I just restored two of these and they sound astounding. I have vintage 1965 Sansui and 1966 Fisher ..love those east and west sounding amp. The ST120 belongs to the professional receiver in my catergory. So I hook it up to my music room and match it to AR speaker. Although the room have lots of latest digital amps...I still adore the sound of pure analog..just can't let it go.
@@vintageaudioreview actually the way to use it is to push from the bottom using the fore finger , so it goes up in sync when voluming up. To lower use the pinky finger into the cutout wedge between the two controls to slide it downward... Then you become a pro!
I have a Realistic 120B that my dad bought new around 1973. I have since bought 2 more. Restored all 3 of them. I have restored 4 or 5 Marantz and a slew of Pioneers, Yamahas, Sherwoods, McIntosh as well as others, None sound any better then the 120B. Certainly as good as in different ways. The "color" of the sound on the 120B is just fantastic, Some of the others are just to clean for my taste. Sterile sounding with the Marantz especially. I prefer the Fisher 400 Tube sound second to my 120B's. BTW: The power I measured on all 3 was 35wpc-Plenty loud to light up the "quad" at NCSU in 1980. These receivers are under rated and can be had at a descent price for the quality of sound. Some say they were built by Sansui.
I appreciate your taking the time to share your experience with the receivers you have restored. I had a Fisher 400 and sold it several years ago before the prices folks were asking were on the high side. I have not heard too many vintage receivers that did not sound pretty good, other than low level hum/hiss. Not sure who built the Radio Shack STA120a or b...
@@vintageaudioreview I agree 100% with you. Every vintage set that I have had on my bench has sounded really good after servicing and cleaning up. I have an old pair of Nova10's that - to me, match up pretty good with any of them. I enjoy your vids
@@marshallm967 I appreciate the feedback for sure. "Nova 10" brings back a memory from the Radioshack catalogs we all had.. Not sure if my buddy has any more Radioshack gear....
I owned this receiver back in the day when I was in college. The sound quality was terrible. As I recall the RMS power listed buried in the specs was only 45 watts per channel. My opinion was it was very dirty power- it even blew out the tweeters in my speakers at not that loud volume. I ended up junking it and replacing it with a Marantz 2245 receiver- same 45 watts/ channel. The difference in sound quality was quite evident- it was quieter and smoother. I owned that receiver for over 40 years. Sorry to disagree with your analysis but I couldn’t recommend this unit new- much less used. If you are looking for a vintage receiver I would look elsewhere. 😀
Thanks so much for taking the time to comment with your experience with the STA-120. You should have kept the Marantz- they are coveted as you know and would be better than the STA in quality and looks. I listen to a lot of gear, at least something different once a week, and I stand by my recommendation of the STA120. They put out 30w/8ohms which may not have been enough to drive your speakers at the time and damaged the tweeter.....
@@vintageaudioreview I regret getting rid of the Maranatz but it was having a problem in one channel and I didn’t think people repaired them that old. I used it as a preamp with my McIntosh 2205 amp for 30 years and it sounded great. I’m sure you have a wider experience base than I do , but I wanted to share my personal experiences with that receiver. I look forward to other reviews.
@@dpwrightjr109 I enjoying hearing people's experiences with the gear I review. Finding places that work on the old gear is harder to do these days. At least the preamp section of the Marantz was working correctly so you could drive the 2205. You have good taste. Most of the vintage receivers I listen to sound just fine, other than low level hum or hiss. I think my friend has it for sale on the Tucson Craigslist...unless he decided to keep it.
@@vintageaudioreview Thanks for the info. Since I retired I decided to update my stereo and put together a system with McIntosh CD/ DAC, preamp and amp and Sonus Faber speakers. They sound terrific and I can still listen to old recordings comfortably without the brittleness of some modern equipment. Although I must admit I sometimes miss the old school sound of vintage.
@@dpwrightjr109 Nice to be retired, isn't it! Can't go wrong with McIntosh, IMHO. I have never been impressed with Sonus Faber, though I think my friend had an older bookshelf pair that sounded good the other week when I heard them.
I just don't buy these monetary statistics.,.$2100?? I bought a pair of B&w speakers for 600 when I was a teenager. It didn't feel like i spent $3000!!! Lol
Thanks for the comment. I believe you could see the price in the original ad for this and I put the amount into the Inflation calculator, and it said it would be $2100 in today's money. It seemed like a lot to me. Hopefully you still have your B&W's.
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I just restored two of these and they sound astounding. I have vintage 1965 Sansui and 1966 Fisher ..love those east and west sounding amp.
The ST120 belongs to the professional receiver in my catergory. So I hook it up to my music room and match it to AR speaker.
Although the room have lots of latest digital amps...I still adore the sound of pure analog..just can't let it go.
I thought it had a nice sound- just don't like the balance/volume control situation. Glad you are keeping these older receivers around.
@@vintageaudioreview actually the way to use it is to push from the bottom using the fore finger , so it goes up in sync when voluming up. To lower use the pinky finger into the cutout wedge between the two controls to slide it downward... Then you become a pro!
@@essentialknowhow3752 Sounds like you figured it out. From a measurement standpoint it is nicer than having a balance control
@@vintageaudioreview agree...eliminates it effectively
I have a Realistic 120B that my dad bought new around 1973. I have since bought 2 more. Restored all 3 of them. I have restored 4 or 5 Marantz and a slew of Pioneers, Yamahas, Sherwoods, McIntosh as well as others, None sound any better then the 120B. Certainly as good as in different ways. The "color" of the sound on the 120B is just fantastic, Some of the others are just to clean for my taste. Sterile sounding with the Marantz especially. I prefer the Fisher 400 Tube sound second to my 120B's. BTW: The power I measured on all 3 was 35wpc-Plenty loud to light up the "quad" at NCSU in 1980. These receivers are under rated and can be had at a descent price for the quality of sound. Some say they were built by Sansui.
I appreciate your taking the time to share your experience with the receivers you have restored. I had a Fisher 400 and sold it several years ago before the prices folks were asking were on the high side. I have not heard too many vintage receivers that did not sound pretty good, other than low level hum/hiss. Not sure who built the Radio Shack STA120a or b...
@@vintageaudioreview I agree 100% with you. Every vintage set that I have had on my bench has sounded really good after servicing and cleaning up. I have an old pair of Nova10's that - to me, match up pretty good with any of them. I enjoy your vids
@@marshallm967 I appreciate the feedback for sure. "Nova 10" brings back a memory from the Radioshack catalogs we all had.. Not sure if my buddy has any more Radioshack gear....
Built by Hitachi. Sansui made nothing for Radio Shack.
Thanks clearing that up. Poor memory got me again. Too much very loud music and accessories!
I owned this receiver back in the day when I was in college. The sound quality was terrible. As I recall the RMS power listed buried in the specs was only 45 watts per channel. My opinion was it was very dirty power- it even blew out the tweeters in my speakers at not that loud volume. I ended up junking it and replacing it with a Marantz 2245 receiver- same 45 watts/ channel. The difference in sound quality was quite evident- it was quieter and smoother. I owned that receiver for over 40 years. Sorry to disagree with your analysis but I couldn’t recommend this unit new- much less used. If you are looking for a vintage receiver I would look elsewhere. 😀
Thanks so much for taking the time to comment with your experience with the STA-120. You should have kept the Marantz- they are coveted as you know and would be better than the STA in quality and looks. I listen to a lot of gear, at least something different once a week, and I stand by my recommendation of the STA120. They put out 30w/8ohms which may not have been enough to drive your speakers at the time and damaged the tweeter.....
@@vintageaudioreview I regret getting rid of the Maranatz but it was having a problem in one channel and I didn’t think people repaired them that old. I used it as a preamp with my McIntosh 2205 amp for 30 years and it sounded great. I’m sure you have a wider experience base than I do , but I wanted to share my personal experiences with that receiver. I look forward to other reviews.
@@dpwrightjr109 I enjoying hearing people's experiences with the gear I review. Finding places that work on the old gear is harder to do these days. At least the preamp section of the Marantz was working correctly so you could drive the 2205. You have good taste. Most of the vintage receivers I listen to sound just fine, other than low level hum or hiss. I think my friend has it for sale on the Tucson Craigslist...unless he decided to keep it.
@@vintageaudioreview Thanks for the info. Since I retired I decided to update my stereo and put together a system with McIntosh CD/ DAC, preamp and amp and Sonus Faber speakers. They sound terrific and I can still listen to old recordings comfortably without the brittleness of some modern equipment. Although I must admit I sometimes miss the old school sound of vintage.
@@dpwrightjr109 Nice to be retired, isn't it! Can't go wrong with McIntosh, IMHO. I have never been impressed with Sonus Faber, though I think my friend had an older bookshelf pair that sounded good the other week when I heard them.
I just don't buy these monetary statistics.,.$2100?? I bought a pair of B&w speakers for 600 when I was a teenager. It didn't feel like i spent $3000!!! Lol
Thanks for the comment. I believe you could see the price in the original ad for this and I put the amount into the Inflation calculator, and it said it would be $2100 in today's money. It seemed like a lot to me. Hopefully you still have your B&W's.