[Chico Jim]

Last week I saw a super dirty pair, a 1972 Realistic STA -76 Receiver with a 1972 Miracord Elac 40c TT that set me me back $70.00!  They cleaned up to 8.5 condition.  Heck, they must have been in storage for many a year.  The tt has the original Shure M75e cartridge and stylus. No issues with the receiver and it sounds wonderful and was designed by David Hafler.

The Miracord is now in my main system and the Receiver mated with my Totem Arro’s and my Ah! Tjoeb tube CD player...sounds really good and the FM section is outstanding.



It got me back into vinyl and I’m in perpetual smile mode as it brings me back to my early years in a great way

[Rocket]

Hi,

Great find! Hope you enjoy.

Cheers Rod

[Chico Jim]

Rod: 

I’m in perpetual smile mode!  There’s lots of great lps in the thrift stores and we have a couple of outstanding record stores that have good prices on both new and used. Already got a decent collection going and have a Jico stylus in route.  It’s been too long since I have spinned and am wondering why I left in the first place

[FullRangeMan]

Realistic had any good sound speakers?

[Chico Jim]

They did, can’t recall the model numbers though

[navi]

what I love about vintage systems is that even if they don't have the high end audio sound of today they do have the magic of brining back old memories of my childhood.

Great score with the realistic amp and TT

[Chico Jim]

Navi:

While I agree it’s not considered high end, it sounds high end because of the old school idler drive.  It requires a heavy plinth to optimize, I plan on dyna-matting the plinth to beef things up. Not that it doesn’t sound bad as is. 

[Chico Jim]

Just finished dyna-matting the plinth and oiled it up.  As you can see, it is time capsule clean underneath.  Will give it some vinyl tomorrow to see how she sounds.   

[ohenry]

Realistic had any good sound speakers?

People are still fans of the Optimus Linaeum line of speakers for those smooth sounding 360 degree tweeters.

[dB Cooper]

People are still fans of the Optimus Linaeum line of speakers for those smooth sounding 360 degree tweeters.

RadioShack bought the company that made the Linaeum tweeters and ran it into the ground (as they did most everything they touched in their later years). Those tweets are still sought after in the DIY world, although RS never did a complete system that lived up to them. The ones made by the original company were silk, but RS cheaped out and went to inferior Mylar.

Damn that Miracord headshell is huge...

[Chico Jim]

dB, yeah it’s big (head shell), but it slides in perfectly and is perfectly aligned. The only minor issue with the player is some background noise, not wow or flutter.  To abate it I used dynamat underneath the plinth to dampen and add mass.  Will know if it worked later today. Otherwise it sounds very neutral and musical.

[dB Cooper]

IIRC Miracord was Dual's 'budget' line.

[Chico Jim]

dB actually rebranded and not a lesser line.  We’re exclusive to Radio Shack IIRC.

[Chico Jim]

Here’s an excellent 411 on TT’s Dual and Miracord we’re separate companies

https://www.chuckhawks.com/vintage_turntables.htm