A speaker review video that actually makes sense
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- Опубликовано: 31 июл 2024
- Most speaker review videos are actually a review of your speakers, since that's what you're listening to them through. But by setting the bar lower, this one gives you a fair shot at actually hearing an accurate representation of what this pair of speakers sound like: a Newtron external speaker (also sold under numerous brand names as a CB radio speaker), and a Realistic weatherproof indoor/outdoor speaker, both from the 1990s.
Time flow:
0:00 Introduction
1:18 Newtron speaker
7:21 Realistic speaker
12:27 Conclusion
#speaker #audio #cassette 
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The sound those type of speakers produce gave me memories of a Doctors waiting room, or the reception at the principals office, and even my old man's workshop garage. What a trip
I read that as "Doctor Who's waiting room".
As a kid I used to rip speakers out of a pair of over-ear headphones, and put them in custom made wood enclosures.I was amazed by how much of a difference that made. Like, they actually sounded pretty good as speakers, of course as long as you didn't crank the volume.
Cardboard, glue and some pillow stuffing with a set of salvaged drivers could make some impressive stuff. Fun times.
I did this with a pair of drivers from a set of Realistic "NOVA 10"s! I thought I was the only one that did this! LOL!
11:22 I know that CD! That’s the demonstration disc that came with the Bose acoustic wave music systems in the early 2000s.
That entire disc, in particular that track was mastered in such a way that it sounds good on just about everything you play it back on…but you can tell that it was mastered to play on the strengths of the particular system, while not highlighting any of the weaknesses.
That Newtron speaker just shows that small 4 inch speakers used as external jobs (last kind I had was part of an old Nokia GSM carphone I salvaged out of a wrecked HGV) have not really gotten worse over time, they're just as terrible today as they were back when it was new... :P
The sound sample at 7:00 is so nostalgic... It reminds me of how audio used to sound back in the day
do you know which track it is off the album
I'm surprised by how realistic that speaker looks, it even works just like a real one, so it's hard to believe it's not a real speaker.
Yes it's so surprising
The realistic speaker appears to be a ported enclosure with the "port" being the cavity behind it when wall mounted. Clever design.
Wonderful video! I can vastly tell the difference between the difference in quality of sound between these two speakers. Your channel gives me a warm fuzzy feeling.
If you'd be interested in doing a teardown comparison of the Newtron vs. one of the modern lookalikes I'd be glad to cover the cost of sending you one for dissection!
Another quality vwestlife video to wind down after a long day. Thanks Kevin! ❤
9:35 "That vent in the back" - Marketing would call that a MEGA BASS PORTAL nowadays. Also, I was 14 when that '95 RS catalog was new and pretty much memorized it. Those were the days.
The scanner probably had a resistor (33 ohms to 100 ohms) in series with the ground (ring) terminal of the connector so headphone users did not have to hear the gain of the amplifier, and potentially damage their hearing.
4:48 80's corporate motivational music. ALWAYS BE CLOSING!
"Put the coffee down! Coffee is for closers"
It would have been interesting to see the driver in the Realistic speaker enclosure. I thought that it might have a plastic cone, given the ability to use it outdoors. The Realistic model could definitely be a good speaker for a small background music/PA system.
Unfortunately I couldn't see any non-destructive way to open the case of the Realistic speaker.
@@vwestlife I d love to see if the magnet was AlNiCo as advertised it the early revision. I guess not, tho
Man... That equipment brings me back... I worked at Radio Shack from '94 to '99 and sold many of those indoor/outdoor speakers. Bought a few myself for the pool yard at my parents house so my brother's and I could listen to the radio while we swam. I miss the old catalog days too. Many hours drooling over my next obsession lol.
"Jerry and I aren't going to Europe, what with all the terrorists!"
Whaaah?
They were probably referring to Pan Am Flight 103: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_Am_Flight_103
I noticed the comment, too. It sounded to me as if the author was getting ready to dispell the belief that the number of terrorists in Europe at the time was large by delving into a mathematically comparison, but then he shifted gears. I wonder if the analysis appeared elsewhere in the he book or tape.
We need the whole thing .... For context!
It's an example of reading something in the news and not fully understanding things like the probability of the plane you happen to be on getting hijacked/blown up.
As "vintage" as it is, your Realistic PRO-2023 is still very much a useable scanner in the City of Pittsburgh. The City Police, Fire and EMS comms are all unencrypted UHF-FM except for SWAT. And they only use 12 channels! (You would STILL have some spare "slots" for your favorite suburbs) Source: My Sister uses her PRO-2023 daily We both live in the City, and while I am a radio nerd and have more "powerful" scanners, I can say she is NOT "under gunned" for local commercial free entertainment!
The realistic speaker sounded pretty good. If Crosley made a record player with those types of drivers instead of those tiny things they currently use, those portables would sound a whole lot better.
they also need a more powerful and better IC amp or not lock it at a set volume on max volume.
@@pyeltd.5457 Honestly, I don't feel they need a more powerful amp. You'd be surprised at how much sound you can get out of a one-watt (ish) amplifier. It boils down to the speakers.
I've experimented with driving a cheap set of thrift-store bookshelf speakers using the amp board inside a Crosley Cruiser Plus; it actually does get fairly loud.
If you're comparing speakers, you'll find that generally, larger speakers are more efficient than smaller ones of otherwise similar specs. Not ALWAYS true, but it is a good rule of thumb.
I'm not going to bs anyone and make claims of shakin the rafters, but it was plenty loud for something that's essentially portable - and there was much better bass response, too. It sounded RESPECTABLE, far more so than I ever expected a Crosley to sound.
I should be completely truthful, though - the Cruiser Plus I was playing with was a 12V model, and a lot of newer units run on a 5V wall wart. 5v would mean the amp is working with a fair bit less power than the 12V model.
I love those nostalgic and corny audio recordings that you tested these speakers with!
Another use for that speaker having the 3.5 plug end is with a transistor radio. The larger speaker would make it more suitable for listening to the radio at your desk or something.
You sure bring back the memories. Had the first speaker connected to my CB. Worked at Radio Shack and sold the Realistic one, as well as that amp. And had that CD player in my pickup, together with a shock dampening tray and a cassette adaptor. Those were the days.
That Realistic speaker was indeed very impressive. I guess it would sound even better in a proper wood enclosure.
That said, it could make a great little desktop system assuming one could not only find one but 2 of those.
These kind of reviews are highly influenced by the listening equipment of the listener and the recording device used, you demonstrated that very clearly. I am listening on rather big speakers and found it helpful that you compared two similar speakers, made it much easier to judge how they might actually sound.
I use such a speaker in the car connected to a 2 meter band radio, instead of the original Yaesu speaker, I definitely recommend it.
Radio Shack made some really good speakers . I replaced the speakers in my boom box with a pair of them and the sound improved dramatically.
I recently used bracketed indoor/ outdoor speakers (not these models) to wall mount by my head in bedroom because I am deaf in one ear and had trouble understanding/hearing the TV in bed. I needed the adjustable bracket feature so I can direct both speakers toward my one working ear. It allows me to hear TV again at a normal volume.
I've seen a similar speaker like the second one in a plaza with stores and shops when I was a kid back in the 80s. The speaker was playing Rhythm Nation by Janet Jackson. Probably on the radio, I don't remember.
What better than using a realistic amp to drive a realistic speaker.
That Sony Discman was my first portable CD player.
Yes on the cassette selections
That first type of speaker is also good if your radio is trunk-mounted with only the control head up front, but the speaker is on the body of the radio.
What kind of radios are like that?
I mean like a 2 way radio. A lot of cheaper ones and some good name brand ones are set up like that if you remove the control head.@@agy234
@@agy234 Modern mobile ham radio transceivers from Yaesu, Icom, Kenwood, etc. Probably other two-way radios as well but I'm not familiar enough to point you towards them.
@@agy234 The Motorola two way radio in the mining truck I drive is exactly that, and has a dashboard mounted speaker just like the first one in the video. Radio is mounted behind the driver in the space between the seat and pickup tray as there is no room on the dashboard for it. Only the control panel (which just has volume and channel control / readout on it), microphone, and the speaker are mounted up front.
Try putting a little acoustic wadding in these loudspeaker enclosures, I think you will find them a lot less “boxy” sounding! :)
I had/have that exact Magnavox cassette player somewhere however I’m certain it was not Magnavox branded over here in the UK.
I don’t believe it ever played music and was used purely for loading cassette games into my ZX Spectrum!
Thanks for an unexpected blast from the past for me!
Love your CB! I've got an old TRC 580 in my car. Managed to get it new old stock in a pristine RadioShack box. Never let me down and it matches that dull Grey 90s car interior molding
That Newtron speaker 🔊 has an IMPRESSIVE, JUMBO sized speaker magnet 🧲. Your friend, Jeff.
That casette about innumeracy sounds super fun.
Those realistic speakers were great for communications and scanners. Had a couple of them back in the day.
3:23 The irony of that scanners model is that your reviewing it in 2023!
Great review! Love the sound samples you chose too.
I used to own one of those Radio Shack Realistic Indoor/Outdoor speakers back around 1990. I seem to remember the sound quality being OK but definitely not high fidelity.
That Anders Enger Jensen cassette sounds like a '90s adult film soundtrack.
My dad had a Realistic one very similar to the Newtron one, but it had a softish foamish cover on it, and he had it mounted in the car under the dashboard right near his CB. Made the CB way more audible in the car! I only know this because years later when he stopped moving the mounting bracket and connectors out of each car we bought, he gave me the CB and the speaker and I had it set up in my bedroom because I was a giant freakin' nerd :)
My dad used to beat me when I used the cb radio at night. Sounds like you had a great time!
I very much enjoy the amplified version of the speaker you showed in the blue box. There's an old Radio Shack version of that speaker that comes with built-in amplifier with auto power on/off... So you can connect any audio source you want to it. But they are hard to find though.
I love the part when he went like: I reject your audio reviews and substitute my own.
The Newtron sounds the way it looks. The realistic sounded pretty good for what it is. I bought some cheap monoprice Atmos speakers for like $30 for the pair. They sounded like maybe 40 bucks. So I picked up 4 Dayton audio 3½ inch full range drivers for like 5 bucks each to replace the drivers. They sound great. They're a nice form factor. I wanted to play around with Atmos on the cheap. Klipsch floor standing at $650 each just wasn't in the experimental budget. 😂
I bought a pair of Dual branded outdoor speakers on Amazon that sound very similar to the Realistic speaker. They have been mounted on our patio for years. Like you said, they are not high fidelity but they sound much better than I expected and they are crazy durable.
Newtron is an incredible brand name.
I remember selling that Realistic speaker when I worked at RadioShack! Also, did anyone else notice that random line “I’m not going to Europe. There’s too many terrorists there”, on the Dyscalculia tape.🤔😱
I noticed, gave me a chuckle.
I always love your avant garde demo tapes hehe.
great video bud
THANK YOU FOR SAYING THIS. It annoys the shit out of me when these videos transition to "Now let's see what they sound like!"
I would love to find one of those Realistic speakers for use in my back yard!
Oh, the memories of Radio Shack...
Your premise makes total sense, but our brains are amazing devices.
I’m watching your videos on an old iPhone.
My first thought was to run get a known reasonable set of headphones to listen to your video on, as would be typical.
Yet, just using the built in tiny phone speaker, I was totally able to hear the differences in sound between your two test speakers, and even the differences in your two microphones.
We can somehow accommodate and listen through an inferior system to hear differences in tonality we would not expect to hear. I can’t explain why.
The only limitations might be that I could never hear the bass differences in two full range HiFi speakers in their bottom octaves, but the overall tone of both of these speakers was readily apparent.
Ur voice sounds just fine on any mic 😊 clear and articulate
Years ago I mounted couple of those larger 6 1/2 radioshack outdoor speakers on my family's deck !
My grandfather used to have a CB radio (and a Mack truck air horn) in his Toyota Corona. I wish he had kept the Corona, it was in MINT condition in the mid-80s, it'd be worth a small fortune now... Anyway, the Realistic external speaker he had plugged into that CB was given to me (with its handy 8" cord, thanks Grandpa!). I plugged it into the headphone jack of a mono Emerson boombox I had and the sound was... Well, better than the internal speaker, but clearly the external speaker was designed to be more responsive to spoken word than music. Which was, I believe, the original purpose - for CB and Fire/EMS/Police radios, since they often had little 2" (sometimes even smaller) speakers and when you have a stack of scanners bolted together in a rack, the internal speakers get muffled by the adjacent units.
One major thing to note: despite the chunky plastic enclosure, these speakers are NOT magnetically-shielded, so of course keep them away from items sensitive to magnetism: credit cards, CRTs, tape media, floppy discs, etc.
2:32 - The screws that mount the bracket to the speaker would, of course, be either wing-nut style, or knurled-knob style, for ease of installation and adjustment.
3:20 - I'm guessing that scanner is early-to-mid 90s. Let me just say, digital tuning was a huge technological jump for scanners, no more ordering individual crystals for each desired frequency. I think I still have an old Bearcat III still kicking around the house somewhere that runs on crystals; now that everybody uses digital radios it'd only be good for a display piece.
The Realistic Indoor/Outdoor speaker was commonly used for outdoor Muzak/PA at some small businesses. It got the job done.
11:21 - I'm loving the juxtaposition of eras in this shot. Early-90s speaker, mid-90s Discman, and an amp that definitely would feel more at home in the 70s.
12:14 - "Studio Musician Version" of James Taylor?
Nostalgia! I had the Realistic speaker in my Boston Whaler as a kid.
They used to have the speakers similar to these inside and outside the school buses in my school district. A bus drive could literally speak and have their voice be heard from outside the bus. Only ever saw that feature used a handful of times.
Thanks for the video, Kevin.
I remember people putting them outside on their patio or deck (either residential or commercial) for ambient background music ... in a time before it was required to have a grateful dead setup and just having the radio on in the background was good enough
I liked seeing that little Radio Shack amp.
I’ve heard speakers at McDonalds and Dunkins drive-thru’s recently with stunning clarity and resolution.
Who else got warm-and-fuzzies looking through a Radio Shack catalog?
Great video. One must also include the poster's room and contributing. Thanks again!
(First Speaker) , I had one of those from another manufacturer (The name escapes me now), but Radio Shack had a similar model, but with a different sized / looking case (it was slightly larger) under the Realistic name. That sounded much better, in my opinion, with basically the same 4"12W speaker inside.
“Innumeracy” is actually quite an interesting book!
You could have showcased them more tightly back-to-back to drive home the contrast between them even better, but it is a fun comparison already as it is. I am not sure if these would even be on the list of considerations for a contemporary buyer, though.
Ha! I have that newtron.. Well, something that is in a near identical enclosure and style. It works for what I needed it for which is just basic sound from old retro commercials. Being a single speaker, of course it's mono, which is fine, but it only reads 1 channel, so if you have stereo sound it just eats half of it. I swapped out the mono jack for a stereo one that feeds back to a single channel. I guess in hindsight I could have just bought a stereo to mono adapter or converter which would have been fine, but I removed my connector an soldered on a new one.
Great vid!
6:38 I have that amplifier! Neat little thing
That telephone infomercial is awesome! And still accurate 😁
I have one of the Newtron type speakers for my vehicle's CB Radio PA Function under my 2001 4Runner's front fender. It's a decent speaker and it appears to be somewhat weather resistant.
Radio Shack was great back in their heyday. Just seeing that catalog gave me a warm and fuzzy feeling. Kind of like when I was a kid and the Sears Christmas Toy Catalog came out. I remember when I saw the writing on the wall for them. After making several trips to "The Shack" and needing assistance with electronics I would be summarily ignored by the salesperson who was always busy selling a cellphone plan to someone. Happened nearly every time I went in there so I stopped going in. Bankruptcy was good enough for 'em.
I have that exact same Realistic PRO-2020 scanner. I get all of my local police/fire with it without issue. I am using it on the upper floor of my home so that probably helps.
Always interesting.
oh man i have one in the box like that, the CB looking kind from realistic
Honest question about evaluating speakers, especially when comparing two of them. Could you compare the direct digital waveform of a piece of music/tones against the waveform captured by a mic pointed at the speakers? I know it would be different, but when comparing speakers wouldn't it mean something if one matched the source more closely than the other?
This speaker really spoke to me…
Have a few of those Newtron speakers, but they are Philips branded and 4 ohms.
Originally sold with 2 way radios back in the 80's, they still sound good with voice radio traffic now.
Realistic rules! Long live the Minimus 7! (and Minimus 7W)
Was kind of hoping for yacht rock recordings played over the Realistic speaker on a rocking yacht in the rain.
Dang the quality compared between the two is drastic.
"It doesn't have to be this way..." Sounds like ol' George is being held hostage
I recognize the demo CD used on the Realistic speaker. That’s a Bose Acoustic Wave demo CD from the early 90s.
Radio Shack made excellent products back in the day. I have some Optimus indoor/outdoor speakers that have sounded great for 30 years. People never thought of their products as high-end back then, but they have lasted and lasted. That is why you see radio shack products still around in good condition today.
Long live Radio Shack! The Realistic speaker sounded so much better!
Some cool speakers - actually not bad sound considering the casing. Was imagining more of a tinny sound, only good for voice.
The housing on the Newtron speaker looks the same as a Radio Shack (labeled as such, not “Realistic”) that I use for my Amateur radio.
0:17 don't forget the room + positioning etc etc 😜
7:50 When the pyschodelic jams.
such a beautiful sound for realistic; honeslty!
anders popularity escape!
A couple of those Realistic speakers on the side of the house hooked up to a stereo would be perfect for a garden party. (If I had a garden)
10:15, That "Innumeracy" book is actually a pretty good book about learning/teaching mathematics. Recommend to any math teachers or others interested.
All that realistic gear was good , especially the Japan made stuff 👍
reminds me of the crappy beige pc speakers I got free with something. they sound alright but I never turn them on as the volume is stuck at max and they don't sound that good plus there is humming and phone interference. however I fixed the volume dial and to my surprise the actual speakers inside are made by nakamichi!
I had a Realistic cassette recorder made in Malaysia in 1977. So the speaker could be from the late 70s or the 80s.
I'm impressed with the actual speaker in the Newtron. And yeah, It would be OK for a scanner or some mobile two-way radio. TBF since it has a mounting bracket that is the intended use case. The Realistic one though, WAS meant for casual music listening, (like for pool side) so it HAD to sound better than a speaker for "comms". I worked for Radio Shack Wayyy back in the early 80s. We also sold external speakers for mobile two-way radios (CB/HAM) that came with the mounting bracket. Such speakers were designed to be best at voice frequencies and would SUCK for music. So BOTH of the speakers pass for their uses! 👍👍
Exactly, for two way radio you don't want the low stuff like diesel rumble or high hissing noises coming through. A speaker that sounds good for music would sound worse for two way use than a speaker that only lets voice frequencies be reproduced.
@@ejholden8851 👍👍 Yeppers, good buddy!
Does that Newtron⚡speaker's label still have the protective film on it?
Forgive me if it was a trick of the light.
Oh wow! I think I had that issue of Stereo Review! 😆
Upgrade ideas for both speakers:
1. Change out the actual drivers for better drivers
2. Add passive radiators
3. Both
Damn i miss those RadioShack catalogs!
Found a pair of small brand X speakers at Goodwill a while back for $6.99. Actual hardboard cabinet and vinyl contact paper finish, foam surround 6.5" speakers and small dome tweeters. Press clip for speaker wires, nominal 8 ohms. For seven bucks they sound amazing. Not HiFi audio amazing, but far, far better than you'd think. They get used for various audio hijinks down in the man cave.
I'm curious about the INNUMERACY cassette, is it archived anywhere?
(and yes, I did read through all the comments to make sure this question wasn't previously answered)
It's an audiobook version of a book available online in the usual places. Originally published in, like late 80s. Most recent edition seems to be 2001? But not seeing a currently "in print" audiobook however.
The realistic one is for the old school 6v alarm systems with a siren driver...the neutron was a cb add on for your vehicle
These were also used for background music
I love this week video this speaker looks very plasticky but yeah I love videos about speakers very interesting for a cheaply made speaker lol