Realistic STA-250
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Kernel86
Sylvania Nut
Very, very nice looking unit you have there dgwojo! Another unit to toss on the list of Sylvania's I need to acquire. But rca2000 nearly hit what I meant this thread for on the head, and that was to see if anyone recognized it as the CR-2743. On a side note there's a broken down STA-250 on eBay right now thats not in too bad of cosmetic condition that I might buy, it's cheap enough imo for the little money that it would take to get it up and running again.
bertmaster
New Member
Realistic STA-250 landed in my lap.
Hey! I found this forum a few days ago while trying to research my STA-250. I would not have guessed that info would be so elusive for this receiver! Blows my mind! Anyway. I love this forum. I have an affinity for vintage audio pieces. They are from a time when the detail in craftsmanship was something the makers cared about.
I keep a NAD 3140 in my bedroom for jammin. It came with the girlfriend. I've got some throw down klipsch speakers (came from my computer speaker system that crashed. The kind with the amp and circuitry in the subwoofer). I know. It’s kind of embarrassing. But I have surprisingly good sound with these little speakers and our NAD.
But the reason I ultimately ended up joining in on this forum was to gain some info on a Realistic STA-250 that was recently given to me by my girlfriend’s brother. He purchased it new back in the 70's and it has been in his closet for a long time. The original intention was to sell the receiver on eBay (I am out of work and I am unloading a lot of my old stuff that I’ve been hanging on to for years). But the more my girlfriend (Darla) and I play around with it we can’t help but want to keep it for ourselves.
I started to clean it up, getting the grime and dust off of the chrome and face, etc. When I started working on opening the chassis I realized that I have no Idea how to open this thing. I'm fairly technically inclined, but I don’t want to break anything. So, here I am. Looking for a manual, which has been very hard to come by. I couldn’t even find any info on Radio Shacks website. And neither could their tech support.
I have the back removed from the wood case but I am not sure how to get to the rest of the circuitry. I want get enough access to dust the interior off and clean it up a bit. Any advice would be awesome!
Thanks in advance for your help!
Nice meeting ya'll.
Bert
Does anyone know where to aquire a manual for the STA-250? This is a hard unit to find anything for.
Is the STA-250 a particularly rare reciever?
>> OOPS! I jumpt the gun and broke the first law of karma-posting (dont make first post a request for a manual). My humblest appologies.< Is the STA-250 a particularly rare reciever?
Hey! I found this forum a few days ago while trying to research my STA-250. I would not have guessed that info would be so elusive for this receiver! Blows my mind! Anyway. I love this forum. I have an affinity for vintage audio pieces. They are from a time when the detail in craftsmanship was something the makers cared about.
I keep a NAD 3140 in my bedroom for jammin. It came with the girlfriend. I've got some throw down klipsch speakers (came from my computer speaker system that crashed. The kind with the amp and circuitry in the subwoofer). I know. It’s kind of embarrassing. But I have surprisingly good sound with these little speakers and our NAD.
But the reason I ultimately ended up joining in on this forum was to gain some info on a Realistic STA-250 that was recently given to me by my girlfriend’s brother. He purchased it new back in the 70's and it has been in his closet for a long time. The original intention was to sell the receiver on eBay (I am out of work and I am unloading a lot of my old stuff that I’ve been hanging on to for years). But the more my girlfriend (Darla) and I play around with it we can’t help but want to keep it for ourselves.
I started to clean it up, getting the grime and dust off of the chrome and face, etc. When I started working on opening the chassis I realized that I have no Idea how to open this thing. I'm fairly technically inclined, but I don’t want to break anything. So, here I am. Looking for a manual, which has been very hard to come by. I couldn’t even find any info on Radio Shacks website. And neither could their tech support.
I have the back removed from the wood case but I am not sure how to get to the rest of the circuitry. I want get enough access to dust the interior off and clean it up a bit. Any advice would be awesome!
Thanks in advance for your help!
Nice meeting ya'll.
Bert
Last edited:
Logos
Roving Vinyl Grabber
I recognize it because I have one that I don't use. The lady I obtained it from 15 years ago had too many speakers attached and now the bass sounds muddy, otherwise it's perfect, Dave.
Please explain how "too many speakers" harms the bass in a receiver.
I'm really pretty new to this game and that one's new to me.
:scratch2:
I think she dropped the impedance too low and cooked something, probably the output transistors. It works fine as long as the volume is kept low, I should throw this thing in barter town for about 15 bucks just to let someone else enjoy it.
terra1
Addicted Member
If it's in good working condition, I would say leave it alone and leave the clean up to the buyer if they desire. Just give the background and mention it needs the usual cleaning. Lots of cables that can get snagged and too much fussing can scratch and do more damage.
Easy to short and flame. Personal experience.
biggguy999
New Member
The STA-250 is a P.O.S.
Back in the day I owned one of these atrocities- I worked for Rat Sack at the time, and got a serviced unit for very little. The purchaser had blown it up right out of the box, so we exchanged it for him, and got it repaired- which involved replacing all the output transistors, and quite a bit more. When it came back, it worked OK- and we had to re-sell it. Out of curiosity, I asked the boss what I could get it for, and when he told me $150- with full warranty- I couldn't pay him fast enough. That was the beginning of the horror story...
I had the unit for eight months, seven of which were spent at the repair depot. Blew it up no less than 3 times- all major meltdowns in the outputs- and at the third time, the repair depot came up with "can't be repaired- replace" Did I want another one- no way. I took a refund, and bought a used Fisher 500TX, which served me well for three or four years, and when I upgraded, I sold it for about what I paid for it.
It turned out that there were some major design problems with the unit- inadequate protection circuitry, it was very intolerant of low impedance situations, and, memory fails me on the rest of the story, but it wasn't pretty. It came in two versions- OK, and no end of problems, and obviously I had the latter. What did make me feel a little better was that I was not alone with these problems- probably 75% we sold were problematic, and we sold a good few at $320 for 44 wpc- that was cheap in those days for that amount of power. It is proof positive of the old chestnut "you get what you pay for".
I just had to post this- these other folks are speaking so nicely of this atrocious unit. Even Rat Sack -sort of- admitted it was bad....it was in their line for one year and gone- usually they'd get two or three years out of a model in those days.
Funny thing was I had a chance to get another one with the Sylvania logo at a yard sale a couple of years ago- it was hooked up and working- but even at $20 I had to pass- not only were they unreliable, they didn't sound all that great either- "fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me".
Back in the day I owned one of these atrocities- I worked for Rat Sack at the time, and got a serviced unit for very little. The purchaser had blown it up right out of the box, so we exchanged it for him, and got it repaired- which involved replacing all the output transistors, and quite a bit more. When it came back, it worked OK- and we had to re-sell it. Out of curiosity, I asked the boss what I could get it for, and when he told me $150- with full warranty- I couldn't pay him fast enough. That was the beginning of the horror story...
I had the unit for eight months, seven of which were spent at the repair depot. Blew it up no less than 3 times- all major meltdowns in the outputs- and at the third time, the repair depot came up with "can't be repaired- replace" Did I want another one- no way. I took a refund, and bought a used Fisher 500TX, which served me well for three or four years, and when I upgraded, I sold it for about what I paid for it.
It turned out that there were some major design problems with the unit- inadequate protection circuitry, it was very intolerant of low impedance situations, and, memory fails me on the rest of the story, but it wasn't pretty. It came in two versions- OK, and no end of problems, and obviously I had the latter. What did make me feel a little better was that I was not alone with these problems- probably 75% we sold were problematic, and we sold a good few at $320 for 44 wpc- that was cheap in those days for that amount of power. It is proof positive of the old chestnut "you get what you pay for".
I just had to post this- these other folks are speaking so nicely of this atrocious unit. Even Rat Sack -sort of- admitted it was bad....it was in their line for one year and gone- usually they'd get two or three years out of a model in those days.
Funny thing was I had a chance to get another one with the Sylvania logo at a yard sale a couple of years ago- it was hooked up and working- but even at $20 I had to pass- not only were they unreliable, they didn't sound all that great either- "fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me".
