Show us your Realistic (Radio Shack) stuff

robgmn said:
Same story. Was lucky enough to inherit Les Paul as a customer from the salesman I replaced.

And yes, I was there when they started pushing service warranties and active commissioned selling. No training whatsoever. A store staffed by teenagers. "Get your sales numbers up or you'll be out of a job". Ignoring the foot traffic we got compared to the store in a local mall.
The next retail job I went to trained their salespeople for two full weeks before they hit the floor. Still in business...
Click to expand...
That had started happening when I worked for RS. You had to meet at leased a minimum commission or you were out. And just when you would meet that minimum, the company would raise the minimum. The manager who hired me wasn't happy with all that at all. Then came the whole cell phone thing. And then no one working at RS knew what you were talking about when it came to buying or looking for parts. You would get that look when you asked to look something up and have it ordered.
 
Optimus STA-3260.I believe this is a TOTL unit from the mid 90s.There is nothing on the net about this.It is a big unit weighing about 35 lbs.This was found in a thrift store about a year ago for $30.I haven't listened to it as I I just pulled it out and cleaned it up for photos.Even came with original remote.
 

Attachments

  • 20211226_193823.jpg
    20211226_193823.jpg
    84.5 KB · Views: 65
  • 20211226_193850.jpg
    20211226_193850.jpg
    92 KB · Views: 52
  • 20211226_195953.jpg
    20211226_195953.jpg
    68.6 KB · Views: 52
  • 20211227_202404.jpg
    20211227_202404.jpg
    139.1 KB · Views: 40
Last edited:
superdog said:
Optimus STA-3260.I believe this is a TOTL unit from the mid 90s.There is nothing on the net about this.It is a big unit weighing about 35 lbs.This was found in a thrift store about a year ago for $30.I haven't listened to it as I I just pulled it out and cleaned it up for photos.
Click to expand...
I think it is 100 wpc 20-20 .05% thd. I looked on the Radio Shack catalog site and couldn't find it at all
 
lvredrider said:
picked a set of Optimus 5's, STA-150 and a Miracord 45, all in pristine condition for a steal. Being as how they are all from the same time period, I'm thinking he bought these as a set, regardless, the only thing I had to replace was the stylus on the TT and I did have to deox the volume pots but otherwise everything sounds great.

View attachment 2428412 View attachment 2428413 View attachment 2428415
Click to expand...

Wow! Very, very nice find. Must have done something right in a prior life!
 
I started a thread in the general forum about this STA-19 that I rescued from my parents' basement.
Needs to be recapped, but not sure if i'm going to bother. I don't really need it running at the moment, but it'd be nice.
Think it'd have to be a diy job, as i don't really think it's worth it to pay to get it serviced "properly".

This is how clean it was when I opened it up
 

Attachments

  • PXL_20211223_160825468.jpg
    PXL_20211223_160825468.jpg
    188.9 KB · Views: 31
  • PXL_20211223_160855706.jpg
    PXL_20211223_160855706.jpg
    142.1 KB · Views: 30
  • PXL_20211223_160911248.jpg
    PXL_20211223_160911248.jpg
    139.5 KB · Views: 29
It looks to have a single ended amplifier. At leased it discrete. I had one of those small RS receivers that was 12 volt. Meant to be used in camp trailers and motor homes. It even had a MM phono stage. But it used STK's in the output. I had it hanging under the dash of one of my cars back then. It sounded pretty good though.
 
Lavane said:
I worked at Radio Shack when I was in high school. I bought the SA-1000, TM-1000, and Optimus 2B's on lay away. Later I bought a pair of Optimus 1B's, a LAB turntable and a RS top loading cassette deck. I wanted the SA-2000, but just couldn't wait that long to pay it off.
Click to expand...
do you remember the retail price at the time?
 
Jason Lafler said:
do you remember the retail price at the time?
Click to expand...
$149 for the amp I think, $59 or $79 for each speaker, the top loading cassette deck was $99. I don't remember the price for the turntable or tuner. I still have a TM-1000 tuner. I gave the SA-1000 to one of my sons after recapping it.
I remember the TT being a BSR with an ADC cartridge. It was still a lot of money back then for a kid working part time.
 
The only thing I didn't like about the SA-1000 was the volume control. One side came on before the other. I finely replaced it. Iv3cseen other posts about the same thing. Some if the dual volume pots RS used just didn't track evenly.
 
old 2080 said:
I own all three variations of the Mach speakers with the exception of the second version of the Mach 3's, of coarse there's also the "Liquid Cooled" version of the Mach 1 which I've also owned but have since sold, I think most would agree that the first (4024) Mach 1's were/are still considered the "king" of the Mach series......:)
Click to expand...
Yes tell it like it is ! I have two sets:)
 
Lavane said:
The only thing I didn't like about the SA-1000 was the volume control. One side came on before the other. I finely replaced it. Iv3cseen other posts about the same thing. Some if the dual volume pots RS used just didn't track evenly.
Click to expand...
My sa 2000 seems slightly off as well. Just a little. I'd wondered if it would be possible to install a single volume control. I won't likely mess with it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom