I was the assistant manager of a Radio Shack in 1977. We sold tons of hifi. The big deal back then was the Mach 1 speaker. 15" woofer and a giant horn loaded tweeter. Looked just like a Klipsch. I remember the hifi magazines used to review the equipment and give it some praise. Radio Shack was by far and away the largest reseller of hifi nationaly.
I've been pleased with some of the better-known Realistic audio kit I've heard lately. With a little EQ, even Minimus-7s are pretty big sounding speakers for their size.
i would love to check out the mach 1. i am a fan of the minimus 7's. i used them for years for mixing audio for television. they are a great small speaker monitor.
My favorite Radioshack hi-fi product: Minimus speakers! LOVED those things! Also like the Optimus line quite a bit. Bought a good bunch of hi-fi from The Shack, and never regretted a single purchase.
Being vintage myself, I love seeing vintage stereo equipment being talked about. If people want affordable gear that sounds good, find one of these. The big brands have become somewhat unattainable, but try Nikko, Sherwood, Technics, Kenwood and of course Realistic. You’ll find gems for $150 or less.
Great video Randy! I live in the vintage world, circa 1975. My favorites are old Jethro Tull, old Yes, Peter Gabriel‘s Genesis, old Fleetwood Mac, and for a guilty pleasure, Cat Stevens. I agree that vintage gear has an irreplaceable sound. With patience and a lot of trips, vintage gear shows up at thrift stores. I have picked up old Pioneer, Sansui, and Yamaha gear recently for less than $50. As an alternative, many audio technicians sell vintage gear. They also may give a 90 day warranty. One word of caution is that all the speakers do not sound as good as new speakers. Perhaps it’s because the crossovers and capacitors have gone bad. As vintage guy and modern manufacturer, Bob Carver would say, “enjoy the music! “
i'm feeling you Dan Stein. Just like walking into the electronics store in Boogie Nights I picked up my 1975 Sansui Au7700 amp, Marantz stereo receiver, BIC TT and BIC Venturi Formula 6 speakers. Still have them, speakers are gone except for the bones. A different time it was. Today I use JBL near field powered monitors, RME Interface/Dac, Mogami XLR balanced cable to MB Pro streaming Amazon Music Unlimited. So easy today's stuff and so good!
Great video, Randy. Started my vintage collection 18 months ago and have been through countless amps, tuners, cd players, speakers and even a couple of turntables. I’ve bought back my first turntable and amp along the way. At the same time I learnt to fix and upgrade the gear and it’s become a self financing hobby. I even make my own cables, which folk pay actual money for and they tell me they love them! All this stuff has been resident in my system in the study and has provided endless hours of fun. Current amp is a Sansui AU-217 MkII, which has been lavished with new upgraded parts and wiring. It has a wonderfully large sound and oodles of grunt on tap!
I like the Vintage Vibe, it brings back a lot of great memories. In 1984, $500 was a lot of money and wouldn't be in the Cheap Audio Man budget. My first concert with my wife that year, Ratt and their Round and Round tour with Huey Lewis and the News with their hit "I want a new drug". Looking forward to the next Vintage Vibe.
That series is a sleeper. IMHO, it sounds about as good as any 70s silver face from Pioneer or Sansui, etc. I have an STA 2270, a sister model. Punches way above its rated watts. Loudness? Hell yeah!
Sounds like you were on a treasure hunt and found gold!!! Good for you! Makes me want to dig up my old Vector Research receiver and start replacing capacitors. 👍👍👍
As an old timer I bought my first pair of Realistic headphones from Radio shack in 1966. They were ugly but had a feature that if you wore the phones with right cup on left ear and vice versa you got this amazing 3D quality to your music. Have no idea what was going on but my friends were amazed. Listened to all those amazing 60s albums with these headphones up till 1971 when the phones died.
There are still around 400 Radio Shack stores open... including one in my town, Buffalo, MO. Still have a corner with a few capacitors, soldering iron, resistors, etc. Car stereos, toys, cell phones... good selection of batteries.
Love the shack but yamaha is the way to go for loudness control. They had a loudness KNOB! Paradoxically, when you turn it up the volume goes down, because it lowers the midrange. Once you get used to it, it's the best for low level listening.
Yes, that was my understanding of the loudness function as well. Didn't know that when I was a kid so I left it on regardless of volume. Louder the better am I right 😁
Just make sure you don't press the "pure direct" button when you're using the loudness control. Not good for your speakers or your nerves. It's hard to get into the habit of leaving the main volume control alone and adjusting listening volume via the loudness knob (per the Yamaha manuals).
I think the reason 'loudness' was removed was because 'bass boost' replaced it and possibly also because amongst audiophiles it was something they hated. Loudness can't really be replicated because of what it did. It boosted lows to add thump at low volumes but also shifted the phase around at various frequencies completely changing time arrival of frequencies to alter what you hear.
Great review! I have only bought vintage audio in the last few years. Mostly McIntosh, Kenwood and Pioneer. A day and age where manufacturers were still trying to emulate the tube sound using SS. Warm and engaging.
As far as I know the loudness button was to make the sound fuller at low volume. This was done by boosting the bass and treble in a v-curve. Perhaps the loudness button was replaced by Klipsch speakers! I believe the loudness modification also decreased as the volume increased. This is what I'm recalling from an old Harman kardon hk730 receiver manual.
Love your enthousiasm :) it's like you have a loudness button in your soul :D I'm with you (and we seem to be a lot, actualy) on vintage gear and the associated memories with which the come!
As your friend Ron Burgandy over at the “I Got A New Record Today” channel would explain, at low volumes our ears perceive sound differently, ie we perceive midrange sounds to sound more prominent and thusly we can’t hear the frequency extremes as well. The loudness button attempts to flatten the perceived frequency response for us at low listening levels by boosting the low bass and upper treble. As you increase volume this u-shaped curve should go away to sound ‘flat’ to our ears. Thanks for the video!
Yep, the loudness button was there to improve those late night listening sessions by turning a flat response amp to one with a U shaped response. None of the amps I ever heard or read about automatically reduced the U shape as the volume rose. In those days, it was just managed by passive components in the pre-amp. If you were playing loud, you were supposed to turn the loudness off, but plenty of people loved the amp’s sound with loudness on. Loudness was also better than tone controls as the resistors were fixed values which was an improvement over the carbon track potentiometers.
@@markcarrington8565 It should be easy enough to do these days. I’m still waiting for a loudness control that varies with the volume knob position, and that also takes into account the connected speakers’ sensitivity (e.g. 85dB vs. 96dB speakers).
I was in ninth grade and one yes away from hearing the system that got me hooked. Parasound DR 25 Eagle speakers Thorens TD 166 that I have today as my main table and it’s perfect.
being a guy who loves music from a very early age, my dad had a Kenwood receiver, a phillips turntable, and a pioneer cassette deck, with a huge pair of boutique speakers (Glen Brown and Sons) I love car audio just as much (because nobody was in my car yelling at me to turn it down). I ended up in the electronics field because I wanted to learn how to fix all the amplifiers I had and had killed. Fast forward 30 years and I now have stacks of vintage receivers and even more car audio. I absolutely love late 60s and 70's receivers, I'm very partial to Sansui and Marantz, but I also have a couple Realistic units, to this day I'd swear the ones I own were built by pioneer. There is just no replacement for that tone that comes from these old units. Good or bad in peoples opinions, they just sound different. I LOVE them.
I remember all that music from '84. My aunt gave me a Bradford receiver that year. It was awesome! Speaking of awesome,. My wife got me a pair of Sony sscs 5's to go with my Hitachi sr603!
I have a Realistic STA-2600 receiver that I found at a thrift store for less than $20 a few years ago that I have used as my main system. It is a beast and I LOVE it!...BTW it was in perfect condition when I picked it up and have never had any issues with it!
Hey Randy, the addition of the Loudness button was intended to address human hearing loss tied to specific frequencies that occurs at low volumes. This was discovered in the 1930's and plotted by two engineers Harvey Fletcher and Wilden Munson, hence the development of what is known as the Fletcher-Munson curves. The loudness button is designed to electrically compensate these natural hearing losses by boosting the applicable frequencies accordingly. As volume rises, the effect is gradually reduced as it is no longer needed. Hope this helps! P.S. I too used to sell Realistic gear in the late 70's / early 80's as a Radio Shack store manager!
Dear Randy, thank you for acknowledging the awesomeness of the year I turned 14. In the 80s I aspired to own what I couldn't afford then, top of the line NAD separates and a Technics SL-1200, which is exactly what I have now. Still working on getting the Magnepans I wanted, because my cat might like them as much as me.
Heck YES! Vintage is great. I have a Kenwood KR-5200 ($30 at an estate sale) and a Pioneer SX-780 ($200 on Craigslist). My Turntable is a Pioneer PL-55X (also Craigslist), semi-automatic with an S shaped tonearm and I love it! One thing to consider if you don't know how to work on them is "do you gotta guy?" I have a guy near me that does great work and guarantees it for six months.
Recently picked up a Kenwood KR-3090 and absolutely love it! Vintage gear is why I can afford a respectable sound system. I do wish I had more years under my belt so I could experience the nostalgia of old gear, but I love it nonetheless. Happy listening!
I bought a new Realistic STA-130 in 1989, and it's still the one I use today. Works great and ideal for my needs. (Has the discussed loudness button.) Great functionality with lots of inputs - I use it for my turntable (phono), TV, CD, and radio. 🙂
I had a Realistic back in 1984. So I did exactly what you just did. Last year, during the pandemic I bought myself a Realistic for $60 that sounds awesome.
I have a Denon PMA-920 that was destined for Goodwill and a Technics SA-GX650 that I got for $60. Yeah they're not from the "Golden Age" of receivers but I'm 33 and they're vintage to me, and I've been having a ton of fun tweaking and experimenting with them. And in the age of Sound bars they are a lot more interesting to own.
YES! Finally, someone who really appreciates the loudness button on vintage amps/receivers. I own a vintage NEC Authentic Series and I just can't listen to anything without the loudness button turned on. It changes the whole dynamics, it's incredibly punchy and the sound fills the entire room. I guess it boosts the low frequencies, because the bass is on another level when turned on.
I remember in the late seventies I guess it was going to Sears at age 8 with my parents. Sears had a separate audio room. I went into the room and I can recall a pair of Sony speakers and there was music playing in the room but you would never know that the sound was coming from the speakers although it was. I was hooked ever since!😝😎
I had a set of Mach One speakers I purchased in '84. Bought the STA-2500 amp with my tax check in '85. My god, we had the best, loudest parties. I would crank the volume up and put a fan above it to keep the thermals from kicking out. What a beast.
My dad purchased a Pioneer SX-434 receiver in '74 or thereabouts and it's been residing in my garage for almost four years...listen to it every day, primarily the tuner.
just restored my sony cx355 300 cd changer. new belts and a clean-up, sounds as good as new. i just had rotator cuff surgery, so plenty of time to spend with music! this changer has a d/a converter thats top notch, and everything played sounds fantastic! i bought the unit new in 2002.
One of the few things I regret selling is my restored Sansui 7000. A big cap-coupled beast of a receiver from the early 70's rated at 70 wpc. Running some AR-3a speakers it was a killer vintage setup.
I bought my Dual turntable off eBay, which was a mistake. The seller bought it from an estate sale and didn't know how to pack it. The plinth and dust cover were shrapnel by the time it got to me. I had to go back and forth with the seller to get a credit back so I wouldn't put a negative review on his site. That said, I built my own plinth out of teak, sunk another $90 bucks to have it serviced at a local hi-fi repair shop and have been enjoying it ever since. It sounds fantastic and looks good too. Another source for vintage gear is shopgoodwill. There is some fantastic gear there, but buyer beware because they typically only see if it powers on.
Cool video Randy! My first receiver was a Technics 25 wpc that I bought in 1981. Great little receiver. I started working for Circuit City in the late 80's selling audio. I was fortunate to buy a 50 wpc Harman Kardon 2 channel receiver, which was a beast! HK made some great 2 channel stuff before suround sound started to become popular. Wish I could find that receiver again today. It weighed a ton, all discrete components, high current, real quality piece of equipment. It would drive the crap out of ANY speaker.
I had a battery card, and I had not yet discovered power supplies, and batteries were a huge expense, and those darn things didn't last. I loved the racks of parts that would swing like a book, I looked at every one.
I grabbed a very clean one for $100 shipped in about '05 (or sooner). I don't work it real hard, but the thing sounds really good with TT and Wharfedale Diamond 10.1s in a small room. A full, smooth sound with really good bass. Effective tone controls. Phono stage seems fine. Lights all still work (knock on wood). An off-the-chart investment. Not sure what I'll do when it seems to need restoration. On another wall in that room sits a really nice Marantz 2270. Selling the Marantz and fixing the 737 would probably be the prudent thing, but dang, they're both so beautiful.
The good news is that you can likely get it back. They’re out there and affordable. Check out “Offer Up” which is a great app for finding vintage gear locally, depending where ya live.
Found a Realistic STA-2280 locally when looking for a “cheap” office stereo. I love it! 1987 build, 65 watts/channel, & has “IMX Stereo Expander” control that varies the sound field and is seriously fun to play with and test. This system sent me down a vintage rabbit hole and I’m better for it.
What a list of movies!! Did not realize those all came out the same year. I had a Realistic equalizer with all the spectrums and a bunch of beautiful lights in the middle, and….a loudness button!
Love it! My Dad had so much Radio Shack Audio equipment. When I was young my first good bedroom speakers were his used Realistic Mach Ones...Great memories. Perhaps a new LOUDNESS revival video for 2024. they seem to lusten to your opinion now (audio manufacturers. Love your channel, thanks.
Nice video sir. My first "component" hifi setup was in 1975. Pioneer SX-434, BIC-920 and KLH 31 speakers all for under $240. Realistic was (like Lafayette) very underrated. I personally liked the Minimus series speakers and their T-70 speakers were very highly rated. As for the seven segment power meters? Yuck, shoulda had VU or a lot more segments. I agree about watching "flashin' lights". Kinda like your own Joshua Light Show. The loudness switch was to boost bass (and treble??) when listening at low volume levels to compensate our natural hearing loss. The amps spec sheet should list loudness boost, low/high filter cut offs, power into 8 and 4 ohms, BOTH CHANNELS DRIVEN, even one channel driven only at 1kHz. In 1979 I bought a Hitachi SR-804 receiver and still use it today. Same for my Ohm L speakers purchased in 1978, still going strong. My EQ choice was a Sound Shaper Two in 1978 than an upgrade to the IC version in 1982. Also a Pioneer RG-2 expander in 1981, talk about lights. Being a Brooklyn guy I had lotsa stores in NYC to get my hifi stuff in the 1970's/80's.
Living room TV runs with Realistic STA-12 "Personal" (i.e. smaller) receiver and JBL 2500's (sens. 88 dB). Plays plenty loud at only 7 watts/ch. Loudness button: check. Basement stereo runs with Sherwood 202-CP amplifier (all aluminum up front, ~1983, 25 watts/ch) and 66 lb Infinity SM-125 (~1995, 12" woofers, sens. 100 dB). Do the math. Sounds awesome, inexplicably better with classical. Power levels meter, loudness button: check. Mono button? Oh, yeah. Bookshelf speakers and a subwoofer can sound great, of course, but there's something about the sound from big speakers in a big space.
Yes...the "loudness" button was intended to make a more pleasing sound when the receiver/amp was playing at low volumes. Since the human ear is more sensitive to the midrange and less sensitive to frequency extremes...a "loudness" curve is a "scooped" frequency curve...lower in the midrange...listening with the loudness on at very high volumes can tend to sound harsh in the treble and boomy in the base depending on the speakers you're using. Speakers that accentuate the midrange might sound more balanced with it left on at higher volumes. I had a pair of Signet 280s like that...as opposed to a pair of snell EIIIs I had that already had a loudness curve in their frequency response.
A loudness button typically boosts bass and treble at certain predetermined frequencies, at around +6 to +10 dBs maximum. These frequencies are usually 50 or 100 Hz for the bass boost and around 10 kHz for the treble. Though some loudness buttons did only boost the bass. Usually the frequencies that the loudness button boosts were different from the frequencies that your bass and treble control boosts. The loudness button compensates for the lower sensitivity of our hearing with lower and higher frequencies at low listening levels to make listening at lower levels a much more satisfying experience, and it does work, and it IS a useful feature, despite what some audio snobs may state. The effect of the loudness circuit is typically reduced as your volume level is increased in some designs. There is no industry standard for loudness buttons so manufacturers could design them to boost at whatever frequencies they wanted to, and how much boost. The presence or lack of a loudness button feature has absolutely nothing to do with the quality of an audio component. My Scott tube amps from the late fifties to early sixties even have a loudness button, which is actually tied into its volume potentiometer to reduce its effect at higher listening levels. Smart. Often loudness buttons are used at higher volumes simply to enhance the sound or to simply compensate for recording or source material deficiencies, speaker deficiencies, or room acoustics. Use it as you please. There are no rules. On an amp or receiver that does not have a loudness button, you can simply turn up the bass and the treble to try and duplicate what the loudness button does, but it won't be the same as loudness button frequencies are not always the same as bass and treble frequencies. So you won't get both. Adding an equalizer in your tape loop is an easy way to duplicate what a loudness button does. And now YOU are the the designer Randy! You get to pick the frequencies of your boosted highs and lows. But we all know it's typically the classic V-shaped curve on the EQ. Happy Listening !!
I actually stopped listening to my main receiver because the loudness button stopped working. Love that loudness button, yes I do. Yes, I have enough vintage receivers that do have loudness buttons that I have not been quick to dig into the one that isn't working.
Wonderfull channel. Big thumbs up. I went the vintage way 5 years ago, when getting back into hi-fi. Started out with Rotel 820bx amp (1990), then an Audiolab 8000A (1990) and then my først real vintage amplifier. A Sansui AU 9900A, lots of beautiful knobs, but no loudness (1977, and sounds sweet and powerful ). It delivered more of everything, tighter bass, better midrange and airier topend. Better seperation and dynamics. And naturally better aesthics and Building quality. I wanted more of that sound and physical presence and has since then picked up a Sansui G-7000 reciever which a friend of mine has restored and it too sounds and feeds absolutely fantastic Lately my lavest Sansui purchase has been a newer TOTL 90’ies Sansui AU 911DG which by the gong rate of the other two is a Big Bang for the buck. It sound just as good as the other Sansui’s, at a much lover price. Thx again for a wonderful YT channel 👍
Most of my stuff is vintage. I still have a few newer things but I can't pay the prices for good new stuff. My vintage gear works and sounds fantastic. Most of which was acquired at estate sales or thrift shops and then cleaned and if needed serviced by myself. Also I too couldn't afford the high end when I was a kid so now I can own some of that cool stuff. Nothing wrong with vintage or used gear.
I have a small vintage receiver collection. Sansui G7500, McIntosh 4100, Fisher 500C and a Parasound 16.5. I love all of them and they all sound fantastic. As well the vintage gear visually is soo much better than current gear and I enjoy just looking at them. Current gear does not provide that (to me at least). Is there a risk buying vintage? Absolutely. There is also a risk buying current. If you buy a vintage piece the first thing you should do is take it to a reputable service tech and have it completely inspected and serviced. It is well worth doing. Then enjoy!!
The STA-2500 is what got me started back into vintage audio in 2019. Hooked it up to my old B&W DM640i loudspeakers and it ran them effortlessly. I’ve since upgraded to the FISHER RS-Z1 component set and haven’t looked for anyone else to replace it. Haven’t looked yet. 😉
I am 59 years old So about 20 or 21 in the mid-eighties. what I recall the loudness button being about was at lower levels, to enhance certain frequencies without driving the amp. it would enhance the base when the amplifier was at low levels
I have purchased many vintage receivers and speakers on Ebay and have never been disappointed. Also, I agree with you on the "Loudness" button. I use it often and cannot reproduce the effect with tone controls. BTW. I love your content and style.👍
I loved Radio Shack! I literally grew up in a TV and radio shop, so electronics was my second nature. There was no other place to buy the various do dads that the Shack carried. And they were really ground breakers in many ways. I have a couple of Optimus receivers that I absolutely love! Terribly sad to see their demise, but I guess it just yet another case of not changing with the times.
The purpose of the loudness button was to enhance low end extension at low volumes, it effectively is a bass boost that slowly step down fades as you increase volume. So it might be a ~10 db boost in bass at 1/100 volume, and only a 5 db boost at 5/100 and 1/100 boost at 10/100 type of thing. The reason for it was due to most speakers at the time having bass drivers that were not sensitive enough to play deeper notes at lower power, so the boost helped make speakers sound more full range at low volumes....or at least that was the idea behind it.
Loudness compensation (loudness button) was placed into mostly what we now call vintage audio to "compensate" (boost) mainly lower, but higher frequencies as well because at lower volume levels our ears don't detect the lower and upper frequencies well when compared to mid (vocals). By compensating, you can better hear the entire audio spectrum while listening to relatively lower volume levels.
Great video, I truly enjoyed it. Most of those old receivers are very under rated in power, even at nominal 15-20 WPC are very loud, offer multiple connections to just about anything, sound very good, are beautiful to look at, bunch of shiny switches, bass, treble, mono, balance, loudness control, lights all over the front....., what's not to like? I'm sold on them. I bought a Pioneer SX 550 a year and half ago, paid, including shipment, $150.00 and is it in near mint conditions, made in Japan, the heart of my vinyl corner.
I for one really enjoyed the audio (and other) history, please keep them coming! I've been looking for my first (big boy) amplifier, it was an Onkyo A-7022.. loved it!
Vintage, you say! All in. Got an Advent 300 receiver (recently recapped) & a pair of Large Advents (recently reformed). Simply waiting on the right amp to use the 300 as a pre- & connect the Advents. Good stuff (in it's day.)
My STA-2100D is such a badass and a sleeper in the monster receiver world. Cheap by monster receiver prices. Rated 125 watts .05% distortion. The first time I used it I thought I was gonna blow the speakers. FM and my blue sound node sound friggin awesome. I really can’t get over how much fun it is and it gets even better with a EQ.
Loudness adjusts the frequency curve so that bass, usually, is more prominent at lower volumes. It's not meant to be used at "normal" listening volumes. Loudness didn't go away, per se, but is rather now built into units, adjusting frequency for a given volume input to prevent bass distortion as volume output increases. The factory head unit in my car does that as does my Sony "smart" speaker, and I think, various "soundbars". But to the extent "loudness" on home audio equipment went the way of the dinosaur is simple: multichannel, "surround" sound. We're expected to have a separate subwoofer,
It was only a few decades ago and change that I read where Radio Shack speakers were the best selling speakers in the U.S.A. What happened? Radio Shack never had hip appeal with upper mid-fi audiophiles. For many of us, they were one of our earliest exposure to hi-fi, especially if the employees had the speakers cranked up when you walked in, like the store near me. Color organs that flashed to the beat of the music too. If you or someone else living at home bought batteries etc. there, chances are that you would get colorful multi page advertisements of their upcoming sale and new products in the mail. There were ads from other sellers in the newspapers, but these were in big bold color, complete with detailed specs and description. Once in my twenties I was on the bus and a guy behind me sounded like he was trying to impress a girl next to him by saying, "I have an ALL Pioneer system." Somehow I couldn't imagine someone trying to impress by saying "I have an all Radio Shack system." Then again, Radio Shack didn't have the Allman Brothers promoting their stuff in magazine advertisements. Some of the stuff they made was good. Better than vintage Pioneer? You tell me; but I bet Pioneers tape decks were better. In the 1990's they came out with a portable CD player called the CD 3400. Word got around that Joe Grado of cartridge fame like it. It was supposed to be the only CD player with bloom. It did have warmth, which I think the designer boosted to sound more anolog. Big disappointment in resolution and instrument size though. You can imagine how little the transformers are in a pocket portable. Dick Sequerra of tuner and speaker fame came out with a beefier power station especially made for the CD 3400. The player had a digital out and allegedly some people with mega buck systems were using the little under $200 Optimus player as their CD transport.
I've watched Purple Rain several times, and you gotta admire how gorgeous Appolonia was/is. And, of course, Jay and Silent Bob worship Morris Day and the Time.
I bought my STA-2500 new in 1986 & will be doing a few quick music demos hooked to the Quad s-2, Kef ls50’s & other speakers using the Chord Mojo DAC👍 I’ve used it on over 20 different sets.. Originally I bought the Mach Two’s with it.. I already had the Mach Ones hooked to a Pioneer sx-1250 .. The STA-2500 has Gobs of Power..
The Loudness button rules Randy!! I also have 3 Realistic receivers: STA-2080, STA-2700 and the STA-111. Power rating from 100 watts down to 30 (STA-111). The STA-111 was my first “real” receiver. All these still sound great. I use them for 2 channel audio only and use a Denon 7.2 surround sound receiver for home theater duties.
At the radio shack building My government professor was the RS property lawyer. Just had to walk down the way. At the time, 2013 or so, he said RS had a larger footprint than McDonald's.
Love me some old vintage gear. That’s a nice old receiver. I miss Radio Shack. I recently refurbished a Realistic 2100 linear tracking turntable and put a Grado cart on it for a buddy of mine. It works great but more importantly, he digs it. Awesome list of 80’s “stuff” and facts. Btw, loudness buttons were based on something called the fletcher munson curve. It boosted the highs and lows for listening at low volume levels. Don’t know why they went away though… Thanks, Randy!
I love my Adcom GFA 555 mk2 and my 545 mk2. My 555mk2 is very rare one because it was bought by me last year from a seller which never opened it from the original box, it was in his stored for more then 20 years. I am lucky guy 😜
The more you turn the volume down on your receiver, the less base proportionally is perceived being played back through your speakers. A loudness knob is to be used to compensate for the diminishing Bass. So the lower you turn the volume, the higher you turn the loudness knob to bring back the lost bass in a logarithmic curve.
Man I love this receiver. Just did some lite service on mine, left channel was intermittent. Now I’m waiting for the IC’s to come in so I can get the front power meter display working again. The plan is to keep, use and maintain this receiver until it absolutely can’t go on any more.
Love your channel. Just an FYI, usually receivers that feature two phono inputs will have each of those inputs have different impedance specs. This is to allow for different era cartridges having evolved in sensitivity. I say this because you mention A/B comparisons of turntables. This difference in impedance will highly affect your tests. Check hi-fi site for your receiver specs to see if this is true of yours. Cheers!
I had one of those receivers also the thing I really liked was the remote ,you could point it any where in the room and the receiver would see it . Also it did have a lot of power ;)
I was the assistant manager of a Radio Shack in 1977. We sold tons of hifi. The big deal back then was the Mach 1 speaker. 15" woofer and a giant horn loaded tweeter. Looked just like a Klipsch. I remember the hifi magazines used to review the equipment and give it some praise. Radio Shack was by far and away the largest reseller of hifi nationaly.
Some of the smaller Archer speakers would have made great desktop speakers today.
I've been pleased with some of the better-known Realistic audio kit I've heard lately. With a little EQ, even Minimus-7s are pretty big sounding speakers for their size.
i would love to check out the mach 1. i am a fan of the minimus 7's. i used them for years for mixing audio for television. they are a great small speaker monitor.
Actually, the large horn top was the midrange horn. The much smaller tweeter horn was situated under the midrange horn.
My favorite Radioshack hi-fi product: Minimus speakers! LOVED those things! Also like the Optimus line quite a bit. Bought a good bunch of hi-fi from The Shack, and never regretted a single purchase.
One of my vintage receivers is a restored Realistic STA-2200 from 1980. Excellent sound!!
I have an STA-2000D I use at my record store. It's a baddass. A coworker gifted it to me, with some other gear, back in 2005. It's been bulletproof.
Being vintage myself, I love seeing vintage stereo equipment being talked about. If people want affordable gear that sounds good, find one of these. The big brands have become somewhat unattainable, but try Nikko, Sherwood, Technics, Kenwood and of course Realistic. You’ll find gems for $150 or less.
2.0 or 2.1 systems better than TV speakers or most soundbars. My vintage Bogen amp long gone though. It could heat the room!
Oh, boy...here we go....all I can afford is vintage...almost my entire system...this is gonna be fun!
Great video Randy! I live in the vintage world, circa 1975. My favorites are old Jethro Tull, old Yes, Peter Gabriel‘s Genesis, old Fleetwood Mac, and for a guilty pleasure, Cat Stevens. I agree that vintage gear has an irreplaceable sound. With patience and a lot of trips, vintage gear shows up at thrift stores. I have picked up old Pioneer, Sansui, and Yamaha gear recently for less than $50. As an alternative, many audio technicians sell vintage gear. They also may give a 90 day warranty. One word of caution is that all the speakers do not sound as good as new speakers. Perhaps it’s because the crossovers and capacitors have gone bad. As vintage guy and modern manufacturer, Bob Carver would say, “enjoy the music! “
I had a early 80's Sansui reciever one of the best older recievers I've ever had but it got knocked out by ligtining.
i'm feeling you Dan Stein. Just like walking into the electronics store in Boogie Nights I picked up my 1975 Sansui Au7700 amp, Marantz stereo receiver, BIC TT and BIC Venturi Formula 6 speakers. Still have them, speakers are gone except for the bones. A different time it was. Today I use JBL near field powered monitors, RME Interface/Dac, Mogami XLR balanced cable to MB Pro streaming Amazon Music Unlimited. So easy today's stuff and so good!
Great video, Randy. Started my vintage collection 18 months ago and have been through countless amps, tuners, cd players, speakers and even a couple of turntables. I’ve bought back my first turntable and amp along the way. At the same time I learnt to fix and upgrade the gear and it’s become a self financing hobby. I even make my own cables, which folk pay actual money for and they tell me they love them!
All this stuff has been resident in my system in the study and has provided endless hours of fun. Current amp is a Sansui AU-217 MkII, which has been lavished with new upgraded parts and wiring. It has a wonderfully large sound and oodles of grunt on tap!
I like the Vintage Vibe, it brings back a lot of great memories. In 1984, $500 was a lot of money and wouldn't be in the Cheap Audio Man budget. My first concert with my wife that year, Ratt and their Round and Round tour with Huey Lewis and the News with their hit "I want a new drug". Looking forward to the next Vintage Vibe.
I'm pretty sure it was 84 when I saw Ratt at the Erwin Events Center in Austin. Lots of awesome concerts there back then. Good times. 👍
I use the loudness button late at night playing on the lowest volume settings.
I turned 40 a couple days ago so I bought myself a 40 year old marantz. Thanks for all the great content randy!
That series is a sleeper. IMHO, it sounds about as good as any 70s silver face from Pioneer or Sansui, etc. I have an STA 2270, a sister model. Punches way above its rated watts. Loudness? Hell yeah!
Not really.
Sounds like you were on a treasure hunt and found gold!!! Good for you! Makes me want to dig up my old Vector Research receiver and start replacing capacitors. 👍👍👍
Vector Research vr 2500 was one of my favs
@@lcarr1560 I'm sure I stiil have mine in my stack-o-stereo equipment. I need to dig it out and plug it in!
As an old timer I bought my first pair of Realistic headphones from Radio shack in 1966. They were ugly but had a feature that if you wore the phones with right cup on left ear and vice versa you got this amazing 3D quality to your music. Have no idea what was going on but my friends were amazed. Listened to all those amazing 60s albums with these headphones up till 1971 when the phones died.
It was great to be able to run out get that 🎧 or RCA cable. My Dad got the tube replacements there. Those machines you could test them!
In the 70s Radio Schack sold Koss headphones under the Realistic brand.
LOUDNESS button return-Agreed
There are still around 400 Radio Shack stores open... including one in my town, Buffalo, MO. Still have a corner with a few capacitors, soldering iron, resistors, etc. Car stereos, toys, cell phones... good selection of batteries.
That is awesome. I wish I had a shack near me.
They're not company stores unfortunately. Any remaining stores are franchise stores.
I know there is one in pigeon forge tn.
Hi, GreybeardMo, as I just purchased 2 pieces of Radio Shack "vintaged" audio gear being a STA-117, & a STA-2150 both from the late 80s era!
Love the shack but yamaha is the way to go for loudness control. They had a loudness KNOB! Paradoxically, when you turn it up the volume goes down, because it lowers the midrange. Once you get used to it, it's the best for low level listening.
Yes, that was my understanding of the loudness function as well. Didn't know that when I was a kid so I left it on regardless of volume. Louder the better am I right 😁
Just make sure you don't press the "pure direct" button when you're using the loudness control. Not good for your speakers or your nerves. It's hard to get into the habit of leaving the main volume control alone and adjusting listening volume via the loudness knob (per the Yamaha manuals).
I think the reason 'loudness' was removed was because 'bass boost' replaced it and possibly also because amongst audiophiles it was something they hated. Loudness can't really be replicated because of what it did. It boosted lows to add thump at low volumes but also shifted the phase around at various frequencies completely changing time arrival of frequencies to alter what you hear.
Great review! I have only bought vintage audio in the last few years. Mostly McIntosh, Kenwood and Pioneer. A day and age where manufacturers were still trying to emulate the tube sound using SS. Warm and engaging.
I want more vintage vibes episodes!
As far as I know the loudness button was to make the sound fuller at low volume. This was done by boosting the bass and treble in a v-curve. Perhaps the loudness button was replaced by Klipsch speakers!
I believe the loudness modification also decreased as the volume increased.
This is what I'm recalling from an old Harman kardon hk730 receiver manual.
'I believe the loudness modification also decreased as the volume increased.' - The 'proper' one's did!
You brought back a memory for me with the battery program I remember my dad participated in it.
Love your enthousiasm :) it's like you have a loudness button in your soul :D I'm with you (and we seem to be a lot, actualy) on vintage gear and the associated memories with which the come!
1984 was the year I graduated from high school. I seem to recall, that was the best box office year ever (adjusted for inflation) for movies. Insane.
As your friend Ron Burgandy over at the “I Got A New Record Today” channel would explain, at low volumes our ears perceive sound differently, ie we perceive midrange sounds to sound more prominent and thusly we can’t hear the frequency extremes as well. The loudness button attempts to flatten the perceived frequency response for us at low listening levels by boosting the low bass and upper treble. As you increase volume this u-shaped curve should go away to sound ‘flat’ to our ears.
Thanks for the video!
Yep, the loudness button was there to improve those late night listening sessions by turning a flat response amp to one with a U shaped response. None of the amps I ever heard or read about automatically reduced the U shape as the volume rose. In those days, it was just managed by passive components in the pre-amp. If you were playing loud, you were supposed to turn the loudness off, but plenty of people loved the amp’s sound with loudness on.
Loudness was also better than tone controls as the resistors were fixed values which was an improvement over the carbon track potentiometers.
Good explanation. Thanks
@@markcarrington8565 It should be easy enough to do these days. I’m still waiting for a loudness control that varies with the volume knob position, and that also takes into account the connected speakers’ sensitivity (e.g. 85dB vs. 96dB speakers).
I was in ninth grade and one yes away from hearing the system that got me hooked.
Parasound DR 25
Eagle speakers
Thorens TD 166 that I have today as my main table and it’s perfect.
being a guy who loves music from a very early age, my dad had a Kenwood receiver, a phillips turntable, and a pioneer cassette deck, with a huge pair of boutique speakers (Glen Brown and Sons) I love car audio just as much (because nobody was in my car yelling at me to turn it down). I ended up in the electronics field because I wanted to learn how to fix all the amplifiers I had and had killed. Fast forward 30 years and I now have stacks of vintage receivers and even more car audio. I absolutely love late 60s and 70's receivers, I'm very partial to Sansui and Marantz, but I also have a couple Realistic units, to this day I'd swear the ones I own were built by pioneer. There is just no replacement for that tone that comes from these old units. Good or bad in peoples opinions, they just sound different. I LOVE them.
I remember all that music from '84. My aunt gave me a Bradford receiver that year. It was awesome!
Speaking of awesome,. My wife got me a pair of Sony sscs 5's to go with my Hitachi sr603!
Welcome to the vintage rabbit hole Randy !!
I have a Realistic STA-2600 receiver that I found at a thrift store for less than $20 a few years ago that I have used as my main system. It is a beast and I LOVE it!...BTW it was in perfect condition when I picked it up and have never had any issues with it!
Randy, My Luxman Lx-104 has not a loudness button but a loudness DIAL. It also has a subwoofer out and you can configure the rolloff frequency.
Yeah, the variable loudness was a better way to go. Yamaha receivers offered that feature too.
I love the LOUDNESS BUTTON too!!!
Bought a few vintage receivers all totally rebuilt, at the cost of the original price. Great video
Hey Randy, the addition of the Loudness button was intended to address human hearing loss tied to specific frequencies that occurs at low volumes. This was discovered in the 1930's and plotted by two engineers Harvey Fletcher and Wilden Munson, hence the development of what is known as the Fletcher-Munson curves. The loudness button is designed to electrically compensate these natural hearing losses by boosting the applicable frequencies accordingly. As volume rises, the effect is gradually reduced as it is no longer needed. Hope this helps! P.S. I too used to sell Realistic gear in the late 70's / early 80's as a Radio Shack store manager!
awesome. thank you so much for that. I've become quite the collector of realistic gear
Dear Randy, thank you for acknowledging the awesomeness of the year I turned 14. In the 80s I aspired to own what I couldn't afford then, top of the line NAD separates and a Technics SL-1200, which is exactly what I have now. Still working on getting the Magnepans I wanted, because my cat might like them as much as me.
Heck YES! Vintage is great. I have a Kenwood KR-5200 ($30 at an estate sale) and a Pioneer SX-780 ($200 on Craigslist). My Turntable is a Pioneer PL-55X (also Craigslist), semi-automatic with an S shaped tonearm and I love it! One thing to consider if you don't know how to work on them is "do you gotta guy?" I have a guy near me that does great work and guarantees it for six months.
I have 2 sherwood receivers vintage 1974- 75 in my system I use them for FM radio love the blue lights thanks for the walk
down memory lane !
Recently picked up a Kenwood KR-3090 and absolutely love it! Vintage gear is why I can afford a respectable sound system.
I do wish I had more years under my belt so I could experience the nostalgia of old gear, but I love it nonetheless. Happy listening!
I bought a new Realistic STA-130 in 1989, and it's still the one I use today. Works great and ideal for my needs. (Has the discussed loudness button.) Great functionality with lots of inputs - I use it for my turntable (phono), TV, CD, and radio. 🙂
Best episode ever on the interweb! You absolutely NAILED, HAMMERED, KILLED it with everything that is relevant to vintage audio. #PERFECT
Lovin' the Loudness Button from days of old . . .
I had a Realistic back in 1984. So I did exactly what you just did. Last year, during the pandemic I bought myself a Realistic for $60 that sounds awesome.
I have a Denon PMA-920 that was destined for Goodwill and a Technics SA-GX650 that I got for $60. Yeah they're not from the "Golden Age" of receivers but I'm 33 and they're vintage to me, and I've been having a ton of fun tweaking and experimenting with them. And in the age of Sound bars they are a lot more interesting to own.
YES! Finally, someone who really appreciates the loudness button on vintage amps/receivers. I own a vintage NEC Authentic Series and I just can't listen to anything without the loudness button turned on. It changes the whole dynamics, it's incredibly punchy and the sound fills the entire room. I guess it boosts the low frequencies, because the bass is on another level when turned on.
I remember in the late seventies I guess it was going to Sears at age 8 with my parents. Sears had a separate audio room. I went into the room and I can recall a pair of Sony speakers and there was music playing in the room but you would never know that the sound was coming from the speakers although it was. I was hooked ever since!😝😎
I had a set of Mach One speakers I purchased in '84. Bought the STA-2500 amp with my tax check in '85. My god, we had the best, loudest parties. I would crank the volume up and put a fan above it to keep the thermals from kicking out. What a beast.
My dad purchased a Pioneer SX-434 receiver in '74 or thereabouts and it's been residing in my garage for almost four years...listen to it every day, primarily the tuner.
just restored my sony cx355 300 cd changer. new belts and a clean-up, sounds as good as new. i just had rotator cuff surgery, so plenty of time to spend with music! this changer has a d/a converter thats top notch, and everything played sounds fantastic! i bought the unit new in 2002.
Had one of these for maybe over 15 years until it died😢😢 It was a Very, Very Good Stereo Receiver with Very Good to Excllent sound quality😁😁👍👍
I could do a quick sweep with REW and my calibrated mic with Loudness off and then on... It'll show what frequency are getting boosted
Very good video Randy! I like the new style of your videos! You've lured me back in with the more serious side of you. Have a great evening! 🤜
This is one of the reasons I have an Adcom 545 at the heart of my system.
Hey Randy here! I’m in FW also. I think we could be related! Lol, I thought I was the only Randy cheap audio man. Love the content. Keep it up
One of the few things I regret selling is my restored Sansui 7000. A big cap-coupled beast of a receiver from the early 70's rated at 70 wpc. Running some AR-3a speakers it was a killer vintage setup.
I bought my Dual turntable off eBay, which was a mistake. The seller bought it from an estate sale and didn't know how to pack it. The plinth and dust cover were shrapnel by the time it got to me. I had to go back and forth with the seller to get a credit back so I wouldn't put a negative review on his site. That said, I built my own plinth out of teak, sunk another $90 bucks to have it serviced at a local hi-fi repair shop and have been enjoying it ever since. It sounds fantastic and looks good too.
Another source for vintage gear is shopgoodwill. There is some fantastic gear there, but buyer beware because they typically only see if it powers on.
A loudness control boosts treble and bass so you can listen at low levels while still getting those frequencies. I love them! Great video.
Cool video Randy! My first receiver was a Technics 25 wpc that I bought in 1981. Great little receiver. I started working for Circuit City in the late 80's selling audio. I was fortunate to buy a 50 wpc Harman Kardon 2 channel receiver, which was a beast! HK made some great 2 channel stuff before suround sound started to become popular. Wish I could find that receiver again today. It weighed a ton, all discrete components, high current, real quality piece of equipment. It would drive the crap out of ANY speaker.
I had a battery card, and I had not yet discovered power supplies, and batteries were a huge expense, and those darn things didn't last.
I loved the racks of parts that would swing like a book, I looked at every one.
Still use my SX-737 pioneer I bought in 76, still sounds very good. And I use the loudness button…
I grabbed a very clean one for $100 shipped in about '05 (or sooner). I don't work it real hard, but the thing sounds really good with TT and Wharfedale Diamond 10.1s in a small room. A full, smooth sound with really good bass. Effective tone controls. Phono stage seems fine. Lights all still work (knock on wood). An off-the-chart investment.
Not sure what I'll do when it seems to need restoration. On another wall in that room sits a really nice Marantz 2270. Selling the Marantz and fixing the 737 would probably be the prudent thing, but dang, they're both so beautiful.
I had the STA-2000D. Should never have gotten rid of it.
The good news is that you can likely get it back. They’re out there and affordable.
Check out “Offer Up” which is a great app for finding vintage gear locally, depending where ya live.
Found a Realistic STA-2280 locally when looking for a “cheap” office stereo.
I love it!
1987 build, 65 watts/channel, & has “IMX Stereo Expander” control that varies the sound field and is seriously fun to play with and test. This system sent me down a vintage rabbit hole and I’m better for it.
What a list of movies!! Did not realize those all came out the same year. I had a Realistic equalizer with all the spectrums and a bunch of beautiful lights in the middle, and….a loudness button!
Love it! My Dad had so much Radio Shack Audio equipment. When I was young my first good bedroom speakers were his used Realistic Mach Ones...Great memories. Perhaps a new LOUDNESS revival video for 2024. they seem to lusten to your opinion now (audio manufacturers. Love your channel, thanks.
Good job Randy, that black faced 12 watt per channel STA-700 receiver sitting on that silver faced STA-64 shows nicely! Kudos!
I love my vintage stuff. I just added a Realistic STA-95 to my stable. It joins my Marantz 2230 and 2265
Nice video sir. My first "component" hifi setup was in 1975. Pioneer SX-434, BIC-920 and KLH 31 speakers all for under $240. Realistic was (like Lafayette) very underrated. I personally liked the Minimus series speakers and their T-70 speakers were very highly rated. As for the seven segment power meters? Yuck, shoulda had VU or a lot more segments. I agree about watching "flashin' lights". Kinda like your own Joshua Light Show.
The loudness switch was to boost bass (and treble??) when listening at low volume levels to compensate our natural hearing loss. The amps spec sheet should list loudness boost, low/high filter cut offs, power into 8 and 4 ohms, BOTH CHANNELS DRIVEN, even one channel driven only at 1kHz. In 1979 I bought a Hitachi SR-804 receiver and still use it today. Same for my Ohm L speakers purchased in 1978, still going strong. My EQ choice was a Sound Shaper Two in 1978 than an upgrade to the IC version in 1982. Also a Pioneer RG-2 expander in 1981, talk about lights. Being a Brooklyn guy I had lotsa stores in NYC to get my hifi stuff in the 1970's/80's.
Living room TV runs with Realistic STA-12 "Personal" (i.e. smaller) receiver and JBL 2500's (sens. 88 dB). Plays plenty loud at only 7 watts/ch. Loudness button: check.
Basement stereo runs with Sherwood 202-CP amplifier (all aluminum up front, ~1983, 25 watts/ch) and 66 lb Infinity SM-125 (~1995, 12" woofers, sens. 100 dB). Do the math. Sounds awesome, inexplicably better with classical. Power levels meter, loudness button: check. Mono button? Oh, yeah. Bookshelf speakers and a subwoofer can sound great, of course, but there's something about the sound from big speakers in a big space.
Yes...the "loudness" button was intended to make a more pleasing sound when the receiver/amp was playing at low volumes. Since the human ear is more sensitive to the midrange and less sensitive to frequency extremes...a "loudness" curve is a "scooped" frequency curve...lower in the midrange...listening with the loudness on at very high volumes can tend to sound harsh in the treble and boomy in the base depending on the speakers you're using. Speakers that accentuate the midrange might sound more balanced with it left on at higher volumes. I had a pair of Signet 280s like that...as opposed to a pair of snell EIIIs I had that already had a loudness curve in their frequency response.
A loudness button typically boosts bass and treble at certain predetermined frequencies, at around +6 to +10 dBs maximum. These frequencies are usually 50 or 100 Hz for the bass boost and around 10 kHz for the treble. Though some loudness buttons did only boost the bass. Usually the frequencies that the loudness button boosts were different from the frequencies that your bass and treble control boosts. The loudness button compensates for the lower sensitivity of our hearing with lower and higher frequencies at low listening levels to make listening at lower levels a much more satisfying experience, and it does work, and it IS a useful feature, despite what some audio snobs may state.
The effect of the loudness circuit is typically reduced as your volume level is increased in some designs.
There is no industry standard for loudness buttons so manufacturers could design them to boost at whatever frequencies they wanted to, and how much boost. The presence or lack of a loudness button feature has absolutely nothing to do with the quality of an audio component. My Scott tube amps from the late fifties to early sixties even have a loudness button, which is actually tied into its volume potentiometer to reduce its effect at higher listening levels. Smart.
Often loudness buttons are used at higher volumes simply to enhance the sound or to simply compensate for recording or source material deficiencies, speaker deficiencies, or room acoustics.
Use it as you please. There are no rules.
On an amp or receiver that does not have a loudness button, you can simply turn up the bass and the treble to try and duplicate what the loudness button does, but it won't be the same as loudness button frequencies are not always the same as bass and treble frequencies. So you won't get both. Adding an equalizer in your tape loop is an easy way to duplicate what a loudness button does. And now YOU are the the designer Randy! You get to pick the frequencies of your boosted highs and lows. But we all know it's typically the classic V-shaped curve on the EQ. Happy Listening !!
I actually stopped listening to my main receiver because the loudness button stopped working. Love that loudness button, yes I do. Yes, I have enough vintage receivers that do have loudness buttons that I have not been quick to dig into the one that isn't working.
Wonderfull channel. Big thumbs up.
I went the vintage way 5 years ago, when getting back into hi-fi. Started out with Rotel 820bx amp (1990), then an Audiolab 8000A (1990) and then my først real vintage amplifier.
A Sansui AU 9900A, lots of beautiful knobs, but no loudness (1977, and sounds sweet and powerful ). It delivered more of everything, tighter bass, better midrange and airier topend. Better seperation and dynamics. And naturally better aesthics and Building quality.
I wanted more of that sound and physical presence and has since then picked up a Sansui G-7000 reciever which a friend of mine has restored and it too sounds and feeds absolutely fantastic
Lately my lavest Sansui purchase has been a newer TOTL 90’ies Sansui AU 911DG which by the gong rate of the other two is a Big Bang for the buck. It sound just as good as the other Sansui’s, at a much lover price.
Thx again for a wonderful YT channel 👍
Honestly, we rather like “Vintage Vibes.” Cannot think of anything better and it’s not too cheesy.
Most of my stuff is vintage. I still have a few newer things but I can't pay the prices for good new stuff. My vintage gear works and sounds fantastic. Most of which was acquired at estate sales or thrift shops and then cleaned and if needed serviced by myself. Also I too couldn't afford the high end when I was a kid so now I can own some of that cool stuff. Nothing wrong with vintage or used gear.
I have a small vintage receiver collection. Sansui G7500, McIntosh 4100, Fisher 500C and a Parasound 16.5. I love all of them and they all sound fantastic. As well the vintage gear visually is soo much better than current gear and I enjoy just looking at them. Current gear does not provide that (to me at least). Is there a risk buying vintage? Absolutely. There is also a risk buying current. If you buy a vintage piece the first thing you should do is take it to a reputable service tech and have it completely inspected and serviced. It is well worth doing. Then enjoy!!
The STA-2500 is what got me started back into vintage audio in 2019. Hooked it up to my old B&W DM640i loudspeakers and it ran them effortlessly. I’ve since upgraded to the FISHER RS-Z1 component set and haven’t looked for anyone else to replace it. Haven’t looked yet. 😉
I am 59 years old So about 20 or 21 in the mid-eighties. what I recall the loudness button being about was at lower levels, to enhance certain frequencies without driving the amp. it would enhance the base when the amplifier was at low levels
I have purchased many vintage receivers and speakers on Ebay and have never been disappointed. Also, I agree with you on the "Loudness" button. I use it often and cannot reproduce the effect with tone controls.
BTW. I love your content and style.👍
I loved Radio Shack! I literally grew up in a TV and radio shop, so electronics was my second nature. There was no other place to buy the various do dads that the Shack carried. And they were really ground breakers in many ways. I have a couple of Optimus receivers that I absolutely love! Terribly sad to see their demise, but I guess it just yet another case of not changing with the times.
I worked for Tandy back in the late 70s & early 80s! I have 2 Realistic receivers from RS: STA-117 & STA-2150!
Great video Randy!! Very informative. More vintage gear videos please. 👍🏻😊
The purpose of the loudness button was to enhance low end extension at low volumes, it effectively is a bass boost that slowly step down fades as you increase volume. So it might be a ~10 db boost in bass at 1/100 volume, and only a 5 db boost at 5/100 and 1/100 boost at 10/100 type of thing. The reason for it was due to most speakers at the time having bass drivers that were not sensitive enough to play deeper notes at lower power, so the boost helped make speakers sound more full range at low volumes....or at least that was the idea behind it.
Onkyo TX-890 - Probably one of the best power amps built into a receiver. It not only had pre-outs, but pre-ins too
Loudness compensation (loudness button) was placed into mostly what we now call vintage audio to "compensate" (boost) mainly lower, but higher frequencies as well because at lower volume levels our ears don't detect the lower and upper frequencies well when compared to mid (vocals). By compensating, you can better hear the entire audio spectrum while listening to relatively lower volume levels.
Great video, I truly enjoyed it. Most of those old receivers are very under rated in power, even at nominal 15-20 WPC are very loud, offer multiple connections to just about anything, sound very good, are beautiful to look at, bunch of shiny switches, bass, treble, mono, balance, loudness control, lights all over the front....., what's not to like? I'm sold on them. I bought a Pioneer SX 550 a year and half ago, paid, including shipment, $150.00 and is it in near mint conditions, made in Japan, the heart of my vinyl corner.
I for one really enjoyed the audio (and other) history, please keep them coming!
I've been looking for my first (big boy) amplifier, it was an Onkyo A-7022.. loved it!
thanks can't wait to get my kenwood model 500 fixed.
Vintage, you say! All in. Got an Advent 300 receiver (recently recapped) & a pair of Large Advents (recently reformed). Simply waiting on the right amp to use the 300 as a pre- & connect the Advents. Good stuff (in it's day.)
My STA-2100D is such a badass and a sleeper in the monster receiver world. Cheap by monster receiver prices. Rated 125 watts .05% distortion. The first time I used it I thought I was gonna blow the speakers. FM and my blue sound node sound friggin awesome. I really can’t get over how much fun it is and it gets even better with a EQ.
Loudness adjusts the frequency curve so that bass, usually, is more prominent at lower volumes. It's not meant to be used at "normal" listening volumes.
Loudness didn't go away, per se, but is rather now built into units, adjusting frequency for a given volume input to prevent bass distortion as volume output increases. The factory head unit in my car does that as does my Sony "smart" speaker, and I think, various "soundbars". But to the extent "loudness" on home audio equipment went the way of the dinosaur is simple: multichannel, "surround" sound. We're expected to have a separate subwoofer,
It was only a few decades ago and change that I read where Radio Shack speakers were the best selling speakers in the U.S.A. What happened? Radio Shack never had hip appeal with upper mid-fi audiophiles. For many of us, they were one of our earliest exposure to hi-fi, especially if the employees had the speakers cranked up when you walked in, like the store near me. Color organs that flashed to the beat of the music too. If you or someone else living at home bought batteries etc. there, chances are that you would get colorful multi page advertisements of their upcoming sale and new products in the mail. There were ads from other sellers in the newspapers, but these were in big bold color, complete with detailed specs and description.
Once in my twenties I was on the bus and a guy behind me sounded like he was trying to impress a girl next to him by saying, "I have an ALL Pioneer system." Somehow I couldn't imagine someone trying to impress by saying "I have an all Radio Shack system." Then again, Radio Shack didn't have the Allman Brothers promoting their stuff in magazine advertisements. Some of the stuff they made was good. Better than vintage Pioneer? You tell me; but I bet Pioneers tape decks were better.
In the 1990's they came out with a portable CD player called the CD 3400. Word got around that Joe Grado of cartridge fame like it. It was supposed to be the only CD player with bloom. It did have warmth, which I think the designer boosted to sound more anolog. Big disappointment in resolution and instrument size though. You can imagine how little the transformers are in a pocket portable. Dick Sequerra of tuner and speaker fame came out with a beefier power station especially made for the CD 3400. The player had a digital out and allegedly some people with mega buck systems were using the little under $200 Optimus player as their CD transport.
I've watched Purple Rain several times, and you gotta admire how gorgeous Appolonia was/is. And, of course, Jay and Silent Bob worship Morris Day and the Time.
snootchie bootchies!
I bought my STA-2500 new in 1986 & will be doing a few quick music demos hooked to the Quad s-2, Kef ls50’s & other speakers using the Chord Mojo DAC👍 I’ve used it on over 20 different sets.. Originally I bought the Mach Two’s with it.. I already had the Mach Ones hooked to a Pioneer sx-1250 .. The STA-2500 has Gobs of Power..
The Loudness button rules Randy!! I also have 3 Realistic receivers: STA-2080, STA-2700 and the STA-111. Power rating from 100 watts down to 30 (STA-111). The STA-111 was my first “real” receiver. All these still sound great. I use them for 2 channel audio only and use a Denon 7.2 surround sound receiver for home theater duties.
still using my old Pioneer A207r amp with Bose Interaudio2000XL speakers..
nearly 25 years old and still sounding awesome.
At the radio shack building My government professor was the RS property lawyer. Just had to walk down the way. At the time, 2013 or so, he said RS had a larger footprint than McDonald's.
Love me some old vintage gear. That’s a nice old receiver. I miss Radio Shack. I recently refurbished a Realistic 2100 linear tracking turntable and put a Grado cart on it for a buddy of mine. It works great but more importantly, he digs it. Awesome list of 80’s “stuff” and facts. Btw, loudness buttons were based on something called the fletcher munson curve. It boosted the highs and lows for listening at low volume levels. Don’t know why they went away though… Thanks, Randy!
I miss Radio Shack, Toys R Us, Circuit City and Media Play.
Haha just bought the bsr1200 linear tracker. I know, i know...bsr but it was like $10. I couldn't resist.
@@thetrumanshow4791 Absolutely! I’m sure we could add to that list pretty easily too. lol
@@aworminmybook8234 Hey, I would’ve done the same thing, especially for $10! 👍
@@NickP333 Ty! :D
I love my Adcom GFA 555 mk2 and my 545 mk2. My 555mk2 is very rare one because it was bought by me last year from a seller which never opened it from the original box, it was in his stored for more then 20 years. I am lucky guy 😜
The more you turn the volume down on your receiver, the less base proportionally is perceived being played back through your speakers. A loudness knob is to be used to compensate for the diminishing Bass. So the lower you turn the volume, the higher you turn the loudness knob to bring back the lost bass in a logarithmic curve.
Man I love this receiver. Just did some lite service on mine, left channel was intermittent. Now I’m waiting for the IC’s to come in so I can get the front power meter display working again.
The plan is to keep, use and maintain this receiver until it absolutely can’t go on any more.
Love your channel. Just an FYI, usually receivers that feature two phono inputs will have each of those inputs have different impedance specs. This is to allow for different era cartridges having evolved in sensitivity. I say this because you mention A/B comparisons of turntables. This difference in impedance will highly affect your tests. Check hi-fi site for your receiver specs to see if this is true of yours. Cheers!
I had one of those receivers also the thing I really liked was the remote ,you could point it any where in the room and the receiver would see it . Also it did have a lot of power ;)