Optimus Mach Two's found at thrift store

Rmathos

Rmathos

Member
Found a pair of Optimus Mach Two's at a thrift store for $24.95- only had twenty bucks, so went to dicker the price and found out everything in store was on half price! $12.50 for a pair of 15" woofers, and they sound great. I don't know about anybody else, but 15" woofers sound GREAT to me! Way better than any of my 12" systems. What do you guys think? Also interesting that the boxes were all beat up, but no damage to speakers. Curt
 
Great score!! What a price for Mach Twos!! I have Two pairs of Mach Twos bought them new in 1986 that I run with a PIONEER SPEC-1 & SPEC-2 rig. I also have a pair of Mach Ones being run by a SA-9500. They are both great speakers. I have always given these speakers high regards. Check out the pics I have posted of them in the Gallery section. They were definitley the unknown underdogs. Alot of people just disregarded them because of the brand name. But in truth they were some of the better speakers from the mid-70's into the early 90's. But are sadly out of production.
The amazing thing is in both the ones and twos woofers do not really have a signifigantly large magnet but can really push out some air,bass and sound. I am not saying they are the best speakers out there but they are some great Rock speakers for me.
And usually you can find them in Goodwill's and pawn shops for a good price.
 
Yes, and let's not forget about the Mach 3's! That's what I have and I love them. Would never get rid of them. It is interesting that Realistic went back to the horn midrange with the Mach 3's. Anyhoo...great find at a fantastic price. Enjoy them!
FM
 
I have a picture and some specs of the Mach Three's in the Gallery also. I just took it off eBay from a seller. I was not aware of the model Three. I thought they stopped production at model Two?
I have not heard the model Three so I can only comment on the ones I own. I am sure the Three's are as good as any Mach model. I thought it was cool too that they went back to the original horn design.

friedmonky,
Post some pics of them Mach Three's! The one I have in the Gallery is not very good!
 
I have a pair (in their boxes!) of the Mach Two's, and I can say they are a well-built speaker system (I retrieved them from my brother's place and had to have one woofer reconed-- how they ever locked it up, I dunno). They even have internal bracing. I have seriously been thinking of hauling them out and rearranging things a bit.
My thought is saying to bring out the Onkyo TX-8500 Mk II and put the Nikko NR-1015 into storage. Then move the Marantz DS900's out and put the Mach Two's in (whether I would keep the Advent Loudspeakers hasn't been resolved in my mind. I've got this pair of Pioneer 15-inch, 3-ways that might match well with the Mach Two's).
Anyway, great score for some nice-sounding speakers!
 
I have a pair of Mach Ones...and if anybody comes across any new Foam surrounds for the Woofers let me know.....
 
I have a pair of both the Mach ones and two's. I like the sound of the ones just a little bit more, probably because of the horn mid.
I'm told the only way to refoam the woofer is to buy the 15 inch foam kit and to split them in half to fit the undesize cone. I haven't tried it myself yet, but soon will due to serious rot at this point. I use these in my backup HT system. They sure do play loud as heck when i let them loose. They will take a 400 watt Dyna with no problem.

Jim
 
Thanks grumpy. I bought them on eBay a few months ago for $300. Some would probably say that I paid too much for them but, considering what they cost new in 1993, I thought I made out quite well. They are in absolutely like-new condition, not a nick or scratch anywhere. The grills even look brand new!
Okay, now that I have hijacked this thread...sorry Rmathos. We now return you to our regularly scheduled program. :p:
FM
 
There were 4 of those in a pawn in Lansing MI the last time I was there. They wanted $100 each and probably wouldn't get it. They were a bit tired looking but guaranteed to work. Heavy SOBs. The Mach series were touted as a poor man's SET speaker because of the sensitivity. I'd probably want to hear an amp with some damping on that big woof, but PP tubes with some NFB would probably sound really fine.
 
No problem FM, it's those 15" woofers I love, and yours look just like the ones in my boxes. These are going in the #1 spot in my bedroom surround sound system, and those 15"ers will be right by my head-tried it out laying between them on the floor and my whole body vibrated. If you've never had your whole body engulfed in sound, five big speakers and two subwoofers around a bed will amaze you- I call it Curt 5.2! I built shelves along both sides of my bed and one at the foot of my bed, all at mattress level- the music, it is truely everywhere! Curt
 
I've always been curious how those RS Mach 1's sounded, with that big horn and 15" woofer, I had some Sansui's long ago that were 5 way with a 15" woofer, it cranked but I thought the detail was somewhat missing.
 
A friend has had a pair of Mach One's since they were new. His listening runs entirely to classical and opera. The Mach One is very detailed. I have a pair of Mach Two's and I listen mainly to rock. The Mach speakers are truly good sounding all round.
 
Mach II's

I haqve 2 pairs of Mach II's, Driven by an Sta-2300 120 w/ch. 1982 vintage realistic receiver. I have had them for over 16 years now. probably 99.9 percent of the time, then run at less than 1 watt input. But, 0.1 percent of the time, THEY POUND!!! HARD!!! More than once, the police have responded to their sounds. in my opinion, they are hard to beat, for the price.
 
Now that I've listened to several hours of my favorite stuff-ranges from classical to hard rock with a great love of anything with drums- I think there is more to these speakers than great 15" woofers. Everything sounds crisp and clear and the bass is rich and deep. Now I understand about finding just the right speakers for me- I lovem! Curt
 
I used to take my Mach Ones out to keg parties way back when. And to show how tough these things are, I hooked them up to my underpowered Van stereo and they cranked rather loud. All 20 watts with 50% THD. They never blew a tweeter.

Jim
 
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