Inside a Realistic Ten Band Stereo Frequency Equalizer

I try out and look inside a vintage Realistic-brand Ten Band Stereo Frequency Equalizer that was sold by Radio Shack in the 1980s, which I picked up for cheap at a thrift store.

[@ChristopherGaul]

I bought one of these new in late 89 or early 90. I still have it today. I love it. It works well and the display is cool to look at.

[@SomeDisassemblyRequired]

Agreed, it is cool!

[@dragons_red]

The IMX expander (I believe) was just a stereo delay to "widen" the sound for a more "live" feel. It just delays the signal to one channel a bit (microseconds) to replicate the delay you would hear at an outdoor venue where speakers are physically very far from you.

[@LatitudeSky]

Got one of these, got to have owned it at least 25 years. Still have the box. Works great, like new. I use it with a home theater projector screen where I want to tweak the bass to keep the neighbors happy-ish.

[@LatitudeSky]

Edit: checked and mine is an Optimus model 31-2025, so probably a later revision. But it looks basically identical.

[@nappycf7234]

I've got the same exact eq . Had it running all these years and still working great. The max expander is like a booster for all the frequencies. I use it because all my floors are tile, I can take the flat echo sound out

[@SomeDisassemblyRequired]

Good to know, thanks!

[@GnatGoSplat]

Wow, you got a great deal on that and it looks like it's in great shape. I remember about 35-36 years ago as a kid, my mom let me wander the mall and I'd end up at Radio Shack, mesmerized by the spectrum analyzer on this EQ. I bought one 20yrs ago off eBay to reminisce about my childhood and still have it. Unfortunately, it's not in nearly as good shape as yours. There are a lot more impressive EQs than this and I even own a few, but none take me back to my childhood like this one does.

[@SomeDisassemblyRequired]

Glad you enjoyed seeing it! I still haven't deployed it in my home but I have some Klipsch bookshelf speakers (covered in another video) that are kind of boomy, and could probably benefit from some equalization.

[@dragons_red]

Takes me back to my teenage years, had one of these (in silver). Miss those days 😢

[@mikefinney423]

These were well made for consumer grade home entertainment electronics. I own two of these that I use on two older systems. A black one purchased new in 1985. Been through 4 years of college and about 6 different moves, 4 different receivers and still gets powered on daily. And I picked up the same model in silver face, purchased 10 years ago at a garage sale for $25, for another system. Both still run and are great pieces for the money. Those colored lights on the analyzer look slick at night and the IMX Expander is fun. Those were the features that sold me, over similar units at the time, which just had that single weird bluish spectrum lighting. The IMX Expander makes the recording sound much wider, like it's happening in a bigger space/room. A bit like an arena-like sound to it with that effect. The dial allows you to get it just right. Turned up too much and it does tend to distort a little. Don't press it with the volume up high, it throws a lot at your system all at once.

[@SomeDisassemblyRequired]

Thanks for all the info! I haven't done anything with mine since making the video about it but I hope to do more of a "user experience" video for it in the future. The IMX Expander does sound like a lot of fun, so that will appear in the video, whenever I get around to it.

[@l1fer4ft43]

Im getting audio but the spectrum display doesnt seem to display properly

[@martyjewell5683]

I disagree that ten bands per channel is too much. I'm comfy with twelve per channel. Some 1/3rd octave models have thirty one (or more) bands per channel. I ain't so concerned with "flat" response as much as I dig using my EQ as an elaborate tone control. My first EQ was an ADC Sound Shaper Two (with the VU meter) in 1978. I upgraded to the IC version in 1982 and still use it. I like the two tape loops with bidirectional dubbing on the EQ. This frees up a monitor on my amp. My SS2IC has a swell subsonic filter (18dB/oct. @ 15Hz) which is necessary for LP's. I never boost/cut more than two dB's and that works for me. Folks should know that these EQ's don't have an amp, they use power from you main amp. Caution should be used when boosting bands and cranking volume. This Realistic unit looks pretty boss.

[@dragons_red]

Agreed. When you have more bands you can really pull (or push) specific instruments/tones out of the music without affecting others too much.

[@fan1701]

I love Realistic and Optimus. I'm hunting for a couple of those or even little newer versions. I've picked up several large-ish floor speakers and even a set of Bose 501's that are in pretty nice shape. Great video!

[@jasons8479]

I found many low-fi audio users tended to use these for the _opposite_ of equalizing. They tended to arrange the sliders in a sharp V-shape formation for artificial highly-boosted low bass and high treble and significantly cut midrange. I worked at RS selling these throughout the 90s, along with their Optimus-branded successors. I purchased one of those, but actually took the time to use digital recordings of sine wave test tones throughout the audio spectrum on CD, along with a Sound Pressure Level meter to align the frequency response of my speaker system and room acoustics to a natural flat equalization (tones throughout the spectrum having equal loudness). I highly doubt many consumers actually did that. Of course the built-in spectrum display on the EQ isn't showing the frequency response of your speakers/room. It's just showing the audio spectrum of the signal coming out of the EQ, going to your amp.

[@SomeDisassemblyRequired]

Thanks for the info. I hope to do a future video featuring the procedure you mention. I recently tested KLH 900B speakers in video and found that they sounded harsh. So, I hope to see if that can be counteracted with the Realistic equalizer or a Fisher one that I've also got.

[@jasons8479]

@@SomeDisassemblyRequired It may help, depending the speaker and the acoustics of the space around it. Some poorly made speakers just add so much uneven coloration to the sound that there's little hope.

[@damianwatt5032]

Great eq man I have one and it's nice play good and the expander great love it .👍

[@damianwatt5032]

Respect me general a sound we love.

[@playerbigrene]

hey i got the same yamaha amp you got but if you can make another video of this and show how you hooked it up please

[@robertstevenson6715]

Had one of these bought it from Tandy in the Uk

[@gabgb8643]

Bonjour vous avez fait quel branchement pour utiliser les 2 graphiques car moi j'ai réussi à régler un, le 2ieme ne fonctionne pas

[@josephlalock8378]

13:20 that section is for dividing the signal to feed the ics that drive the display, the audio filter network is closer to the sliders, where there is a larger amount of the orange electrolytics. i just recapped 2 realistic eqs very similar to this one. use good caps ,nichicon KL 'lytics or wima/kemet films for all the orange caps. PW/PM for power supply filtering . KTs can be used everywhere else. it will become an amazing sounding eq. i'm sure yours sounds fine , as did mine, but the caps are past their lifespan and many of the caps that were used are low quality and have severely drifted. i think there are 82,maybe 84 caps. but it's worth it to do.

[@jonruffolo]

Do you have any tips on how to repair the spectrum display? Mine worked great until recently, all the LEDs are just always on all the time now. The display slider doesn’t affect the lights at all. I really miss watching it while listening to music :(

[@dragons_red]

​@@jonruffoloIt could be the display slider is shorted, or somewhere in the feed to the display is shorted. I would try replacing the slider for the display first.

[@christian_cantarutti]

My dad handed this down to me after upgrading his system and the spectrum display feature isnt turning on. Does anyone have any tips here?

[@kittshigh]

I Got A Equalizer From Ebay "BSR Model EQ-3000" Works Great & Sound Good

[@jimthvac100]

I used to have one of these no idea what happened to it.

[@malc1012]

How did you connect it? I wanted to hook it up to a fisher ca 880 and I don’t know if i can or I have to use the tape output. Thanks !

[@dragons_red]

This guy shows how in this video (if you have tape rec/monitoring on your amp) kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZnLUXmmHqL2YnsUsi=tH6YuzoidsGoh9wQ

[@djaspire]

Where can I get this to buy?

[@jonathanabrahams7878]

15$ I never find those deals 🥴

[@rm1014]

Where can I buy this? I used to own this equalizer but it gave up.

[@alternateimpact81]

The imx expander was always dicey for me. Some times it would clip the frequency, and cause distortion.

[@joeknowz4898]

just a beautiful l looking piece of equipment..I had a 7 and unit only 1995 Technique audio 6 pieces component system..it just looked so damm good all lit up

[@artvanwag3257]

I still use two of these today

[@papabear9608]

I use a eq to this day I have a carver cm-1090 intergrated amplifier sounds so great then what’s out on the market now for home audio

[@mechart87]

From what I can tell, the IMX Expander is a reverb processor that adds depth to echoes/whispers/background. This will be especially noticeable in multi-driver speakers with robust crossovers. It also seems to drive my passive subwoofer harder. I prefer to leave it on one mark Below the MIN mark 😂 . Turning it off immediately makes the sound flat and boring. On makes the music completely 3D and engulfing. This thing is possibly one of the better kept secrets out there 🤫 Cheap Audio Man’s got one, he knows what’s up 😉

[@SomeDisassemblyRequired]

Cool, thanks for the info! I'll have to try that out the next time I hook it up.

[@dragons_red]

Was it reverb? I always thought is was an adjustable delay to one of the channels to simulate speakers being spaced far apart like at a live venue. That simple trick gives your ears that "wide" or "spacial" effect.

[@joeduider668]

I wanted one of these so bad as a kid

[@jamestdouglassjr7589]

Awesome video. How did you connect your EQ to your receiver?

[@SomeDisassemblyRequired]

I haven't yet, but I believe it takes a standard stereo line input and line output. Some receivers provide a loopback on the back that can be intercepted for such a thing but that's rare.

[@dragons_red]

I was watching Techmoan's new video on his channel (which led me yo search for this model eq I use to own) and he hooked up the eq to the tape rec out/in from his amp, and then just select tape monitor button on the amp to activate deactivate the eq in the setup. kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZnLUXmmHqL2YnsUsi=tH6YuzoidsGoh9wQ

[@ydonl]

I would guess that at that time, opamps weren't quite as cheap and plentiful as they are today!

[@ronaldsmith5663]

Did you sell the 10 band eq

[@SomeDisassemblyRequired]

No, I never did. I plan to use it again in a future video, but I'll probably sell it eventually.

[@ronaldsmith5663]

@@SomeDisassemblyRequired okay if you decide to sell it soon let me know iam in Canada 🇨🇦 i have the same one but theres a problem with the gain control knob

[@ronaldsmith5663]

Do you have any idea how i could fix mine open to any suggestion thanks

[@patrickmanyara5157]

I need one ?

[@user-by4ds8fh2z]

Перевода нет, непонятно что оно чирикает!👹

[@beatprocess]

just go one in excellent condition for $9.00 at thrift shop.