never bought a Lab turntable and been on the look out for one and have never found one in the hunt. I been on the look out for a shack color organ with only finding one at the Pasadena rose bowl swap meet but it was to high priced but man I wanted it. Went through the CB radio era and the shack was the start for that adventure. When they started closing stores I went and bought all the RTR magnetic tape they had in stock in the Ca. Central Valley it was dirt cheap went from Sacramento to Bakersfield. It was funny all the stores would ask are you the guy going to all the shacks to buy the discontinued tape. That’s me.
I had two of those color organs in the late 70's, long gone Cool times. I still have one of their strobe lights I bought in 1977? Still works. I had one of their 5-band EQ's too - and, of course the WeatherRadio!
randy I have a color organ that I kept blowing up the SCR's in it. I found a bigger one and that fixed the problem. Sorry not for sale too many memories.
@@davidhuff2688 aaah man thxs for teasing me dude.
The Realistic STA-47... interesting. I own one, bought it late '70s, and can definitely attest to its sound quality. "Solid" would be a good word to use, paired with efficient speakers you get very good output volume and quality. The dial pointer changing color to act as a stereo indicator is one of my favorite features.
I'll have to look into your LED lighting update.
If I recall the Quatravox feature basically removed the common return from the "B" speaker pair, so the "A" speakers would be true stereo while the "B" ones would be across the left and right channels (differential) and opposite in phasing to each other.
I should have the schematic and Sams Photofact filed away, need to dig them up.
Is it loud?
@@XtramayoX "Loud" is a relative term. 🙂 By that I mean it's plenty loud enough for me under most circumstances, and really depends upon the music I'm playing on it, and the size and acoustics of my room. It's been quite a while since I last cranked it up just before the theme from Star Wars (A New Hope) fired off, but it did a decent job.
Speaking of others' opinions, while taking the trash to the curb tonight a Jeep drove by. Judging by the fact that I heard the _thump thump_ of its audio system long before its engine, and what appeared to be its rear fenders buzzing during each bass boom as it departed, I doubt my system would be loud enough for them. 😁
STA-52B. I got it for xmas when I was 11 along with a turntable and Nova speakers. NICE system for a kid but I was an only child. I listened to that thing ALL THE TIME. Still have it in storage. I loved going to Radio Shack and going through their catalogs. Gorgeous gear from that era.
My first real (component) stereo was a Realistic. It was a very basic quadraphonic setup. The decoder wasn't great - basic SQ, but it had quad discrete inputs for my quad 8 Track deck. I moved up a couple of times to higher ones before moving on, but the salesman in our local store in Salt Lake City was awesome. He was fond of giving us high school kids free toolsets as good customers who often came in to hang out. I miss having a store like that. They are all gone from my town now.
Known as Tandy in Great Britain, they had a very different business model. Rather than being affordable and offering good value, they were very expensive. Their audio equipment typically sold for 1.5x to 2x the price of the competition, whilst electronic components were priced at 5x to 10x the going rate. Having said that, they were just about the only retail outlet in this country that sold components, so if you were desperate for a 100 ohm resistor or 200 microfarad capacitor on a Saturday afternoon, then that was your point of call. It was the TRS-80 microcomputer that finally persuaded me to spend money in the stores. I spoke to several store managers over the years, and in each case they were a franchisee so I am uncertain as to whether Tandy UK operated any themselves.
The Tandy stores in Europe, UK, and Australia, and Canada were owned by InterTan. Tandy Corp spun off all non US stores in 1986 and created a new corporation, InterTan headquarterd in Canada. I used to work for Radio Shack Canada and was an InterTan shareholder. A lot of the products in the Canadian stores were sourced through Tandy which had a lot of buying power overseas.
Ah, the TRS-80, the first real computer I used and learned programming with. I still have nightmares of "syntax error" and I spell go to as "goto". I guess this was 1981?
So cool, thanks for the video.
Thanks for watching!
i bought the radio shack receivers in 1974, they sound great. i loved the electronic components , kits and the electronic books. as you walked into the store the music was playing and someone was always there to help you. i still own the radio shack books today. the store WAS located in PORT ARTHUR ,TEXAS on GULFWAY DRIVE.