This past summer I was taking a walk and saw these Realistic Optimus - 5 B speakers left curbside for garbage pick up. I went back and loaded them in my trunk.

The cabinets need some work and there is a nick of about 1 and half inches long on one of them. The grills are a bit bent and there seems to be coaster stains on the top of one speaker. Not too bad over-all though.

Anyway I did not test them until this week and to me they sound quite good. I recorded the sample below . Used a cassette deck to record from a prerecorded reel to reel. I used two external mics to get the stereo effect. Used normal bias tape with no Dolby.

There's not really an easy way that I can think of anyway to capture speaker sound for others to hear on the internet. The method I used reminds me of when people would use external mics to record TV when there were no audio outs on the TV.

I posted about the speakers on a audio site and they got mixed reviews. Some saying that Realistic products are crap and I may be better off throwing them curbside again. While others said that these particular speakers are somewhat unsung heroes in the audio world.

My favorite comment was this:

FuzzyNightmares said: ↑
Seems like something I’d do, then promptly get in trouble with the wife and have to put them back on the side of the road..

to which someone replied:

I got to the point where I left the wife curbside and drove off with the speakers. Life has been much easier ever since!



Optimus - B Sound sample

The sample  does not do justice to the sound as they are better sounding than heard on the sample.





Another intersting comment:

So good, they're guaranteed forever!"


 

Last edited by Fitz (January 11, 2022 5:59 pm)