Realistic SA-2001 and TM-1001 (2024)

This past weekend I spotted on CL this matching pair. These are very elusive, not showing up too often on eBay and certainly not on CL. They were made only one year, but had really good specs, particularly for their price point.

I'd read about them several times online, many good posts. I read on FMTuner that the TM-1001, when updated and adjusted, could rival a TX-9500II. Not bad for a "low budget" tuner.

This is from the RS catalogs. I'll post images later.

http://www.radioshackcatalogs.com/html/1979/h016.html
http://www.radioshackcatalogs.com/html/1979/h017.html

I just hooked these up last night, replacing my STA-2500 (owned since new) and was shocked. I restored a pair of Bose 601 II and had a Pioneer SX-680 running them, but felt the bass was lacking, mostly due to other posts suggesting the bass should be impressive. I swapped in the STA-2500 and noted some improvement, but still not satisfied. I have to confess I'm spoiled at this point due to Pioneer DSS9, which have become my favorite speakers. After firing up the tuner things seemed better, but odd since I've never noted too much difference just from a tuner. So played an LP, sure enough there was more bottom end, but the mid and top end didn't suffer for this. Next came a CD, Nickleback. This has become one of my favorite test CD's since this really gives me a solid idea of bass response and "power" from a speaker system. The improvement was amazing. While the bass would impress most people they still didn't have the "authority" of the DSS9, but that's perfectly OK since they are truly in a league of their own.

I really need to clean the amp and tuner, inside and out. I'll post images after doing so. Mostly the pots and switches are stiff, so they need a good cleaning.

I only paid $80 for the combo and it's worth every penny, and then some. I'd say these are flying under the radar. Not just good, but damn hard to come by.

Pretty neat stuff. Have never seen them before. Thanks for sharing.

I think you got them for a great price as well.

Rob

markdi said:

I have the amp
maybe some day I will find the matching tuner

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I'm figuring that by the time RS introduced these the market was already moving away from "separates". This is not to say that separates were no longer a good thing, but rather the consumer market as a whole shifted, as it always does with technology. This might be why they were sold only one year. RS was very quick to identify a "dog" and remove from the line up. Obviously this gear isn't bad, since mine is nearly 40 years old and playing well. Just bad timing.

So, with that said, it's no surprise you don't come across more of them.

I need to fix the "Stereo" indicator lamp in the tuner. The meters don't appear to be fully functional either, but I only messed with the tuner very briefly. Had no problem bringing in my favorite station and with no antenna. All my receivers, if I recall correctly, needed an antenna to lock in the station or produce decent sound. This tuner did so with ease it seems. Can't wait to hook up an antenna.

old 2080 said:

i have the earlier sa-2000, i need to play around with it more as i wasn't too overly impressed when the first, and only time i hooked it up, maybe i just need to find the right speaker combo for it............

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Specs are really close, if you go by the catalogs. One thing for sure, these are NOT light. This amp weighs almost as much as my Pioneer SX-880! With the tuner the combo weighs more than the 880, easily. And rated about the same for wpc. Nice to know they are solidly built and not light weights.