Back in 2018 my wife and I went to a second hand store that opened for the first time the day we went. While my lovely wife was off looking for things, I headed right for the area I saw some Tv's and stereos! As my eyes were scouting around I saw 2 small boxes with speakers in them. These 2 boxes held a set of Realistic Bookshelf Speakers from 1978, and they had never been opened. The price tag on the 2 boxes was $25, and I couldn't get my money out fast enough to pay for them. The guy who just went into business and opened his store for the very first time that day, did not know what he had in those 2 very pretty boxes, and I did not tell him, until I had paid for them. Once I told him, he didn't seem to care! When we got home I carefully opened both boxes to find 2 perfectly good bookshelf speakers, still wrapped in the original cellophane, and still in the original boxes by Realistic. I took the speakers out, nit a mark on them, and they sounded awesome.
These are 4024 with rubber suspension that won't rot. I have mine from 1977 and are still in perfect working condition in 2018. They were custom built by Fisher Electronics (later sold to Sanyo Electric of Japan) for Radio Shack and carried a lifetime warranty from Tandy Corp. back in the days.
I had the ones with foam and they disinigrated along with the woofer cones themselves. I could effortlessly stick my finger through them. They were fabulous for 25 years though.
I have these since new and still use them. They sound so great. I tried to replace them a few times thinking I could do better but never did. Congratulations. I hope you get the same enjoyment!
Wow New in The Box What a Great Find I have My Mach 1 Speakers Will Restore The Wood With Howard Restore Products They Still Sound Great I Will Connect Them To My New DENON AVR-S920W 4K Receiver Shoud sound Great
I have a pair of Mach 3's from around 1992 and that is what is connected to the computer that is in this room. The Surrounds need replacment as you would guess but they were good speakers. in my lounge I have a pair of Yamo 707 I. These pair look great.
My Mach One’s were the best speakers I have ever heard/ I now collect them and rebuild them/ and ‘yes’ , the foam surround is the first to deteriorate/ incredible find / Enjoy
I've got several sets of Realistic speakers that have original foam surrounds. The were coated or something. I have JBL, Infinity, and Boston Acoustics from the same era that all have had to be refoamed.
These are the first generation 4024 Mach 1's. This video was filmed in 2015. The oil finish had simply evaporated or had been absorbed by the wrapping paper. I re-oiled them with Watco Danish oil.
What year was this filmed? I find it almost impossible to believe that these where found new in the box in 2015! Crazy if so! I would love to find new in the box Mach II's!
I picked up a set of Nova 16 brand new in box. Packaged the same way but foam was gone. Also got a STA2280 receiver new in box. When some people really like something they buy more than one. when they pass, here it is.
All show and no go. I’ve owned a pair of 4024 that I bought from the original owner and they were in mint condition. Terrible sounding speaker. No bass out of that 16” woofer. My Klipsch KG3.5 with a single 8” woofer blew the Mach 1s out of the water. Ended up selling them. Way overrated and overpriced.
