The Clone Wars: Henry Kloss And Radio Shack

[woofercooker]

Were your surrounds stiff? Mine are the rubber and are still in perfect condition. My Nova 7s had the resin infused paper like the KLH's but these don't which actually surprised me. The Nova 7Bs went from the paper to rubber around 76 or so.

Yes, they were very stiff. You may have Optimus 9 woofers. They are the only ones I know of that have a rubber surround. I know the 5bs and 8bs had a rubberized foam. I have some Optimus 9 woofers and can tell you the Woofer code Numbers. I'll take a look. I'll be back soon.

 

[woofercooker]

OK. The number is 3014Aa Yes that is the model #. 3014Aa Optimus 9 woofer.

 

[Bodyblue]

Ok, is this rubberized foam?

 

[woofercooker]

Nope. Those are cloth. Someone must have recently re-doped them. Looks sorta fresh. That's great! Now you don't have to do anything to them.

 

[Bodyblue]

Nope. Those are cloth. Someone must have recently re-doped them. Looks sorta fresh. That's great! Now you don't have to do anything to them.

Ok. My Nova 7s with the cloth surrounds looked totally different . They looked like just like Advent or KLH surrounds.

 

[woofercooker]

I just looked up the Nova 7. They have the "Orange look" like the Optimus 1. If you ever need a raw driver for those Optimus 5 I do have spares. Woofer, mids and tweeter. I belive the caps are a 33uf a 6.8uf and a 3.3uf. if you decide to change the old ones out.

 

[Lavane]

That's what looked different! The earlier Optimus line had the Orange doped cloth. I would check, maybe someone already recalled them too.

 

[Bodyblue]

I just looked up the Nova 7. They have the "Orange look" like the Optimus 1. If you ever need a raw driver for those Optimus 5 I do have spares. Woofer, mids and tweeter. I belive the caps are a 33uf a 6.8uf and a 3.3uf. if you decide to change the old ones out.

I was planning on re capping them until I head them. I am going to open them up in the next few weeks and what the caps look like.

All of the other speakers like mine I have seen pics of have the black surround. And these came out in 71.
I wonder why some RS units had the orange paper and some had the black?

 

[Bodyblue]

That's what looked different! The earlier Optimus line had the Orange doped cloth. I would check, maybe someone already recalled them too.

Well that is why I am confused...these came out in 71, pretty early . When the 7s came out around 75 they had the orange doped cloth. When the went to the 7B it had the black.

RS can drive one crazy, but I do like them.

 

[woofercooker]

Radio shack cold have just kept making the Optimus 1 speaker since it is so muck like the Nova 7. Who knows.. Speaking of 1971, it was the only year they offered the Optimus 3. A beautiful speaker.

 

[jazzmans]

I guess when all you've got is a single driver with which to work, you try to make the best of it.

Isn't that eactly what a full range electrostat does, in a wholy different way?

 

[Bodyblue]

Radio shack cold have just kept making the Optimus 1 speaker since it is so muck like the Nova 7. Who knows.. Speaking of 1971, it was the only year they offered the Optimus 3. A beautiful speaker. View attachment 1453791

Did you notice the Optimus 6s that I use for speaker stands?

 

[E-Stat]

Isn't that eactly what a full range electrostat does, in a wholy different way?

Not exactly. The hallmark of a full range electrostat is coherency - one pebble in the pond in terms of radiation.

Using multiple side-by-side drivers in that range is less than optimum in terms of directivity. Vertical arrays, by contrast, are commonly found in that role.

 

[FluxT]

The Nova 8s are the Nova version of the 5Bs. Later on in the 70s the Nova line was introduced to be a fancier looking line of speakers. They had the lattice grills and later on they had better drivers and different controls. But in the early 70s the Optimus line was the better stuff.

I don't notice any dispersion issues. I had them in two different rooms and all i noticed that while the soundstage is wide it does have a definite cut off. In the bedroom where they are now they are in the corners and toed in and I don't notice it.

To be fair, the placement is fairly non-ideal. Fireplace is well above the ears of the average person sitting down, and they were originally sitting vertically when I first moved in. I took the liberty of flipping them on their sides with the tweeter-ends out, and toed them in ever so slightly, which made a big difference. That's on top of the dead tweeter and likely ancient crossover, which I intend to quietly tackle when I get the chance. I'm an RA, so I have some authority in the building, but I reckon I'll ask for the go-ahead before I pull the trigger.

 

[Bodyblue]

Radio shack cold have just kept making the Optimus 1 speaker since it is so muck like the Nova 7. Who knows.. Speaking of 1971, it was the only year they offered the Optimus 3. A beautiful speaker. View attachment 1453791

I assume RS wanted to have speakers with two kinds of styling....and it was probably a smart idea. It was still a time when a lot of folks had big speakers in their living rooms and styling meant a lot. The Optimus bookshelf units gave more of a 60s Danish Modern vibe and the Novas more of the 70s "Mediterranean" vibe.

 

[Bodyblue]

To be fair, the placement is fairly non-ideal. Fireplace is well above the ears of the average person sitting down, and they were originally sitting vertically when I first moved in. I took the liberty of flipping them on their sides with the tweeter-ends out, and toed them in ever so slightly, which made a big difference. That's on top of the dead tweeter and likely ancient crossover, which I intend to quietly tackle when I get the chance. I'm an RA, so I have some authority in the building, but I reckon I'll ask for the go-ahead before I pull the trigger.

I bet they sound like crap....poor acoustics, ancient caps and who knows how they were treated.

The ones I bought were from the son of the original owner and they were kept inside their entire life. So many old speakers end up in the garage with crazy temperature swings and high humidity.........the very things that kill speakers.

 

[Bodyblue]

I switched to the Fisher RS 2007 that has a much warmer sound than the Yamaha. The 5 wpc (Fisher 75 wpc and Yamaha 80 wpc) difference did not make any difference but the sound was different for sure. Not as much detail but they have a bit more mid range than when using the Yamaha. I like both sounds actually. I was wondering if I was going to increase the high end but I left it the same. There is no reason to recap them at this point.


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[FluxT]

I bet they sound like crap....poor acoustics, ancient caps and who knows how they were treated.

The ones I bought were from the son of the original owner and they were kept inside their entire life. So many old speakers end up in the garage with crazy temperature swings and high humidity.........the very things that kill speakers.

It’s probably not the best room acoustically. It’s a 30-odd foot wide octagonal rotunda with high ceilings and a fair bit of carpeting. They’re being powered by a late-model Denon AVR with about 90 watts per, which could be better, could be worse but it does what it needs to do. Dead tweeter aside, they’ve probably been treated fairly well-no one ever goes too crazy with the volume knob and they get cleaned along with the rest of the furniture. Once I’m sure they’ll be free (and I’m free) for a weekend, I’ll see about getting the permission to swap in some new crossovers. Given that it’s probably only a cap or two, should be a quick job.

 

[Bodyblue]

I brought out the A25s to do some A/B comparing or as close as one can get using two different receivers. The A25s hooked to the 80 wpc Yamaha and the Optimus 5s to the 75wpc Fisher.

One of the first things I notice about the A 25s is how small they are, and I always think there is no way all that clean bass can come out of those tiny cabinets.....but it does. For their size I think only The Small Advent can compete is bass with the Dynacos.

I used Spotify Premium as the source and switched back and forth on the same songs. I can tell that the Dynacos are more sensitive than the Realistics for sure. I think the A 25s may have a bit more bass at lower volumes than the 5s but its really close. As the volume goes up there is more and more difference in the strength of the bass with the Realistics really kicking it out at the high volumes. The Dynacos are no slouch but they just cant compete with the Realistics.

The highs are honestly a draw, both speakers have a nice high end but this is where the Yamaha really has an edge since it is so detailed. I still think it is a draw.

The mids have a lot more definition with the Realistics, which makes sense when one looks at them. After listening to them back and forth I turned down the mids a bit on the 5s and liked them better. But the edge goes to the Optimi'.

Since this review is purely subjective, I will continue to be so. As for looks the Realistics are a lot more handsome with their dark speaker cloth. I dont mind lighter cloth but the Dynaco stuff is too white. The veneer is about the same.

Conclusion: If I had a major space problem the Dyancos would be the speaker of choice since it is superb sounding and few speakers it's size sound as good. But when space is not in the picture, I think hands down the Realistic is the better sounding speaker. Now between the 5s and the KLH6? Now that is so close as to be a toss up, which in itself is a small victory for a Radio Shack speaker.

 

[Sharpstik]

I like the raised front trim as well....and I really like the dark grill cloth as well.

In the 72 catalog (I think) the listing calls the Optimus 5 their "finest" speaker. And I think they are not wrong. It is a damn good effort and the usual RS benefits like walnut veneer make it a great value for the time.

And it is the best 40 bones I have ever spent.

Yup. All true.
Try them with the loudness control on. Hear the difference.