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Pioneer Made My Realistic Tube Amp?

artsybob

artsybob

Active Member
When I first bought my Realistic SAF-40D integrated amp , I had thought maybe Trio-Kenwood had built my amp after looking through threads on here and other sites. Although Radio Shack kept their amp supplier a mystery, some compared the amp's topology to that of contemporary Kenwood amps. But then I just stumbled across this picture of a Pioneer SM-83 integrated amp and the similarities are uncanny. They have similar front faceplates, the same embossed labels for knobs & switches, same slider switches (thought they're black on the Pioneer and brown on my Realistic), same indicator light, similar knobs (though the Pioneer has gray accents on the ends). Only major differences are the on/off switch and the mode and selector knobs. What does everyone else think?

pioneer-realistic.jpg
 
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When I was "hobby fixing" solid state gear I did come across a number of Realistic pieces. Most of them had the same internals of various Pioneer units. Some were Kenwood clones and a few others were various Japanese models. They sourced from a number of vendors in that market for decades. Another example is their high end headphones were really Koss while being marked Realistic.I know I had those as a kid - lucky me!

RadioShack never manufactured gear, they outsourced it to other companies. The Japanese companies of that era made "alternate" store models to be sold at discount rates as "off brands". They only changed the faceplates
 
Switches are a common item, everyone used those. Same with embossed labels, it was pretty common in that era. Otherwise I don't really see the resemblance. Different knob style, different layout. As Tom says, transformers and internal chassis layout would be a much better clue.

Pioneer did make some of Allied/Radio Shack's stuff though. The receivers through the early 70s at least were Pioneer, including a tube unit, the Allied 333. I think that was the SX-34. My Allied 495 is an SX-1500td. If you put the Allied and Pioneer offerings side by side, its pretty obvious they are siblings.
 
Look on circuit boards. Sometimes you'll find a name other than that on front of the unit in question. Case in point- An LXI Series receiver sold by Sears back in the day that says "Sanyo" on all the boards within, coming to me soon as a free repair job. Been in it once before.
 
A Realistic CD changer I have was also branded Philips, Marantz and Magnavox. Foster Fostek also built a lot for RS. I've seen the earlier Realistic mono tube amps and tuners with various brand names on them as well.
 
Catmanboo said:
Look on circuit boards. Sometimes you'll find a name other than that on front of the unit in question. Case in point- An LXI Series receiver sold by Sears back in the day that says "Sanyo" on all the boards within, coming to me soon as a free repair job. Been in it once before.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately I can't do that with this amp, there's no circuit boards! (everything's point to point)
 
I might have started jumping to conclusions the second I laid eyes on the Pioneer SM-83 and I'm seeing things that might not be there. Kenwood, Pioneer and other Japanese audio companies made a lot of gear custom-made for American retailers like Radio Shack, Lafayette, Allied, and Olson back then. It might even be some kind of "Franken-amp" built out of OEM parts the other Japanese audio companies used. Though in the photo below the topology of my Realistic SAF-40D and the Pioneer SM-83 have quite a few similarities. It has similar-looking power transformers, same tube shields on the preamp tubes, similar output transformers though the Realistic's have metal housings over them, almost the same tube complement and layout (four 7189's, five 12AX7's) though in the Pioneer there are two can caps where the two phono stage 12AX7's are in my amp and they were moved over near the power tubes. My amp has both a 5AR4 and (originally) a selenium rectifier, while it appears the Pioneer only has a SS rectifier. Maybe my thread is nonsense.
realistic_pioneer_comparison.jpg
(Keep in mind this is an old image of the inside of my amp on the bottom. I've long ago replaced those bad can caps. I've also replaced the selenium rectifier with new diodes but left it in place for cosmetic reasons. You can see my work repairing this amp in an older thread)
 
General Research of Electronics (GRE) built a lot of Shack electronics back around then. Can't say they made yours, but they did produce some killer stuff for Realistic (and a LOT of other house brands) over the years.
 
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