Realistic Mach Two Loudspeaker- Vintage Audio Review Episode #85 

thanks for the comment!!

I loved the radioShack catalogs- you can view most of them online still, btw. There is a lot of interest in the Mach 2's still, according the #of views this video has. Thanks for the comments!

Drool indeed, me too! I ended up with about 10 pair of these LoL 😆

@@markkrueger6186 I hope they are not all in the same room, but that you are spreading the Mach 2 wealth around.

@@vintageaudioreview i have 4 of the twos and 4 of the threes hooked up in the same room. Pretty much all the rest I have need new surrounds.

@@markkrueger6186 You can surely get it cranking in that room! Hopefully you will get the surrounds done one day.

That is quite a story- thanks for sharing. You should check to make sure the woofer surrounds are still intact, though being in a box for all these years may have slowed that from happening

I use an STA-95 and I absolutely love it. I hope your STA is as good to you :)

@@nathanielnicholson559 A lot of folks seem to like their STA's- the one in the video is not mine, but a friend's.

@@nathanielnicholson559 I just went down and checked...lol.. STA-460 is my model...I know I got the matching duel cassette deck somewhere..never got the equalizer for it.. gone are the days of actually getting up and walking over to something and turning it on...The light from the dial lit the room up like a beam...I use the receiver for Karaoke set ups when everyone was into Karaoke... I had a small set of Vert 3 -way 40 speakers for that set up....

@@joeknowz4898 I have a Realistic 5 band equalizer that I stored for years. Finally hooked it up when I made a reverb unit from a school locker lol I forget the model and I can't see that without moving a bunch of stuff :/ Figured I'd get more use from it there as I don't run an eq in my listening setup. There it sits...

Thank you so much for the comment and let us know what you think once you listen to them for a bit...

That is a really nice compliment- thanks!!!

Thanks for sharing your Amp pairing with the MachTwos!

I have not heard the kg4's but am guessing they would sound good from how my kg2's sound. Sounds like you have made some good purchases. Thanks for the comments

Glad you have had good luck with the refoamed Mach 2's- all 4 of them! I am not sure I would do anything with the crossovers either, unless you thought the sound had diminished. Thanks for the comment!

Thanks so much !!!

I would not upgrade the crossover unless mine was bad and/or could measure the before and after results. This is definitely a very popular video which tells me a lot of folks had them. I appreciate the comment

@@vintageaudioreview no stock electrolytics will sound as good as polyester or metallized poly low ESR caps. I’ve modded everything from Kef to Klipsch and there is not one example of electrolytics sounding as good. Electrolytics dry up and degrade in as little as 3-5 years, let alone 39 years. The midrange and treble clean up considerably and don’t saturate as easily with better caps.

@@scottlowell493 My experience with testing caps (value,ESR and leakage with the appropriate voltage applied) has shown that many caps that are >40yrs old are still fine. I read a paper in the last 6month that showed there really was no difference between the expensive "audiophile" caps and others. If your experience tells you otherwise, then you are going to disagree but that is what the hobby is about, I suppose.

@@vintageaudioreview we totally disagree. Too many variances is electrolytics. Poor quality , Memory, smearing the sound. They sound duller and more closed in. Square waves look like sawtooth. All of the people that have heard the mods vs original said the same thing to me, without me telling them anything. They are not exotic audiophile caps. They are a couple bucks like Dayton 5% or similar. If YOU can’t hear a difference, you have the problem. Hearing or listening skills, or perhaps poor electronics feeding them like murky and rolled off vintage receivers.

@@scottlowell493 At least you are using reasonable priced caps. My listening skills are quite good, I think, and completed Harmon's "How to Listen" training. As I have tested all of my gear, no problems there. I doubt most folks have the audio memory to be able to tell the differences you are suggesting. I am not talking about a capacitor that has changed value by a very large amount over their rated spec. If you had a pair of speakers and measured their freq responses/impedances and they were very close, and then did an a/b test and were convinced they sounded pretty much the same, and modified one of them by just replacing the caps with ones that were the same value but some other material, and then remeasured them, would there be a difference ? Will have to talk with an engineering friend who builds speakers and designs crossovers to get his take on this- I have never had to replace any crossover components- might make for an interesting video.

The kinda looked like some of the popular speakers of they time- I guess if you hooked them up and didn't like the sound you could have returned them.

If your woofer does not have a bad voice coil, I would have yours refoamed. I am sure there is info on upgrading that speaker- with hopefully replacement woofers. Parts Express is a great source for woofers....

I did not know that would happen, but it does not surprise me- thanks for the comment

@@vintageaudioreview my receiver pushes 115 watts per channel , without the Amp , but I can run my speakers on a 1 to 10 level for individual output , my two main speaker sets are Sansui Sp-Sx 9900’s, good for 300 watts each , but adjusted properly , the Mach 2 set hangs in there , but the light bulbs are running from dim to bright , I’ve blown all the speakers in them twice , the Mach 2’s , I’ve replaced them all with higher quality speakers 15 years ago , no problems since then , the Sansui’s , all original yet , 1974 models , they made better quality in the old days , my uncle has a Sansui SX-1980 Receiver , his system blows my mind ! 1/2 way up , you can watch the Glass move in the doors & Windows ,

@@joelaichner3025 Have not heard any Sansui speakers in a long time, but like their receivers/intg amps. I will have to ask about the lights you mention- I think the owner may still have them, but that is a lot of power (115w) to put into them....

@@vintageaudioreview my Onkyo Receiver , I can adjust the power to the speakers from 1 to 10 by set , I run them on 6 , 60% power input at 7 they start to distort a little , The Sansui’s are set to 10 , Sansui’s are 5 way , with 17.2 inch woofers , I’m always looking for a 3rd set , the 11,000 series are especially rare , but I’d buy a set if I could find them close to home ,

@@joelaichner3025 Good luck on your hunt for them and thanks for sharing!!

It would be the same as about $3000 today (US $)

I think that Radio Shack was trying to have some speakers that "competed" with some of the JBL & Cerwin Vega speakers of a similar style at the time, but at a lower cost.... I appreciate your comments!

There are refoaming kits on ebay for that speaker. If you have not done them before you may want to give it a try.

I gave a shot at refoaming a while back. If you have any knack for the sort of thing at all it really is a simple task and process with these larger speakers.

Thanks for the question. Unfortunately, I don't have any similar JBL speaker to compare them to, but I would expect that they would have a different sound.

I have no doubt that replacing capacitors and/or inductors in a crossover network can make a big difference in the sound of speakers. We have reached an impasse, it appears. You may find this information interesting just as a side- www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/audible-difference-in-high-end-capacitors-abx-samples.48703/

Thanks for the comment. I probably should have done some off axis measurements to see how the dispersion measured- at least +/- 15degrees, but I have not done that before so would not have anything to compare.

Had a pair of these, back in the day... That tweeter is square and people were turning them so the canyon wave guide was horizontal to get better dispersion and imaging.

@@Douglas_Blake_579 I will mention that to the owner- thanks!

Thanks for the comment- I think the owner did the mids as well.

That is nice to know. I am not sure that this pair would have benefited from new crossovers from looking at the data....

I have my original pair my parents bought for me. Was thinking of doing the crossovers as the tweeter is lacking, am concerned the ferrofluid might have mucked up over the 30 plus years. I've also reformed the midst and woofer.

@@koprcord5338 You would have to research about the ferrowfluid going bad on these- might help the high end response..

If you are handy you could refoam the woofers yourself or can find a shop that will do it,

I miss them too. At least there is an electronics shop not too far from where I live.