Oddball Realistic speakers

[Q N]

I just bought these Realistic speakers in an estate sale. Absolutely no idea what they are? Any experts want to chime in? Much appreciated!

 

[Fairlane]

Look like someones home made labor of love possibly? How do they sound?

 

[Q N]

Look like someones home made labor of love possibly? How do they sound?

At the moment, one side sounds quite amazing. The other probably needs the crossovers sorted out. If this is custom made then it’s pretty well built.

 

[restorer-john]

What amazing to me is somebody made those absolutely hideous things way back after buying RS drivers, building what looks like an expensive crossover and that somebody in 2025 actually paid money for them at a yard sale.

If they actually sound good, that's also amazing, and well done.

 

[Q N]

What amazing to me is somebody made those absolutely hideous things way back after buying RS drivers, building what looks like an expensive crossover and that somebody in 2025 actually paid money for them at a yard sale.

If they actually sound good, that's also amazing, and well done.

Ya, they looked interesting so I couldn’t help myself. I’m a JBL purist and my collection includes the Horizons, 100 Centuries, Jubals, and Summits. So I’m pretty set on what I love in the brand/sound department. To say ratshacks are garbage is an understatement for me, but these actually sound delightful. If I had to make a comparison, they sound an awful lot like some AR3’s my father used to own.

 

[bowtie427ss]

I think i would have found the 8080db more exciting, and 8080's/9090's don't excite me much at all.

Anybody recognize those tweeters?

 

[Bill Ashton]

I don't think those are Realistic speakers per se, but some home built units using some Radio Schaak parts. Kinda fun to experiment with I'd think. The speaker with the orange basket/frame is probably a guitar amp speaker...

 

[bowtie427ss]

The speaker with the orange basket/frame is probably a guitar amp speaker..

Look closer, no orange frames. Uncle Mel covered those baskets with the same red tape that he used on his hand wound inductors. Perhaps an attempt at damping the baskets.

Oddball is a very good descriptor. Those Realistic labels are strange to me, i've never seen them before(we owned an RS franchise), they seem earlier than a ferrite magnet should have appeared. Based on the basket and terminals i'm 99.9% sure they're Utah. Of course Utah was a major speaker supplier to RS up thru the mid 1970's.

Really curious about those tweeters, I don't think they were sourced from RS. Somebody here must recognize the unusual terminal arrangement.

 

[Q N]

Look closer, no orange frames. Uncle Mel covered those baskets with the same red tape that he used on his hand wound inductors. Perhaps an attempt at damping the baskets.

Oddball is a very good descriptor. Those Realistic labels are strange to me, i've never seen them before(we owned an RS franchise), they seem earlier than a ferrite magnet should have appeared. Based on the basket and terminals i'm 99.9% sure they're Utah. Of course Utah was a major speaker supplier to RS up thru the mid 1970's.

Really curious about those tweeters, I don't think they were sourced from RS. Somebody here must recognize the unusual terminal arrangement.

Thanks for the further support with info! I’ve never come across pairs that are custom made with this much effort. So I was quite perplexed. I was especially surprised by the cabinet structure used for this project. Very thick walnut panels and incredibly heavy. There was plenty of dampening with fiberglass. I’ll more than likely change those since they’ve started to fall apart to the touch.

 

[turnitup]

If the estate you bought them from is not too far away, it could be interesting to drive by a see if a relative is about the place, that could give you some color on their history? I often like to get the history on estate sale purchases. It often lets the relatives talk about their loss (which can be therapeutic for them) and also gives you some interesting history on the equipment. I think it is also sometimes comforting that the equipment that they (original owner/creator) loved and enjoyed is going to be used and cared for by someone with a similar passion and won’t just be torn apart for parts. My bet is that the owner of these had some passion and knowledge that would be interesting to know about. These look fairly old and likely have an interesting story to tell. You just have to gum-shoe it out, and it might be worth it!

 

[Q N]

I actually brought that up in the conversation with the Estate Sale organizers. I told them that, I’d love to meet the owner of the speakers. Unfortunately, this was the decision made by their grandchildren instead of the original owners. Which is a bit of a sad situation. I did get a chance to speak with whom I believe was their granddaughter? Not too sure, but all she really said was that, the speakers have been sitting in the closet for a “long time”. Not much else I got as far as information goes.

If the estate you bought them from is not too far away, it could be interesting to drive by a see if a relative is about the place, that could give you some color on their history? I often like to get the history on estate sale purchases. It often lets the relatives talk about their loss (which can be therapeutic for them) and also gives you some interesting history on the equipment. I think it is also sometimes comforting that the equipment that they (original owner/creator) loved and enjoyed is going to be used and cared for by someone with a similar passion and won’t just be torn apart for parts. My bet is that the owner of these had some passion and knowledge that would be interesting to know about. These look fairly old and likely have an interesting story to tell. You just have to gum-shoe it out, and it might be worth it!