Show us your Realistic (Radio Shack) stuff
- Thread starter HTHMAN
- Start date
Ah, the 'ol FlavO'Radios! It looks like you have the whole set! They were only $4.99 or $5.99 and we sold a ton of them whenever there was a home football game at here Penn State. I think I still have a Blueberry one floating around here somewhere.
I think I'm missing a couple. I think there was a chocolate brown one for a while and maybe a purple.
We had lots around in the early 70's. I think they went on special for about $6.99 at the time and we had 6 kids in the family. My dad had to go to the Shack at least once a month to get a battery anyway and it seems we left with a radio quite often.
CygnusDen
And so it begins...
Archer amp and decoder from the early days of home surround sound ($129.95 in the 1991 RS catalog). It's built like a tank and quite heavy for its size, but it only puts out 5W per channel. As a result, it was best used in conjunction with a real amp/receiver to power the front speakers. Can't say it was the best use of limited funds back then, but somehow it's managed to stick around for over 20 years and see occasional use in the garage, etc.
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PAYUPSKI
Well-Known Member
HTHMAN
Super Member
The one Realistic receiver that folks just don't know how to deal with. Is it vintage? Is it a DAT recorder? Where's the tuning knob? Made in Tandy's own factory, Tandy Corp. Electronics, in what used to be Masan, South Korea.
I would certainly call it vintage if not historic. It is from about 1981 and is one of the first digital receivers. I have an MCS 3260 digital receiver from 1982 that sits with all my analog receivers. It fits in quite nicely and is much closer to the vintage analogs than the later black plastic stuff that became the norm. I would be happy to have your STA-2200 on my shelf.
You're one of the few that likes it, aside from myself. Certainly this is no Captain Midnight Big Dial Big Knob Big Hair receiver. If you do a search for this receiver and the phrase "butt ugly" you're guaranteed at least one hit here on AK. But that keeps it cheap on Certain Auction Sites, and that's a good thing. Its only weakness is a lack of inputs.
The one Realistic receiver that folks just don't know how to deal with. Is it vintage? Is it a DAT recorder? Where's the tuning knob? Made in Tandy's own factory, Tandy Corp. Electronics, in what used to be Masan, South Korea.
I would definitely not mind owning one of those. Killer tuner and the MOSFET outputs (I think) to boot. Supposedly one of the best sounding receivers RS ever made.
As far as looks go, it looks like the transition from Aluminum/analog to BPC/digital. Very nice.:thmbsp:
I'm not wild about the tuner in my 2200, though I'm not a big FM listener anymore, either. But my faith in humanity is restored-- nice things about the old girl are said by someone from the home town (St. Louis) and the representative from the great state of WV gets the idea of a truly transitional design. And yes, it is a MOSFET-output amp, the only one the Shack ever sold. Gentlemen, for your kind words I thank you.
Most of what I have is the smaller, separate 70's amp/tuner combos.
The SA-900 and TM-90:
The SA-700 and a couple of TM-7:
The SA-175C and TM-175:
The SA-100B and TM-100:
... and some speakers. A pair of Minimus 7 (not shown), pair of Mach Two's and a pair of T-120's:
Brian
The SA-900 and TM-90:
The SA-700 and a couple of TM-7:
The SA-175C and TM-175:
The SA-100B and TM-100:
... and some speakers. A pair of Minimus 7 (not shown), pair of Mach Two's and a pair of T-120's:
Brian
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TAGO MAGO
Super Member
Most of what I have is the smaller, separate 70's amp/tuner combos:
Radio Shack definitely had the market cornered on the high quality components for people with not a lot of room, at least in this country. I really like the 175 series stuff.
HTHMAN
Super Member
When you get tired of that receiver uglying up your house, you can PM me and I will run across town and get it out of there.
aileenamegan
Super Member
Some of my Realistic stuff.
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The SA-1500 and TM-800 must definitely have been for the European market with the DIN jacks and 220/240vac operation. Also, I see a "overload" light and round switch handles on the 1500 which I've never seen before on a Radio Shack product. The TM-800 looks like my TM-1000 without "Auto Magic".
Love your TM-1001! Heard good things about it but never have had the opportunity to hear one.
Love your TM-1001! Heard good things about it but never have had the opportunity to hear one.
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And, I always thought it was more for people without a lot of money. That was the Shack's appeal for me at age 14 in the early 70's with never much more than a $20 bill in my pocket.
