Optimus t110 or Optimus t120 ?

[turaipo]

I have the opportunity to buy a pair of vintage realistic optimus towers.
They look really similar, but one, the t110 has a 2" tweeter,
a 8" woofer, and a 10" passive,
while the t120 has a "real" 10" woofer",
a 5" mid, and a 1" tweeter.
Other than this, they share the same box, and their specs look very similar.
The T120 looks more interesting cause he has more "real" drivers,
and the T110 makes think Realisitic wanted to save money this given year,
but I would like your advice anyhow,
especially from the ones who tried both speakers.
What to think about a passive in such a big tower ?

T110 specs ar here (page 24):

http://www.radioshackcatalogs.com/catalogs/1982/

T120 specs are here (page 18):

http://www.radioshackcatalogs.com/catalogs/1984/

 

[hbucker]

Wow! Great link to the R.S. catalog! Brings back memories!

I owned a pair of the Optimus 10 speakers back in the day. They are featured in that catalog and had a 10" passive radiator with an 8" woofer. I've got to say that those speakers were not lacking anything in the low end department. The p.r. does what it's supposed to and then some.

It was also more defined than you might think. But, I have to say, that a real 10" woofer would probably give you better definition in the low end than the p.r.

But that passive radiator does crank out the low end so neither would probably be a mistake. Cost may be the biggest factor.

fwiw: I saw a pair of the Mach 1 speakers at Goodwill a couple of months ago.

Ah, memories....

 

[sax6]

Hi Turaipo For my part I have the Optimus 10 with a passive that I had to refoam, and a passive is much simpler to refoam ( no alignement to do )

So consider this if there is a refoam job to do

For audio response, well, it' much the same. For me, I like it better with more drivers and the bass response is well defined... for a pair of OPtimus 10 that I paid 5$ ( true wood veneer indeed ! )

BTW did you get those small AR that weren't working about 2 weeks ago ?

 

[turaipo]

No, I didn't get the AR, I was not fast enough.
But well, they had to be repaired someway,
so it's not a big loss.

 

[mhardy6647]

There's no reason a priori to be biased against a properly tuned and implemented passive radiator. As long as whoever designed the system for R/S resisted the typical R/S tendency to under-damp (Qtc > 1) the system and bump up the mid base (thumpa-thumpa-thump), it could provide fine LF performance.

I remember both speaker systems, but never listened much to either. Both are probably OK but nothing special.

 

[hbucker]

The only real problem I had with my Optimus 10's were the high end. They tended to not be as bright and shimmery as I would have liked without use of an eq. Still, not bad speakers but probably not "special" as mhardy confirms.

 

[turaipo]

Ok, thank you all for the input. I'll probably pass, although at 50 dollars the pair,
the price was OK. But I don't think I need more "average" speakers.
They look beautiful though.

 

[Viking37721]

I have only heard the T110's and that was years ago... I really liked them and was surprised that they sounded as good as they did. They are on my "would like to have" list now-days. Never heard the T120's... Humm.. that's not much help is it.....

 

[cnh2]

I haven't heard either version. But I do know an AK-er who owned two pairs of the T-120s that he swore were a very "underrated" speaker and were actually quite good.

I have great faith in said member, so I'd definitely lean toward the T-120s. The dome tweeter is supposed to be an improvement over the older model!

cnh2

 

[johnr66]

I had the T-120s back in the day. I was a "kid" then, but I think they had a decent sound. The crossover is well populated and the mid and high L pads were useful. The oiled true veneer was a very nice touch.

The only mark against them as well as many of RS speakers is the woofer is a cheap stamped frame with smallish magnet. This means the woofer is a high Qts driver that needs a big cabinet. Of course the T120 is a fairly large cabinet for a 10" and should work okay.

No way can the foam on the drivers be good. They would need replacing or have been replaced. I have no experience with the 110s, but would consider the 120s if they are in good shape.

 

[hbucker]

Yeah, these old Radio Shack speakers had a real element of quality to them - veneer and over all good enclosures. I pushed mine pretty hard through the years. They took me through high school and college. I did blow quite a few tweeters but that was due to my 45 watt amp clipping, not necessarily the speakers sucking. Once I realized this, the tweeter blowing stopped.

As much has I have a soft spot for my Optumus 10's, if I'm honest, I would have to rate them about a 7 out of 10. Ultimately, they were too big for the o.k. sound they produced.

Replaced them with my Spica SC-30's and never looked back.

 

[Copa1934]

Ok, thank you all for the input. I'll probably pass, although at 50 dollars the pair,
the price was OK. But I don't think I need more "average" speakers.
They look beautiful though.

So what do you currently have in your arsenal? I'm rebuilding a pair of T-110's (blown woofer in one and blown tweeter in the other). I remember selling both speakers when working at RS, both were very close. The woofer in the 110 is real, period. Good size magnet and roughly 1.25" VC. Cab volume is just shy of 3cuft and PE has a very suitable replacement driver (which I'm that close to ordering a pair) which they're confirmed will work in that cabinet with a PR. The specs are at least equal, if not better than the original driver. As for the tweeter, haven't worked that out yet. Both drivers are 6-ohm. The 110 cabinet is beautiful, nice rounded edges and corners, and is braced from baffle to back side.

I paid $5 for mine, non-working. I would object to paying $50 for a working pair, but certainly would negotiate a better deal, if possible.

If you change your mind and get them, let us know how you like them.

 

[turaipo]

I am pretty new in my speaker quest, a few months, and I have not really acquired a good pair as for today.
My first were two big audiosphere research, four ways. These were solid and entertaining when played loud, listening rock.
Pretty good bass, but no definition in the mid and highs, somewhat fuzzy.

Then I got two recent Black Cerwin Vega, two ways.
Damn good for the home cinema, but well, not musical at all.
Explosive bass, killing hears highs, and no mids. Overall muddy...

Then I acquired two little Koss m85 plus, for my workshop. These had a good feedback, so I decided to try them.
Except the fact they were very powerful for their size, they were just too high and percussive. Real lack of bass. A little tiring...

Then I found a pair of Burhoe red, but without th original woofers. They are, by far my best speakers, altough not "complete".
Cristal clears high, and filling room sound. I wait for old Epi woofers coming by mail to replace the missing ones.

Then yesterday I bought two little realistic MC 2001, two ways, with a STA 100.
These show their limit if you play them loud,
but thinking they were budget speakers, I am pretty happy.
Very clean sound, good bass.... They just need more details in the highs to be great.
As for the realistic STA 100, a pretty humble receiver, it just amaze me... Clear, clean, full sound from the early Eighties.

 

[Copa1934]

I am pretty new in my speaker quest, a few months, and I have not really acquired a good pair as for today.
My first were two big audiosphere research, four ways. These were solid and entertaining when played loud, listening rock.
Pretty good bass, but no definition in the mid and highs, somewhat fuzzy.

Then I got two recent Black Cerwin Vega, two ways.
Damn good for the home cinema, but well, not musical at all.
Explosive bass, killing hears highs, and no mids. Overall muddy...

Then I acquired two little Koss m85 plus, for my workshop. These had a good feedback, so I decided to try them.
Except the fact they were very powerful for their size, they were just too high and percussive. Real lack of bass. A little tiring...

Then I found a pair of Burhoe red, but without th original woofers. They are, by far my best speakers, altough not "complete".
Cristal clears high, and filling room sound. I wait for old Epi woofers coming by mail to replace the missing ones.
Then yesterday I bought two little realistic MC 2001, two ways, with a STA 100.
These show their limit if you play them loud,
but thinking they were budget speakers, I am pretty happy.
Very clean sound, good bass.... They just need more details in the highs to be great.
As for the realistic STA 100, a pretty humble receiver, it just amaze me... Clear, clean, full sound from the early Eighties.

Reading your comments, above, left me thinking not only about a quest for speakers that serve well for HT (sans a sub), but music as well. It's possible selling off most of my current dozen or more pairs of speakers might offset the cost of something closer to "complete". Or building something? One thing is for certain, buying fixer-uppers is a good way to learn, cheaply, what you like and dislike about speakers, how to improve on (or worsen) the design of others and sometimes just leave well enough alone. Early RS gear repeatedly surprises people. Not saying great, just better than what seems stuck in some peoples minds. I'm waiting/hoping to see more contributions by a former Tandy speaker developer. Might be some insightful info to be had.

 

[Copa1934]

I have the opportunity to buy a pair of vintage realistic optimus towers.
They look really similar, but one, the t110 has a 2" tweeter,
a 8" woofer, and a 10" passive,
while the t120 has a "real" 10" woofer",
a 5" mid, and a 1" tweeter.
Other than this, they share the same box, and their specs look very similar.
The T120 looks more interesting cause he has more "real" drivers,
and the T110 makes think Realisitic wanted to save money this given year,
but I would like your advice anyhow,
especially from the ones who tried both speakers.
What to think about a passive in such a big tower ?

T110 specs ar here (page 24):

http://www.radioshackcatalogs.com/catalogs/1982/

T120 specs are here (page 18):

http://www.radioshackcatalogs.com/catalogs/1984/

Too funny, I just added a pair of T-120's today. Made a trip to the local auction house where they were having a sort of flea market and came across the 120's. They weren't marked so I asked Pat (owner/operator) how much and he said "take em". They'll need surrounds done, grills will have to be updated. Haven't run them yet so not sure they work. Cabinets should clean up nicely. Once I have these and the 110's going I'll have to do a head to head. I'll of course post here when that time comes.

 

[Copa1934]

I have the opportunity to buy a pair of vintage realistic optimus towers.
They look really similar, but one, the t110 has a 2" tweeter,
a 8" woofer, and a 10" passive,
while the t120 has a "real" 10" woofer",
a 5" mid, and a 1" tweeter.
Other than this, they share the same box, and their specs look very similar.
The T120 looks more interesting cause he has more "real" drivers,
and the T110 makes think Realisitic wanted to save money this given year,
but I would like your advice anyhow,
especially from the ones who tried both speakers.
What to think about a passive in such a big tower ?

T110 specs ar here (page 24):

http://www.radioshackcatalogs.com/catalogs/1982/

T120 specs are here (page 18):

http://www.radioshackcatalogs.com/catalogs/1984/

T-110 and Optimus 50 share the same/similar tweeter. Both have the same specs, same dimensions and both liquid cooled. Still working on both the 110 and 120 speakers. They'll follow, likely, the Pioneer CS-99 speakers I'm presently working on, mids need foam replaced.

 

[Nucky]

More T110's in Oz Land!

Know that it's been a couple years since the last post on this one but I wanted to share and seek advice!

My wonderful wife picked up a pair of Realistic Optimus T110's at a local auction yesterday for $1!

The grille cloths need replacing, cabinets need a good sand and refinish and the passive sub-woofers need re-foaming (and possible re-coning). The 8 inch woofers appear OK but need re-foaming. Tweeters and reflectors in very good condition.

Here are some pics:





Will also re-cap but need to know what type of cap is best to replace the old ones?

Also, while I have the woofers out, is it better to go the whole hog and re-cone as well as re-foam?

 

[nick12345]

I have a set of T-120s. I love them, but I haven't really heard any high-end speakers under optimum conditions. I also listen to a lot of classic rock and similar stuff, which is probably more forgiving material than, say, a piano solo. I think the tweeters overpower the mids when the L-pads are at "flat" but bumping up the mid level and reducing the tweeter problem takes care of that. The bass is very good, but can be a little boomy on certain songs. Of course, one of my speakers is in a corner, so that's probably contributing to the problem. Overall great rock speakers IMO.

 

[Nucky]

Still need help with re-cap

I'm further down the track with my T110's - have refoamed the passive woofers and one of the 8 inch drivers and the enclosures are being finished/painted at the time of writing.

I want to re-cap these but would llike some advice on the type of modern caps to use (or should I look for originals?)

Also, one of the 3 caps is glued down below the others and I can't see the value - anyone have specs sheet that lists the caps in the T110's?

 

[restorer-john]

Yep, had three pairs of T-120s back in the day when managing a Tandy store. I even had a spare one for backup parts (cabinet was completely smashed in transit- so it was written off- cost me $1)
They were a much more civil speaker than the Mach twos in all the important respects and the tweeter was an amazing performer considering it was a polyprop dome with ferrofluid cooling/damping.
I sold them all to my mate for his DSP setup so he could have 6 identical speakers. I'd moved on to Sony SSG333es by then and never looked back.
The T-120s were bargain priced when on sale, but in the great scheme of speakers, they were nothing special. The thing is, it's all relative- if you don't listen to better speakers, they may be good enough. Sadly, the pursuit of high fidelity means 'good enough' is not an option for most hifi nuts.