Space Oddity - the Realistic Optimus Pro LX5 Was The Weirdest Speaker of the 1990s!

This week it's time for another Retro Riff, in the strange shape of this small, inexpensive American bookshelf speaker from the mid 1990s...
Sold in the UK by Tandy (Radio Shack in the USA), the Realistic Optimus Pro LX5 also went by the name of the Genexxa Pro LX5 in some markets. It was a weird mixture of US Linaeum tweeter technology and Malaysian manufacture.
Mike and David agree that its sound is out of this world - with a spookily open and spacious top end that's more like an electrostatic than a conventional loudspeaker. What were they thinking!
Each episode of Hi-Fi Riff features Mike and David's unedited, unexpurgated views about all manner of weird and wonderful hi-fi designs.
Business executive Mike has a wealth of knowledge from previous hi-fi retail experience, and David has written about hi-fi for thirty years. Now Editor-in-Chief of StereoNET, he's picked up a few things along the way.
So relax and enjoy some one-take hi-fi riffing - and please leave your comments below. And don’t forget to hit the Subscribe button, this one goes up to eleven!
The eighties-tastic title tune is called ‘UFO/Mike’s Jumper’, and used with the express permission of our old pal and rights holder Simon Lythe.
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[@wal]

These are great speakers and I've had my set since the mid '90s. They were initially $149 USD (each), but I recall getting a pair for less than $200 during some Radio Shack sale. One thing to note, they use foam surround so most will need to be refoamed, but luckily the kits are readily available online. Great review and I look forward to checking out your past and future videos.

[@conchobar]

In the US, the Optimus brand name replaced the Realistic brand in the early to mid 1990s. So these speakers were one of the first speakers under the new Optimus branding. I worked for Radio Shack when these were first launched (1994). They actually received a few audio magazine reviews. The Stereophile magazine review is available online. The LX5 was part of a full line of speakers. Some incorporated a monopole version of the tweeter (LX-4/LX-7) and a pair of towers (LX-10) with the same top mounted dipole tweeter. There may have even been a center channel as well. There was a lot of buzz in the US audio community about them, and I saw numerous audiophiles asking to hear them to see what all the fuss was about. They sold incredibly well, hence why they are fairly easy to find in the US almost 30 years since their release. They had a retail price of $300US /pair, but went on sale for $200US frequently.

[@MrVinylista]

Brilliant info, thanks.

[@jamiethornton6101]

I remember wanting those LX-8 that had the dipole tweeter and were hifi speakers. Such great memories!

[@deathpallie]

I got a pair during a closeout back in the late 90's for $49.99 each. Picked up the voiced matched RCA branded center channel on the cheap, too. Found another pair of RCA badged on ebay and have been rocking them in my home theater since. Add a decent sub and they hold their own against mega buck setups. I've had to replace the foam surrounds on the oldest pair, but it was worth the effort to keep them going. Not many people would bother to repair budget speakers, but these are so unique and special in their look and sound it just compels you to preserve them. Love them to death.

[@Hi-FiRiff]

Fantastic!

[@jamiethornton6101]

I loved them! I was in college in the late 90's and started off with two. Got an extra two and the center that had the ribbon tweeter. They sounded great in this small college house that had concrete floors. For movies they were the most amazing speakers, with those tweeters.

[@Scrufboy]

I have 10 of these.... Upgraded crossover, dampened and Peerless made M&K 5" drivers. Great speakers

[@BCHonea]

I still have my pair I bought in the 90’s and they still sound phenomenal

[@roberthart9886]

Radio Shack with the fabulous Linneaum tweeters

[@stuartwiner7920]

I have a pair attached to my kitchen radio. The refoaming kit was $30. They sound great. It's a sturdy design & they're perfect for a small setup

[@Hi-FiRiff]

Very cool!

[@JD-lk7im]

I'm an ex Tandy salesperson. We didn't sell many of these. We did shift a lot of the Minimus 7 mini monitor. Do a Riff on them. I managed to find the original first gen version from 1978. Great to see these again though! Thanks for sharing.

[@MrVinylista]

Great story, thanks! I have a pair of Minimus 7s in my bedroom - although they haven't yet had the fancy capacitors and Kimber Kable treatment. I really like them and they're another mega-cheap baby speaker bargain. Made in Japan, of course. And for the real 'beyond hope' trainspotters out there, Amstrad did their own version made by the same OEM!

[@oliverbeard7912]

Unusual design. Great that David saw the potential in the technology used and invested in some tweaks to the posts,cable and crossover. Condidering their price point they definitely didn't fit into the standard cone woofer,dome tweeter in a wooden box that one would have come to expect. Pretty mad also when considering the amplifiers in the price range that they would likely have been partnered with would have had a meltdown given such low sensitivity. A modern iteration of this configuration could be active desktop versions with built in class D amplification,providing the necessary power in a compact lightweight package with volume adjustment on the baffles. Another great riff unearthing a little known,under the radar classic.

[@nickevans3190]

Another fantastic and interesting rift and just mentioning Tandy has brought back many an hour spent in Tandy as a young teenager looking and listening to everything but i never saw these little beauties

[@alanarmstrong2323]

Lots of mids and highs ,you can almost hear the singers breath.Love them alot !

[@smallspendor]

Spot on description of the sound. Had a pair since the advice of KK when they came out was, “Run don’t walk to your nearest Tandy…”. Or words to that affect. Hi Fi News.

[@MrVinylista]

I never read that review, but it sounds like vintage Ken Kessler!

[@smallspendor]

I think it was just a paragraph at the end of an opinion piece. Recommended for the unique tweeter. A very decent sound for £75 each. My foam surrounds are still intact.

[@evanleebodies]

I've just replaced the foam surrounds on my pair of LX5's with one slight difference. Instead of replacing the surrounds with foam, I've opted to use rubber surrounds. Let me tell you folks, the bass response is way better than before. I put this down to the stiffnes of foam vs rubber. I bought both foam and rubber surrounds off EBay and was able to make a side-by-side comparison before replacement, the rubber surrounds were way more pliable so on they went.

[@davebalfour6158]

I have a number of pairs of these loudspeakers. Randy even went as far to release an updated version using a Kevlar driver; now they really kicked butt. I agree those ribbon tweeters are amazing. They pair very well with a Pioneer A400 amo, stock or or modified. Nice.

[@pettybird]

I bought a pair when I worked at Radio Shack. I gave them to a friend and he still uses them as his main speakers. I didn’t need them at the time but I kind of wish I still had them.

[@stevehollingbery9744]

Wow I had a these-in the 90’s, bought them in Tandy’s Brighton. They used to sell them as single items! About £65 pounds each. Think they had a cast Ali case. Used them in a fairly small room being driven by Exposure 15. Not ideal I know. Safe to say they had one of the best treble sound and dispersion I have ever heard. Glories. The bass was very lumpy, things improved when placed on top of B&W P3’s in static mode! There was a mini forum going at the time on how to improve the bass, yup I tried most of them. Main tweaks suggested were stuffing the ports with waxed drinking straws and using kapok damping inside the box. Ah I still retain the memory of the treble, I believe the treble units were originally used in some other American speaker systems. The only media reference I recall was tucked away in a column by K.Kessler at the time. Great Riff again Chaps

[@derekwoolston3564]

I haven't seen these speakers for awhile. Myself and a couple of friends bought them from Tandy in Norwich in the 90's where they were discounted to around £30 I think. I had them for a few months and the top grill look complimented my Marantz PM4 which also had a similar looking top casing, Sounded okay but pleased to see them again as I had quite forgotten them.

[@imoffthegrid2158]

I have 2 pairs of the LX 5 , a pair of LX8 and the matching center channel speaker ( CS-5 ). They all had proper binding posts.

[@donalddeorio2237]

They had an amazing ribbon like tweeter that were really great.

[@dean6816]

I really miss Tandy. Maplins was a good Tandy replacement and I used to live 5 minutes away from one now it's shut down!! Gutted!!

[@earlfenwick]

I drew up in a small town in Tennessee and radio shack was Valhalla. My neighbor had a radio shack tube amp which sounded fantastic. Radio shack had this set up where there was cheap stuff, then there was a higer price tier that I understand was often rebrandedTechnics gear. Which is not bad!

[@yippie6862]

I remember those. The tweeter reminds me a bit of speaker manufacture Ohm.

[@claddagh1000]

25 years and still own them

[@waynereid6103]

I had a pair of these as a teenager and found them to be fantastic on vocals. Listening to Classical and Baroque music you experience the most vivid depth and naturalness. The first LP I ever played through them was Monteverdi's Tancredi e Clorinda, from his eighth book of madrigals. To say I was pleased is an understatement. I spent a lot of money acquiring them [I was only 15 yrs old at the time] and fortunately they didn't disappoint. Instead they helped open the door to Schubert song cycles, Beethoven piano sonatas and ended, as far as the LX5's were used, the day before my 18th birthday when I received my first pair of horns. Their last performance on that day in June was a memorable and very clean Decca SXL first pressing of Britten's Peter Grimes. Conducted by the man himself, with PP in the title role. Difficult to drive speakers but a really good introduction to quality sound.

[@rxonmymind8362]

I just got a pair for free along with pair of pro audio Polk speakers in the box new. It's unbelievable what people will give away for free. Both are in immaculate condition and they sound fantastic. Had a shootout with the Polks and these and Optimus won hands down. Powering them with my Marantz 2500 they easily bring out the best sound.

[@hitechrr]

I have 4 that I bought brand new, and I still use them. I did have to re-foam the woofers. I do use them with a 12" sub-woofer in the system, to cover the base. If I remember right, I paid $50 each.

[@gotham61]

These aren't quite as unknown as you guys are saying. There was quite a buzz around them at the time, and they were reviewed in Stereophile in January 1995. I think they made it into Recommended Components for a while. There were also a couple of other models with the Linaeum tweeters. John Atkinson measured the sensitivity as 81.5.

[@MrVinylista]

Interesting info from the USA, thanks. Certainly on our side of the Pond in England, they were very much under the radar.

[@gotham61]

​@@MrVinylista My understanding is that the Genexxa name was used in the UK and other European countries, while in the US they were either Realistic or Optimus.

[@MrVinylista]

@@gotham61 Correct, mine are badged Genexxa, but were still sold through 'Tandy' (the UK version of Radio Shack).

[@jimbodabimbo1483]

American here. Had a set in the 90's, they sounded very good indeed. Couldve used a revised port of some sort...the chuffing was a bit obnoxious with some music types. Really wish i still had them

[@johndough8115]

I heard these in a Radio Shack, ages ago. Was very surprised at the Treble clarity, and Spacious projection. HOWEVER... I was hearing sort of Echos, from the tweeters bouncing off of different walls / surfaces... and ending up in my ears at different time-frames. Part of this, may have been due to the room itself... but I feel like this will always be a problem with 360 degree projection (unless you carpet all of your walls, preventing the bounce). I think a 180 degree spread, is the widest that should be Utilized. As such, it would be a good experiment to put some sound absorbing material, on the rear of these.. extending to the sides.. to see if that would help to reduce such distortions. The only tweeter that I found even More 3d... and superior in its accurate projection... is on a pair of EPI 100v speakers (there were 2 main versions of the Inverted tweeters. You want the Upgraded version, that has the plastic bezel... rather than the older version with the fiber-board bezel). Maybe its the shape of these, that causes such a fantastic, wide, holographic 3d like soundfield. Almost the entire room, becomes the "Sweet Spot". Ive never experienced anything even close to these speakers... and Ive heard a Lot of different speakers. Also, the bass on the EPI 100v is fantastically Clear, Accurate, Deep, and Punchy. From what Ive read.. the designed used heavier gauge wire on the woofer coils, which automatically filters out the high frequencies. Thus, one less crossover component needed.. and less chance of such a component causing distortions.

[@alecbruyns4490]

Radio Shack used the Realistic name for their products, until someone decided that Genexxa sounded better. The Lineaum omnidirectional tweeters were amazing.The diaphram is a pair of vertical cylindrical films. There were several iterations with different mid-bass drivers. The Genexxa with Kevlar drivers were not pleasant, as they Kevlar rang horribly.

[@evanleebodies]

I bought mine back in 1998 when I worked at Tandy, got a good staff discount on them. Just today though noticed tha bass wasn't performing as well as usual, after taking off the grille saw that the surrounds had deteriorated.....I'm gutted.

[@leonardoortiz393]

I recently bought a pair, and I am very impressed of how good they sound specially for $10 that I paid for it

[@brunolagace1135]

I still have a set that I use for surround. My wife bought them new for a Christmas gift.

[@attrktmarketing4582]

Ah this was super fun. They look like a nice little speaker. You both look like you are having great fun here and your friendship shines through. I loved Tandy too (the Woolworths of tech and a great place to buy large packs of audio tapes and circuitry) but they were not the first place i would go to buy decent sounding hifi equipment 😊 Have you seen the Canon dome shaped speakers? They were also nuts and available roughly around the same time.

[@MrVinylista]

Thanks, and you're spot on - the Canons were the other bonkers speaker of that time. My magazine at the time - Hi-Fi World - described them as a lemon! A bit harsh...

[@attrktmarketing4582]

@@MrVinylista I have a pair if you’d like to review them 😀

[@MrVinylista]

@@attrktmarketing4582 In the words of Oscar Wilde, "I can resist anything except temptation!" Seriously though, I'm doing a deal on some at the moment. Fortunately current prices aren't going to bankrupt me...

[@attrktmarketing4582]

@@MrVinylista well good luck. I have the S35 model, they are in the loft. I “upgraded” them from a pair of Mission 760i 😀

[@randomstuff5338]

I found mine in a rubbish bin , I thought i could sell them , I picked one up and it was heavy and I thought these might be ok , I still have them ,they sound awesome

[@gdemirjian]

I bout a pair new and the foam rotted after about 15 years, I took them apart and replaced with upgraded driver and cleaned the dust buildup from around the tweeter. I also have some decent Sony SSCS5 that are similar price point. When I tried the Optimus again in my office, I noticed the imaging was non existing. There is a good reason you don't see these tweeters anymore. They fill the room, but they are sloppy. I still love their aesthetic though. Great video. Thanks.

[@jimthvac100]

I think the FaitalPRO 5FE120 could make a good replacement woofer for this speaker and make the speaker go down to 69Hz F3

[@adaboy4z]

I remember seeing these at Radio Shack in the 90s. I wanted a pair, but was a poor college student. I see a pair at an Estate sale tomorrow and hopefully I can snag a pair for the collection.

[@madmad8582]

I have a pair of those in my speaker collection , the only thing with mine is that the surround has rotted out so i replaced it with another woofer they still perform just as well with the new woofer i got from another realistic speaker , in Canada I am the Speaker Doctor , I love old speakers mostly I like ElectroVoice . have fun my family back in History came from England like way back in ancient times called the Standbridges they moved to Canada after the First War .

[@hondaphan4172]

I have five pairs of AuraSound speakers(LSW-828M's & LSB-527M's) which have the monopole version of these Lineaum tweeters and they're quite good. The 828M's absolutely rock for HT with their 8" Peerless woofers.

[@gregcoomer1775]

Bought a pair of Genexxa branded, mint, boxed for next to nothing. Soon as they hit the air the surrounds crumbled! Now looking to fix them.

[@robowarriorx]

ive got a matched set of 5 of these and i love them, considering newer speakers but they are still going strong. Two were redone but the rest are stock. Tempted to replace them, but I really dont think they'll be outdone on a budget, with decent bass on their own, paired with a discreet sub they are pretty phenomenal.

[@Hi-FiRiff]

Hugely jealous. Mike

[@anthonyjackson7097]

If you check the TS parameters for the woofer. The cubic displacement of the box is too small. More dampening materia will correct some of that problem. In my humble opinion, an active crossover between a subwoofer and the LX5 will alleviate the woofer from a lot of lower frequency duty. The problem with "all" small mid-woofers is maintaining their composer when being asked to produce lower bass while producing midrange at high volumes. With smaller drivers, baffle step compensation is also a must! Especially with a mid bass cabinet baffle that narrow.

[@Hi-FiRiff]

A reply that Jezz Kerr from Kerr Acoustics would enjoy :-)

[@richnbel1]

Any ideas on replacement of the cone / main driver? The rubber surrounds have rotted away and I need a replacement driver

[@MrVinylista]

I am sure that Anapeach Loudspeaker Restoration can fix your tired roll surrounds, fairly inexpensively. Just Google them to get the website address.

[@LowEnd31st]

I had a pair, sweetest sounding tweeters I ever owned. Sadly they couldn’t take much power and tweeters blew

[@scottlowell493]

Had some. The mid/woof was floppy crap. You could do a drop in replacement with a seas driver that was 4x better. The lineaum tweeter treble was sweet and airy, but not really resolute or focused.

[@ZosTest]

I had a pair of these in the ‘90s driven by an Arcam Delta system.

[@tonyjedioftheforest1364]

Watched this yesterday and eBay had a pair which have now sold for £100.

[@MrVinylista]

Mike, was that you?

[@mikeyevs]

​@@MrVinylista you know I'm too tight to spend that much!

[@PerthSoftware]

I have a pair but replaced the midbass. Use now as rear speakers.

[@phwodehouse]

i have got some bought off tandy

[@matldn2697]

I used these for my home cinema, pre-blu ray. Sadly I damaged the main cone of one that I was using as a centre channel. Got them stored somewhere. I paid £60 new.

[@jamiethornton6101]

I got a pair coming from ebay. I want to replace the woofers on them. Does anyone know if you can put any woofer replacement in these, that are the same size?

[@SuperMcgenius]

Just buy them for the tweeters.

[@menfallinloveandwomenmakeplans]

Dear David, Another bit of creative, out of the box thinking from you. It must be difficult for your flat earther friend when he undergoes Exposure (!) to these left field items of equipment. Is he of Irish descent by the way? Mike O'Barik sounds to me like an Irish name.

[@MrVinylista]

Now there's a thought!

[@mikeyevs]

Please don't give him ideas! Socket botherer is bad enough.

[@menfallinloveandwomenmakeplans]

@@mikeyevs 'Socket botherer.' Brilliant. I wish I'd thought of that.

[@rowdyjong694]

I had those speakers and there sound a bit terrible, i experimented with them like a nutty professor. There was a Linneaum speaker from the states that was made of wood aND REALY sounded better. I had combo it with a subwoofer to sound it better.

[@MrVinylista]

I think the basic design is excellent, but the excution was terrible. The bass unit is very poorly damped and crossover components and wiring are nasty. If you address these issues, they really start to do magic - but of course still have their issues.

[@senoJSR]

I have 4

[@SuperMcgenius]

Solen caps are good, but many others are better. Based in Montreal Canada as am I. 😅

[@dean6816]

They look the pack in speakers for mid 90s Aiwa midi hifi systems!!

[@MrVinylista]

Yes indeedy - the difference being that those Aiwa speakers had plastic cabinets whereas these are cast aluminium alloy!

[@dean6816]

@@MrVinylista As a 16 yo I had one of those Aiwa systems and it was never out of the Currys repair centre. Rubbish!!

[@MrVinylista]

@@dean6816 Yes, total grot. Shame, as late 1970s Aiwa stuff was superb. 15 years later, the brand was toast.

[@dean6816]

@@MrVinylista tell me about it. That's what made me get a proper (ish) Hifi.

[@johnshore3095]

Aiwa made ok tape decks.. I had an adf 640 3 headed deck in the late 80's

[@randomstuff5338]

I have genexxa pro L5 (australia) are these the same speakers ?they look exactly the same

[@SuperMcgenius]

Really, can not show the tweeter. 4 screws only.😅

[@nenadkojic7125]

I had a pair of these; just not real hifi IMO though good for the price. If u r going to spend money on these then new bass mids and crossover Improvements. Original bsss mid dirt cheap.

[@MrVinylista]

The raw ingredients are excellent in my view, but the speaker does need 'finishing' with decent crossover components, wiring and damping to really shine. I would strongly urge anyone who buys a pair to mod them.

[@Chrisearwaxx]

Owned a set and also the pro-lx4...tweaked the living hell out of them and had a lot of fun. Not real hi-fi though. Lumpy and slow.

[@socksumi]

The tweeter is smooth but quite rolled off above about 10K. Spacious sound because it's a bipolar design. The woofer is awful, veiled and card boardy. The net effect is not so impressive. But it was cheap so there is much worse.