Realistic receivers

i have a sta-2000d that i rebuilt sounds good terrible fm reception. but my sta-2080 runs circles around it. i have a kenwood model eleven gx a sanyo jcx-2900k a sta-2200 the realistic sta-2080 to me beats all of them. also have a pioneer sx-535 great little receiver 2 sansui,s a 5050 and a 5060 not impressed with these sansui receivers. and a couple more i love the sta-2080. i did have to replace the driver transistors it was running hot but now runs cool all day at any volume.
i bought the sta-2080 new. steve
 
Not sure of your budget but I had a set of W70Ds and a Marantz 19 back when they were in production and after the pair sans with my brother until something like 1983. The synergy was great and better than most of the other Marantz receivers. The 2230 also did very well. Others I liked were:
Sony STR 6060, 6045, 6120
McIntosh 1700, Stereotech 1200, 1900
Sherwood 8900
Onkyo TX666, TX333
Fisher 500TX, 500T, 600T

Today, I would start likely with a Sherwood or Sony as I have a sampling of each and a set of earlier W70s and each of these brands samples I have seem to be consistently good with them.
 
Biased? Muahhh?

STA-2000 (gets plenty of use driving Mach One, Mach Two, 5b, 7b, Haydn and whatever speakers get "rotated" into the mix. Have my one working TT hooked up to it and my vintage CD-2000 http://www.radioshackcatalogs.com/html/1986/h002.html which is still functional. Have a STA-2500 (purchased new) that I'm going through and updating caps and such. Beast I can't wait to get up and running again.
 
I like Realistic receivers - classic stuff is mostly Foster/Fostex. I have a STA-2100, a STA-2000 and numerous others. My son is trying to pry the 2100 (not the "D" version!) from my hands. He might win soon - I have a Technics 5770, and my main system has a Pioneer SX-1250, not to mention my Kenwood KR-9050.
 
TOP OF THE LINE WITH TOROIDAL TRANSFORMER 1979 ONLY.2100d DOES NOT HAVE IT.I OWN A 2100 FABULOUS !:music:

I have a STA-2100 (NON-"D") and I love it. I also have a STA-2000 - sweet, but not as sweet, but I would NEVER turn down a STA-2000. I love most things Realistic Silver Faced. And I have numerous versions. Even my first-ever stereo receiver! :music:
 
realistic sta-225

Hi guys.
I have a sta-960 that I love. Wonderful sound.
I also have a sta-225 that I'm puzzled by. It just sounds bad/boring. I've never had a receiver sound like this.
I bought it from goodwill and it was covered in something kinda brown, and I mean covered, came off with simple green tho. It just sounds dull and none of my other receivers sound so lackluster.
Any ideas as to what could be the problem?

Boy do I love that sta-960 tho.

Thanks

Joseph
 
Hooray for all the Realistic fans here!! I've been a Shacker since childhood...Science Fair kits, wire, batteries, etc. is what all my allowance and odd job money was spent on.

Finally, in '77, with a real job, I put the "Everything System" in layaway! It was an STA-2000, a pair of Mach Ones, an SCT-11 cassette deck, and LV-10 headphones. A LAB-300 turntable was included, but I'd heard about the soon-to-be-introduced LAB-400, so I got credit for the 300. I got the 400 in '78, along with a second pair of Mach Ones. Wow, what a system!

For the next 15 years, it was used for school dances, birthday parties, church bazaars, parade floats, and the sound system for a doo-wop group I was in. It performed flawlessly! Sadly, in '92 everything but the receiver was stolen. :mad:

The old 2000 is still going strong but has developed a slight 60Hz hum, so she'll need filter capacitors soon. I've slowly replaced the other components, and added a pair of STA-2100s, a 2100D, and 3 more 2000s. Got 'em all cheap, and non-functional. The 2100s and one of the 2000s are now singing sweetly, the others are waiting patiently. Lovin' the Realistics!
 
I have given 2 lower power silver faced RS to my brother in law. He lives in N.C. where they still have good FM and old RS receivers have great
reception. Can't remember the model #'s but 1 of them was like new with all lights working. Don't see that every day. $25, try that with an old pioneer.
 
realistic sta-225

Hi guys.
I have a sta-960 that I love. Wonderful sound.
I also have a sta-225 that I'm puzzled by. It just sounds bad/boring. I've never had a receiver sound like this.
I bought it from goodwill and it was covered in something kinda brown, and I mean covered, came off with simple green tho. It just sounds dull and none of my other receivers sound so lackluster.
Any ideas as to what could be the problem?

Boy do I love that sta-960 tho.

Thanks

Joseph
STA-225 50 watts from 1975.
 
I have a Realistic STA-90 that sounds as good as anything else in the house.
An excellent receiver with a powerful sound to it.

It's nice to see this Realistic thread woken up again.
 
I have a Realistic STA-90 that sounds as good as anything else in the house.
An excellent receiver with a powerful sound to it.

It's nice to see this Realistic thread woken up again.
Thank you for that info. The STA-90 is what has my attention. Do you happen to have any receivers from 1965 to 1975 in the house that you are using to make the comparison to?
 
It's tough to make meaningful comparisons, this being so subjective, but I will try.

I have three receivers that meet your criteria for comparison: a Sansui 771 (1974-ish), a Sherwood S7100-A (1971), and a Pioneer SX-1000 (1970-ish), all presently set up around the place. All except the Sherwood are fully refurbished (caps and transistors), as is the STA-90. So the state of repair of all is close to what it should be for the Sansui and Pioneer. The Sherwood is all old componentry but it sounds too good to warrant touching at this point.

The STA-90 is in the corner awaiting troubleshooting of the tuner at present, but I know the thing well. It compares very favorable to receivers listed above.

The STA-90 has FAT low frequencies and nice clear mids and highs, nicely balanced sound, but very much on the warm side of things. It is very similar to to the Sansui in tone, but feels more powerful in use. I don't know how to state that differently. There is a small difference in max. power overall (35W vs 45W), but not enough to make much difference. It simply could be that the volume knob changes in resistance at a bit quicker rate. It's hard to say. I can say with some assurance that if your unit is a good state of repair and you have good speakers, you will likely find no need at all to move the tone controls off flat. The loudness switch is nearly superfluous. Hooked up to my Bose 601s, which can pound out solid bass, the -90 can rattle the china in the cupboards.

For other comparisons:
The Sherwood is fatter still in the lows but I think that it is a bit clearer overall than the STA-90. It's hard to beat the sound of that receiver.
The SX-1000 is a bit more powerful than the STA-90, it's noticeably warmer in tone as well, and it feels more solidly built in use, a brick house. For some reason, though, the sound does not move me like the STA-90 does. I don't have the audio vocabulary to describe why. But if push came to shove the STA-90 would stay, and the and SX-1000 would go.

On the slightly newer side (1977) I also have a Pioneer SX-950, refurbished as well. At modest volume levels I think the STA-90 is stronger on the low end again, but is a bit less clear on the mids and highs.
I had a Technics SA-5170 (1977 also) for a time, which I really liked. I would call that one noticeably less warm than the STA-90 but a bit clearer and more detailed up high.

But I will restate that if I had to have only one receiver, the STA-90 would be very much in the running.
I will add as well that I also had a little Realistic STA-430 receiver for a while (near BOTL in 1980, I think, with 10W/ch). Like the STA-90 it is a thing of sonic beauty. I gave to the son of a friend a couple years ago and have tried to upgrade him several times since, to no avail. That young man will not turn that little 430 loose.

I would not hesitate to buy a nice clean example of any of the 1970-80s Realistics, BOTL to the top.

Radio Shack in its prime really did make some quality gear.

On caveat is that market value of Realistics is subpar, which is good for buyers but not for sellers. The implications is that if you have to have anyone do any repairs for you in the future, then you will quickly find yourself putting more money into the thing than you can ever hope to get back out.
 
Wow. Thank you thank you thank you. That's great, and I'll tell you why.
In order for that info to be of best use to me I would need to have knowledge of those units. Well, guess what, I do.
Yes, happened to have them right here, in the house.
Sherwood S7100-A ....................It's a bit warm. Great with the right speakers, not OLD LARGE ADVENT. Just TO much bottom. Give it Dynaco's. So the 90 will be good.
Pioneer SX-1000TW close? .......I like it. Not to warm so the 90 will be good.
Pioneer SX-780,SX-980 close?.. Good units, a little warmer would be ok. So the 90 will be good.
Sansui 2000A close? ...................I REALLY like the tone of My Sansui. So I'll take a dozer 90's
Again ,THANK YOU.
 
You are welcome.
I noticed last night that there is a nice STA-90 for sale in my area.
Norfolk,VA Craigslist.
He is asking $100 and he is generally reasonable on his prices.
It's a data point for you.
 
In need of a STA-2000 volume control. Shaft pulled out and won't go back it. It is a four gang control that does not incorporate the balance function. That is a separate control RS part number is P-1698, manufacturer part number is P-170229.
 
take it out, take it apart, clean, lube, squeeze the end of the shaft that goes in (its malleable), put it in while resting on a hard surface the front of the shaft, hit the back end with a drift or punch to respread it, reassem, re solder. enjoy.

please note, the shaft goes in thru the boss FIRST before you put it back in the plastic end!!
 
Another fan of Realistic here. I have a 2100D that I got DOA for cheap and brought back to life with the help of the awesome members here. It sounds and looks beautiful and will drive most speakers with ease. Also have an STA-860 that is quite a bit of fun to play with. At 65wpc, it really kicks out some serious sound.
 
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