Realistic STA-204

[The Shocker]

There is a Realistic STA-204 receiver on Craigslist near me for $40. I am wondering what the general opinion of this unit.

Is this a deal?

I can't find many reviews of the STA-204.

 

[ivandezande]

Can't ask value questions outside of Dollars & Sense. Looks like a nice unit, if you need one I feel that 40 is fair in good working condition.

 

[The Shocker]

Alright. Then let's bring it around to actually about the unit and not the price. Was the STA-204 a good receiver for it's time. I found web page that says it's 16 watts per channel. That seems a tad underpowered.

Also, were Realistic receivers just a rebranded receiver someone else made, or were these actually designed and manufactured exclusively for Radio Shack?

 

[booted]

https://www.hifiengine.com/manual_library/realistic/sta-204.shtml http://www.radioshackcatalogs.com/catalogs/1983/ the 204 is on page 8

 

[mashaffer]

Alright. Then let's bring it around to actually about the unit and not the price. Was the STA-204 a good receiver for it's time. I found web page that says it's 16 watts per channel. That seems a tad underpowered.

Also, were Realistic receivers just a rebranded receiver someone else made, or were these actually designed and manufactured exclusively for Radio Shack?

Depends on your speakers, room size and listening level. The guitar amp I built for my grandson is about 15W power output and does just shy of 120dB . But seriously up until the power wars of the 70s 16 Watts was considered a pretty decent output. If you have inefficient speakers of course...

As a data point my 35WPC (only 3dB more than the 16W) realistic receiver used with JBL 902VX speakers saw a fair amount of use as a makeshift PA and had plenty of output to annoy guys way down the hall at the dorm.