Realistic STA-84 Receiver

I stumbled across a 1977 Realistic STA-84 receiver that was in mint condition with the original owners manual still taped to the unit.

This receiver was rated at 25 watts per channel and has a cool glide path FM in the tuner and quadraphonic sound

It was exceptionally clean when I opened the beautiful real wood veneer cover. Just a bit of dust was scattered when the compressed air hit it.

It appears to be a really well made Japanese receiver with a pretty heavy transformer and two 5600uf caps neatly in place.

The amplifier rail has Sanyo electronics installed so I wonder if Sanyo had made this to Realistic spec?

This unit shows no scratches in the face plate of the veneer case, it is absolutely mint for it's vintage.

I cleaned the pots and the volume slider with contact cleaner, this removed the scratchiness from the unit.

I also found that the "Perfect Loudness" was really muddy in the bass region and the unit sounds best when the bass and treble are at this setting.

So what a bout the sound? Well this is the second Realistic receiver that I have owned and I was impressed with the System-7 that I sold off about a year ago.

The sound from what little information there is out there that it is a warm tube like sound and that the 25 wpc are a little understated.

Once I got the system up and running I was simply astonished in how good this unit sounds. The STA-84 as I had set it up had the perfect amount of bass that was clean, very clean. Where this unit really shines is in the mid range and how well the transparency is in the music. The highs where spot on with out being brash or harsh.

I managed about 5 hours of listening time since Saturday and have run the receiver with speakers that image really well already but this amp kicked it up the sound stage to a new level. 

So far I have run mostly 2-way speakers including the B&W D5, Mission 770 Freedom 4's, Audio Spec Perseus (which are a harder pair of speakers to drive.) the EPI 120C'c (wow) and the Advent 2002's

To be honest I will have to do a side by side with the Myryad T-40 and see which one sounds better, it is that good for Realistic.

This receiver will definitely be sticking around for a bit. There is plenty of music and speaker combinations I want to explore with this unit.

The Realsitic STA-84 probably flies under the radar of most Pioneer, Kenwood and Marantz aficionados and therefor can be had for a reasonable price. This unit is well worth picking up if you come across one.

Braun L830's update

These Braun L830's were dropped off by a regular reader of this blog that is now hooked on finding vintage loudspeakers to try, he once swore by his JBL L26's but has since expanded his perceptions.

When they came over they looked like this.

They still had the original speaker wire that was like an umbilical cord into the back of the speaker.

Whoever did the "Professional" re foam job made a mess out of the speakers so much so that they had two different dust caps and cement like glue everywhere.

There was not mush I could do besides get matching dust caps and mask the poor glue job with a solid colour, flat black.

Banana plug terminals went into the back of the speaker box which I should have taken a picture of.

The caps on the inside would be an expensive proposition to change and these speakers really do sound terrific so I did not think that that would be money well spent  (unlike EPI's).

Over all these are a beautiful speaker designed by Dieter Rams, their aesthetics are pleasing to the eye they have very cool mid century speaker stands, these are a pair of speakers worth seeking out and holding on to.

How do they sound?.....Wonderful! The extra large mid range dome reveals the intricacies of music that most 2 way systems do not. The tweeter gives off highs that pinpoint cymbal clashes and the 10 inch woofer takes care of the bottom end tightly.

It was a real pleasure to have these speakers for a short period, it had good company with some other German gems.

JVC JR-S300 Receiver

As part of the EPI 100 purchase I also got this 50 watt per channel JVC JR-s300 receiver.

This receiver is in the middle of the line with 50 real watts per channel and two massive 10,000uf capacitors that can easily drive any speakers. These receivers were made circa 1978 during a period when JVC made some pretty decent audio products.

Braun L830

A friend of the blog dropped this pair of Dieter Ram's Braun L830's off for a bit of a work over.

These speakers had an atrocious re foam job that looks like it was done by a six year old.

The cabinets are in great shape and they do sound incredible, a sound that is very detailed and neutral. These are on par with my Dual CL 390's and the Visonik Euro 7 speakers that I own.

I will install banana plug terminals into the cabinets and hopefully clean up the the way the woofers look.

 

Another pair of EPI 100V

I never get tired of re furbishing these speakers. EPI 100's easily benefit from some straight forward but easy to do upgrades. These speakers are incredibly musical and are a real joy to listen to.

The weak point in the speakers is the internal wiring, the capacitor and the speaker terminals.

I always upgrade these to a poly film cap, with 12 gauge speaker wire and new terminals to accept banana plugs.

I also added more fill in the back of the speaker to help dampen the standing waves.

EPI 100's are one of my favorite vintage project speakers, the gains from simple mods really bring out the best in these speakers.

Advent 2002 returned home

This pair of Advent 2002 with EPI tweeters came back home today.

The original posting on these speakers was here.

I gave them to a friend of mine and then I gave him this pair of Mirage 450's as he wanted a pair of speakers in black.

So I might do a bit of fiddling around with these speakers to either bring the tweeter output to match the woofer or move the crossover higher up on the tweeter as the woofer rolls off at 3500hz and the tweeter rolls off at 1800hz. Maybe a resistor will be needed to balance the sound.

Update: I replaced the 10uf tweeter cap with a Solen 5.6uf polypropylene cap and it has really smoothed out this speakers, it is way more in balance now. 

Paradigm 3Se Mini Speakers

This is my fifth pair of Paradigm 3SE Mini speakers that I have owned and I am always amazed at how their big sound belies their little size.

This pair came with Peerless SC-165 woofers which I took out and put in Vifa woofers from a donor pair of Mission 70 speakers and they work perfectly.

I also recapped the crossover with a poly film cap to open up the top end.

These speakers are one of my favorite 2 way speakers with 61/2 inch woofers and they happen to be my favorite out this era's Paradigm line up. These speakers sound way bigger than they are and are a joy to listen too.