When Old AV Gear is Better Than New

[Paul Adsett]

For about as long as I can remember I have been driving the audio output from my GS1200 through an external 10 band Yamaha stereo equalizer, then through an old Radio Shack stereo pre- amplifier. The beauty of the little radio shack amplifier is that it includes a push button mono/stereo switch which is so great for driving mono through 2 front speakers or to headphones. The other great feature is a simple rotary balance control which is essential for balancing super 8 stereo tracks which can vary wildly between film reels.
Well i've been looking to replace that old Realistic amp with something better, but I have found that the current designs of stereo amps do not include a simple balance control! If you want to balance out the stereo you typically have to go deep into the setup menu with your remote and do it from there - what an absolute pain, and essentially useless for on the fly balancing of S8 stereo tracks during projection.
As for a mono/stereo switch forget it , they no longer exist on any current stereo receivers I have looked at. So it's back into the menu system with the remote again.
Guess I will stay with the old reliable Realistic amp - it has the features I need which are apparently unavailable on current equipment.

[Steve Klare]

I'm with you there, Paul!

I had a Sony receiver/amp for years that had buttons on the front panel: "bass", "treble", "balance" etc. It got to the point I had to lift it up and drop it to get it to power up, and the number of impacts and the release height to get it to turn on was rising by the week! (It became a little like starting a campfire with steel and flint!)

So I got the modern equivalent: looks like the exact same unit with a new front panel.

-it sounds great, but everything is a couple of layers down in some menu or other.

The frightening thing is what it will be like to live with this thing if the remote ever dies or somehow escapes the house! (Don't ask me: I have at least two fugitives right now...)

It won't even turn "OFF" like the old one. One tap of the power button is "standby" and the second one is "off" or back to "on" if you wait too long.

[Chip Gelmini]

I agree with Paul whereas the vintage equipment is much better for our hobby then the newer up to date processors. I really do like my Marantz units however they lack the options that I need to handle the GS machines. Thank goodness old fashioned stereo RCA cables are still available as well as cable type Y converters. To takle a mono signal and come out of left channel aux out (one side of the stereo ports on the GS) means you can have a fixed level output and only have to adjust volume with the processor volu,e control (on my Marantz for instance).

You can also locate 2 pin din to female RCA adapters and come out of the GS external speaker ports. But you must use two of them and use the MONO/STEREO switch on the GS to control it. And, use the volume knobs on the GS to feed it to the processor. This is especially handy when you have a low level record on the mag track. This allows you to push a little more over to the processor and use the processor for theater volume. Care should be taken however to keep projector volume no greater than number 2 on the scale around the volume knobs. I try and run mine right at 2 for a lower level output unless the level on the mag track is low then it is safe to push it higher. Doiung it this way will also be similiar to the way aux out mono runs off the back of an ST1200 D or HD unit. Attach the cable, and use the volume control to send to the processor.

External speaker ports (GS ONLY) to the processor is safe to do. The OHMS are the same (@ 600) as the aux out mini plug outputs.

As for other model machines, refer to your user manual specifications page and read about OHM levels, and follow instructions for connecting to an external amplifier........

CG

[Osi Osgood]

Hey! I still swear by my Radio Shack/ Realistic brand, Dolby Surround sound processor! Even though bought in the early to mid 80's, that little baby was literally tailor made for super 8 projectors!

[Ed Gordon]

I suspect the introduction of 6 channel sound is the reason we don't see Balance knobs and Stereo/Mono buttons any longer. There are lots of outboard audio switchers than can do that same job. Regardless, if the old electronics work, why bother?

Osi, I had one of those Dolby processor many years ago. I do miss Radio Shack; especially their catalog. I discovered so many gadgets in that catalog that I had no idea existed...

[Steve Klare]

Yes, it's not that desperate: at least as far as movie sound goes, I have everything going through a small mixer and there are more knobs on there than I will ever need!

I MISS Radio Shack!

[Chip Gelmini]

For those who don't know I just tried radioshack.com. Apparently they're making some kind of a come back.....

[Ed Gordon]

For those who don't know I just tried radioshack.com. Apparently they're making some kind of a come back.....

There are still stores in limited locations. I have not been to one in years. I searched to see when the catalogs were discontinued, and came across radioshackcatalogs.com. The last catalog was published 12 years ago. The website has all the old catalogs available to browse online.

[Steve Klare]

I saw this sign up in Skagway, Alaska last Summer:
.

It was false advertising!

They were selling very expensive sweaters knit from Alpaca, or Polar Bear....or something! 😉

[Graham Ritchie]

Jaycar is just round the corner from my favorite record/dvd/blu-ray and anything else store . I bought a 12 volt relay from Jaycar a few years ago and after wiring things up, it did not work I took it back to them, they tested, it works fine mmmmm then the penny dropped I had applied 12 volts AC, the relay was DC I said to the sales person about a 12 volt DC supply, why don't you use a bridge rectifier instead he said?, good idea, so for the total cost of $4 dollars I bought one how do I wire it up? he got a piece of paper and described to me how to do it. I got home and did what he suggested and bingo it worked. I call into that store every so often, they have a lot of electronic bits and pieces, a very handy place and popular to.

[Steve Klare]

Graham,

You were lucky to find somebody so well informed!

I asked a clerk at the local Radio Shack if they had power transistors once.

-he said "I dunno, but we have these great radio-control poodles!"

(Two weeks earlier the guy was selling vacuum cleaners!)

There were all these bins of electronic components in the back of the store: the people up at the register usually left it to the customer to know what they were.

-the bad thing is without the 'Shack there anymore, the best I can do is order on-line and automatically get shipping charges and a couple of days delay!

So Long Radio Shack!

[Janice Glesser]

With help from Steve Klare I too was able to set up a small mixer to feed a stereo signal to a sound bar and subwoofer. It was a simple setup and the hi-fi sound fills the entire room. The film projector output sounds as good as my digital projector output. I guess this is more of an old and new technology combo system.

[Ken Finch]

There used to be a version of Radio Shack here in the U K , I have forgotten its name, but it used to stock the same gear, but closed many years ago. We also have Maplin but that is also now mail order only and does not appear to have such a range of items of use to us as previously. Fortunately we still have Radio Spares,mail order for most replacement components. I also route the output of sound projectors via a small Realistic stereo disco mixer to my Audio Video amplifier which does have the knobs as well as a remote control, but it quite old now but very versatile. It is a Yamaha DSP A5 model. Incidentally I have picked up quite a a few usefull bits and pieces in the past from car boot fairs and junk/ antique shops or charity shops.Hopefully, my Yamaha will see me out! Ken Finch.😊

[Brian Fretwell]

I'm pretty sure that in the UK Radio Shack was branded as Tandy, I often shopped at one near me.

[Steve Klare]

Yes,

-and "Tandy" was their Corporate name and also one of their brand-names here. If I remember right, calculators were sold as Tandy. If it was something like a component, it was sold as "Radio Shack". Larger items, particularly ones associated with things like Citizen Band radio and TV antennas were often "Archer". Audio systems were "Realistic". These were pretty low-end, but for many a teenager, this was the very first stereo system you had in your room! (Mine was a Realistic cassette player plugged into their 8-Track player/Amplifier because I didn't own any 8-Tracks!)

Their Personal Computer was TRS-80 (Tandy Radio Shack, Z80 processor).

I've heard it said that a big part of the downfall of Radio Shack was that as soon as you got a smart-phone, more than half the functionality they sold was now together in one tiny package you could put in your pocket.