Realistic MACH TWO
madpioneer

Realistic MACH TWO

The next level replacement for the discontinued MACH ONE. In the early eighties Radio Shack offered up the MACH TWO 160 watt Three Way Liquid Cooled Speaker System
Frequency Response : 25-40,000 Hz Power Handling Capacity : 160 watts Impedance : 8 ohms
Speaker Complement : 15"(38.1 cm) high-compliance woofer, 5"(12.7 cm) midrange (ferrofluid cooled), Advanced design dual radial super horn tweeter w/ultra-wide frequency range(ferrofluid cooled).
Enclosure : Tuned port design for extended bass response,removable grille.
Controls : Midrange and High Frequency level controls.
Dimensions : 28-3/8" x 17-5/16" x 12-7/32" HWD
(720 x 440 x 310 mm HWD)
Weight : 46.2 lbs. (21 kg)
Another great SS Rock speaker that was underestimated and overlooked IMHO.
Retail: $299.99 Each
but could be had for a song at half price during Radio Shack's once a year half off sellathon!
Years later they were re-badged as 'Optimus' MACH TWO,then sadly were quickly discontinued.Radio Shack has never come close to this type of speaker since.

http://support.tandy.com/support_audio/7269.htm
I Grew up with two pairs of these. 'Optimus' MACH TWO's I used to blast them when my mom and dad were not home. they would make the hole house shake. we lived in the boonies lol. I was a kid at the time. My mom still has them and I tried talking her out of them with no luck. I have been keeping my eyes open for a pair local with no luck. they didn't distort. and I must say I know my mom and dad bought them at half price and then they said it was my mom's early x-mas gift. only thing is they had a blow out tube on the crossovers and when my brothers and I would have them turned way up they would glow and you could see the light come out the tube.
 
Phillip here....Brisbane, Australia.
My 14yr old isn't happy with his small guitar amp, so I have an old set of speakers up in the garage loft. Got one down, plugged the amp in, and it went real well. Kids happy, wants to hook up the 2nd one.....I'm ahead.
Then we noticed the foam around the speaker is shot.
After searching around I end up here.
What I have is a pair of Realistic Mach 2's, with 8 ohm speakers, identical to the big picture above.
Am I correct in assuming these are quite good speaker units and worth repairing?
Been quoted Aud$125 each to have them reapired by a shop.
Is it worth having a crack at repairing them myself?

I know I paid a lot of bucks for them in the very late '80s. Used them till the early '00s when the wife decided they and the amp were too big and we should have one of these surround sound gadgets. (she gave away my big old silver Kenwood 100watt amp too).

When we first noticed the broken-down foam, we were going to buy a couple of $49 12", fill in some of the hole, and put them in for him.

Are the Mach 2's really any good?
Any comments and advice would be appreciated. I will take it.....
Cheers
Phillip
 
YES! They are worth refoaming. One the best,cheapest Rock speaker to be had at the time. I still have two pairs,thats four of these bad boys running as my main speakers powered by my PIONEER SPEC-1/SPEC-2 combo.
I also have a pair of first generation Mach Ones to boot!
 
I bought mine when I was in the Marines at Millington Naval Air station in 1987. I still have them and they still rock. I remember getting them for $200 back then. They are in original condition.
 
i say forget 125.00 and refoam them your self. I got the same speakers mach two's i got them at good will for 10 bucks for the pair. They sounded great for about 20 minuits untill the foam started flying out.i started looking for new speakers for the cabinits on the internet and ran across simply speakers they sell the foam for those mach twos i did It took me about 4 hours total time. removing from cabinit, pealing and scraping off exess foam the glue process took the most time cause you do the inside cone first wait an hour than do the outside (the metal part) wait another hour than put them back in the box and crank it up! i got my foam kit at simplyspeakers.com they send foam instructions and glue 39.99. i also seen some foam on ebay but you never know what your getting there
 
The foam on my Mach Two Realistic 15" fell apart, blasted by El Devo via my Harmond Kardon PM655. Could not find a decent refoamer, so fitted a pair of Eminence Beta 15 inch woofs. Had to increase the circumference to accomodate. Bass slightly punchy, but wow!! a really nice combo. The HamKar PM655 dieded this year (geriatric I suppose). Got me a Yamaha AS 500. Now even better sound!
 
Rightly so for 10 It shows a good spec for this totally underated speaker set. Us Brits think we are the best speaker manufacturers. Allow us here to have a dillusion.
 
:music:I bought a pair of the Realistic Mach 2 speakers,a Marantz TT 2000 turntable and some other stuff at a big yardsale for $10.The speakers work,but I gotta get them refoamed.I can get this done at a place Ive been going to for years for about $35 apiece.Do you think I should pay to get them done?I saw the same pair sell on E-bay for $25- and they had to be refoamed to.:banana:
 
I had two woofers done professionally but I wanted to challenge myself and I did two more myself and saved alot of money.

If you don't feel comfortable re-foaming I encourage having a pro do it. But in reality it's not very hard it's just takes patience and time.
 

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