Realistic MC500

[tmccullough]

I snagged a pair of these for like $10 at a Goodwill today. They were too good looking not to pay the price of admission. I'm curious to know if anyone has heard these before. They are tiny, so my expectations are tempered. Again, for $10, I figure it was a safe bet. They did have some other stuff, mostly junk. There was some massive Pioneer CS series speaker, but there was only one, and the woofer was toasted. I'd have considered if it's mate was there. At any rate, for $10, I hope they'll be decent. If not, I'll ship them off to someone or put them in the boys room.

 

[geoscamman]

They are a decent little bookshelf speaker that sound better than you would think. I have a pair hooked up to a Technics SA 200.

 

[sealy]

I agree. The older RS cabinets were beautifully made.

 

[HomeBody]

Ditto GeoScamMan

 

[Smorgy]

I have a pair. Nice cabinets. Just ok speakers. They sounded most musical when hooked to my Sansui Au-5500. How they sound depends alot on what you hook them to.

//Smorgy

 

[Live_Wire]

I'd be interested in hearing these. The MC series has peeked my interested lately.

Happy listening!

 

[Thespeakerdude8]

I had some MC-100's not too long ago that were mint. They had white cones and a small port. Being 8"ers with a port, they didn't produce a ton of bass below 60hz or so, but they did sound pretty darned good to my ears. I sold them with a SX-3700 to a college friend for her dorm. I'm sure she's gotten many noise complaints since

I have stacked Realistic Nova 6's in my room, with Jensen RP108 tweeters on top to take care of the slightly lacking high end. Powered by my magnavox 8802, They will shake the walls, dig to 25hz at moderate levels, and my KLH 17's and some other speakers still can't hold a candle to them. Of course, I have four, so thats two 8" woofers per side, and increased efficiency and a perfect 4 ohm match for my maggie. I keep telling myself I'm going to replace these mundane rat shack bookshelves, but I haven't found something I like better yet... we'll see if my new A-35's hold up to them. :scratch2:

 

[BruceRPA]

The MC-500 speakers were nice looking small bookshelf speakers for modest systems. I have had a pair since they were new. I think they work very well for desk or office systems where they would be played at low volume but they would still have decent fidelity. Larger and less efficient speakers need to be driven somewhat harder in order to get the speakers to start working , for lack of a better term. I find that the MC500s work pretty well in an office cubicle environment where you don't want to intrude on you neighbor. Minimus 7s come to mind as the kind of speaker that definitely will sound better at slightly higher listening levels but they are also more intrusive to your neighbors, mostly due to the lower bass notes they can produce. The amplifier that you use with the MC500s will be important in that kind if installation so experiment a bit. I used to use my pair of MC500s at night when I lived in an appartment because my other speakers almost got me evicted. The neighbors could feel the bass even at very low volume even though they couldn't really hear it. With the right amp those little fellas sound pretty darn good.

 

[tmccullough]

The MC-500 speakers were nice looking small bookshelf speakers for modest systems. I have had a pair since they were new. I think they work very well for desk or office systems where they would be played at low volume but they would still have decent fidelity. Larger and less efficient speakers need to be driven somewhat harder in order to get the speakers to start working , for lack of a better term. I find that the MC500s work pretty well in an office cubicle environment where you don't want to intrude on you neighbor. Minimus 7s come to mind as the kind of speaker that definitely will sound better at slightly higher listening levels but they are also more intrusive to your neighbors, mostly due to the lower bass notes they can produce. The amplifier that you use with the MC500s will be important in that kind if installation so experiment a bit. I used to use my pair of MC500s at night when I lived in an appartment because my other speakers almost got me evicted. The neighbors could feel the bass even at very low volume even though they couldn't really hear it. With the right amp those little fellas sound pretty darn good.

Well, I am probably going to try them out with the Pioneer TX1000 sitting in the garage. I'll likely put them in the bedroom or something. We'll see how it goes at some point here. These houses built in the 50's are so annoying with the lack of electrical outlets.