The used speaker market around me lately had been pretty boring.....just a bunch of 80s rack system crap mostly. But yesterday I was bored and looked for Realistic on CL and there was a listing for a pair of Optimus 5 speakers. I did the usual AK search about them and the consensus was pretty favorable: a clone of the KLH 5 built by Foster for RS. So I messaged the seller that I was interested and had a message back 5 minutes later. The list price was pretty low really ($50) but I had to ask if he would take $40 and he said yes. The cabinets had the usual 45+ years of nicks and scratches but no major problems.
When I got them home today I hooked them up to my front Marantz system and fired them up......and, they sound pretty damned good. The pots on the back had just a bit of fuzz when moving them but all the drivers are working and they have a pretty wide soundstage...a bit wider than the Imperial 6s that are usually there. Since the woofer is so big and the cabinet on the small side I was afraid the bass would not be that great but I was surprised again, its deep and solid. I think the Imperials go a bit deeper and for sure the Imperials are much easier to drive but the RS units were a lot better than I expected. I only listened to them for a few minutes because I wanted to get them outside so I could sand and oil them.
I hit them with 220 grain sand paper and the usual Watco Dark Walnut Danish oil and they look pretty decent. They are drying now and after that they will go into one of the bedroom systems, probably hooked to the Yamaha CR 1040. They need a decent amount of power it seems and I am guessing the sensitivity is around 87 db or so.....maybe a bit more.
Here are the 5s when I first brought them home and after a quick sand and oil.
More impressions and pics to come a bit later.
When I got them home today I hooked them up to my front Marantz system and fired them up......and, they sound pretty damned good. The pots on the back had just a bit of fuzz when moving them but all the drivers are working and they have a pretty wide soundstage...a bit wider than the Imperial 6s that are usually there. Since the woofer is so big and the cabinet on the small side I was afraid the bass would not be that great but I was surprised again, its deep and solid. I think the Imperials go a bit deeper and for sure the Imperials are much easier to drive but the RS units were a lot better than I expected. I only listened to them for a few minutes because I wanted to get them outside so I could sand and oil them.
I hit them with 220 grain sand paper and the usual Watco Dark Walnut Danish oil and they look pretty decent. They are drying now and after that they will go into one of the bedroom systems, probably hooked to the Yamaha CR 1040. They need a decent amount of power it seems and I am guessing the sensitivity is around 87 db or so.....maybe a bit more.
Here are the 5s when I first brought them home and after a quick sand and oil.
More impressions and pics to come a bit later.