Price Check: Realistic QT-770 Four Channel Stereomax Receiver and matching Realistic Optimus-9 Speakers

[chalon]

Hi all,

 

I'm helping my parents clean up some of their old gear and am seeking some advice as to what it is actually worth.  

 

https://www.hifiengine.com/manual_library/realistic/qta-770.shtml

 

https://www.radioshackcatalogs.com/flipbook/1976_radioshack_catalog.html - Page 32 

 

They look to be in excellent condition.  I wiped the dust off them to take these photos.  Sorry - I can't seem to work out how to get them the right way round either!

 

It seems one of the backlights has gone, but apart from that it looks great.  Surrounds on the drivers all look fine to me as well.  

 

I tried to do some digging around to see what they're worth, but they must be quite rare as I haven't found any decent info on it!  I thought I'd ask here to see if anyone has some intel one what I could realistically expect to fetch before actually listing them.

 

Thanks.  Hope everyone is staying safe!

[chalon]

OK, I found a possible point of comparison to perhaps help open up discussion.

 

Another 4 channel stereo amp in excellent condition:

 

https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/mulgrave/radios-receivers/akai-as-1070-vintage-4-channel-quadraphonic-receiver-70wpc/1278281220

 

It seems the Realistic was the top of the line back in its day.  

[Guest Old Man Rubber]

1 hour ago, chalon said:

OK, I found a possible point of comparison to perhaps help open up discussion.

 

Another 4 channel stereo amp in excellent condition:

 

https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/mulgrave/radios-receivers/akai-as-1070-vintage-4-channel-quadraphonic-receiver-70wpc/1278281220

 

It seems the Realistic was the top of the line back in its day.  

Hmm.

 

It's a bit hard to tell with Tandy / Rat shack gear.  On one hand, serious Hi Fi collectors of 1970s stuff would crawl over 200 Realistic receivers to get to a single Sansui.  On the other hand, The Tandy corp never made anything themselves so relied on 3rd parties to supply everything and occasionally they sold some really nice gear.  Occasionally.

 

The best market for this kind of gear is Tandy/Radio Shack collectors.  They are definitely out there.  My honest opinion is that the speakers aren't worth much (say $75-$100) and the receiver in working order is probably a $100-$200 item on a good day.

 

You'd think the quadraphonic stuff had collector value but it doesn't seem to command any kind of premium any more - pretty much everybody who wanted a quadraphonic receiver has likely got one and the rest of us who like the sound/aesthetic of affordable, classic 1970s hi-fi  would rather a high quality japanese stereo receiver or amp from that era with a brand name on it i.e. Onkyo, Luxman, Sony, Hitachi, japanese Marantz etc.  The Akai you linked to is a much higher quality item than the Realistic although personally I think he's asking 2-3x what it's worth.

 

edit:  That Realistic receiver is a CD-4, not strictly Quadraphonic, so it's a niche within a niche and the vinyl that was encoded that way is not very common and the playback equipment required is going to be extremely hard to find.  AFAIK needs a special turntable cartridge as the surround channels are encoded in high frequencies.  

Edited July 25, 2021 by Old Man Rubber

[chalon]

8 hours ago, Old Man Rubber said:

Hmm.

 

It's a bit hard to tell with Tandy / Rat shack gear.  On one hand, serious Hi Fi collectors of 1970s stuff would crawl over 200 Realistic receivers to get to a single Sansui.  On the other hand, The Tandy corp never made anything themselves so relied on 3rd parties to supply everything and occasionally they sold some really nice gear.  Occasionally.

 

The best market for this kind of gear is Tandy/Radio Shack collectors.  They are definitely out there.  My honest opinion is that the speakers aren't worth much (say $75-$100) and the receiver in working order is probably a $100-$200 item on a good day.

 

You'd think the quadraphonic stuff had collector value but it doesn't seem to command any kind of premium any more - pretty much everybody who wanted a quadraphonic receiver has likely got one and the rest of us who like the sound/aesthetic of affordable, classic 1970s hi-fi  would rather a high quality japanese stereo receiver or amp from that era with a brand name on it i.e. Onkyo, Luxman, Sony, Hitachi, japanese Marantz etc.  The Akai you linked to is a much higher quality item than the Realistic although personally I think he's asking 2-3x what it's worth.

 

edit:  That Realistic receiver is a CD-4, not strictly Quadraphonic, so it's a niche within a niche and the vinyl that was encoded that way is not very common and the playback equipment required is going to be extremely hard to find.  AFAIK needs a special turntable cartridge as the surround channels are encoded in high frequencies.  

 

Thanks for your input Dave.  It seems these are quite rare so having feedback from someone with experience such as yourself is much appreciated!

[Guest Old Man Rubber]

12 hours ago, chalon said:

 

Thanks for your input Dave.  It seems these are quite rare so having feedback from someone with experience such as yourself is much appreciated!

No worries - it's kind of a pity that the old Radio Shack stuff has a limited market because it's high on the "fun to have" scale for those with the room to display/use it.  I've often thought it would be fun to have a big, fake 1970s/1980s stereo store setup complete with brown carpeted display shelves and an audition switching system but I just haven't got the room.  There would definitely be at least 1 Radio Shack receiver in those plans 

 

The US has a stronger collector scene for those kinds of things.  Ebay would probably be the best bet to find a buyer I would think although you could try advertising here and see who jumps out of the woodwork.