Realistic is or was a well-regarded Radio Shack house brand. Even today you can find positive references to them on enthusiast websites like Audiokarma.
Back in the late 1960s, a pair of speakers like these cost $15.96. I got them for $13.96. Of course, at the thrift store, they were a bit of a gamble. The front grills don't appear to be removable without causing damage and the back of the speakers don't reveal any information about their specifications other than they are 8-ohm speakers. This posed a little bit of drama because I didn't want to blow the speakers on my modern receiver. When it comes to technical information on the Realistic Solo 103, you are pretty much on your own: Solo. Eventually, I found Solo 103 speakers listed on page 22 of this circa 1968 Radio Shack catalog. As best I can find out via the internet is that these speakers are 15 watt speakers with a frequency response starting at 30 hz.
When I got these little speakers home, they continued to pose a challenge because they didn't have conventionally labeled black and red connectors. Instead, I just had to hook them up with an extra effort towards being consistent about which wire went to which color on the back of my stereo. I'm not sure what would have happened if I had got the wires crossed up, but they worked fine and my stereo worked fine. Here is my primitive connection job on these ancient speakers.
Of course, the big question is: how do they sound? My answer is they sound pretty good. Without the profound bass of a big woofer, these speakers sound a little bright. However, they have nice heavy magnets and they are in fairly heavy wooden enclosures. Thus, they don't sound tinny at all. They sounded great for listening to jazz on public radio and listening to various news and commentary station. The jury is still out on rock. In an apartment, I find that these speakers are a good choice for low to moderate volume listening when you don't want to transmit bass to your neighbors.
I'm sure that I could open these enclosures up and see if the speakers needed to be replaced or restored. Overall, for $15, these little bookshelf speakers turned out to be a really great little find. I'm glad I picked them up.
I hope I can add some good info for you. These are terrific little bookshelf speakers with a very open and natural mid and high range. Use with a sub if you want true full range. They roll off around 150 Hz but can be coerced to produce a little bass if you're careful. They are marked + and - on the terminals. If you don't know, it won't harm anything to connect them out of phase but they will sound strange. They're good for 10 watts RMS. Don't over drive them. The drivers are Foster units, a well respected speaker manufacturer who also made most of the old Realistic line, including the venerable Mach One. Since they're single drivers, there's no crossover. Opening the back reveals a well damped cabinet and the 4" driver. Nothing more to see here. I use them in my garage system. Amazing for their size and especially well suited to jazz. I got a mint pair for the asking and am enjoying them as I type.
ReplyDeleteDoes anybody know how to open the back of a realistic solo 1 speaker. Mine are from 1960 I think, I damaged the speaker with a bad amp that shorted and burned the speaker. i do not see any screws on the back cover.
ReplyDeleteMy girlfriend bought a house with a pair of these speakers in the mudroom. What is a bit perplexing is the three position toggle switch on each speaker. It seems to function as an on off switch but I’m not 100% sure. They definitely will silence the speakers depending on the configuration. There are other speaker pairs in the house that have similar toggles but only two positions. I think it may be someone’s idea of an A/B switch before such a thing existed commercially.
ReplyDeleteAny thoughts?
A bit more information: These speakers are apparently based on the DIY version found on page 32 of the magazine below, though the comment above suggests that the Solo 103 does not have the equalization network. I built a pair of these speakers for my kids to use in their apartment, and was quite pleasantly surprised by their performance.
ReplyDeletehttps://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Electronics-Illustrated/Electronics-Illustrated-1965-11.pdf