I have brand new, sealed in the box, set of machone liquid cooled, my brother stored them and an entire component system sealed in boxes for 27 years; he passed and I found them. We anyone like to purchase the entire system?

In 1981 I bought my dream stereo system at Radio Shack. I bought the STA-2300 reciever and bought 2 Mach ones to take home and put 2 more on layaway and brought them home later. My first set were later vintage because they had the springed spkr terminals and my layaway set were demo models with the screw to secure the spkr wires.
I always thought the Machs weren't bright enough so I always ended up running the eq up high on the top end. As a result I ended up frying the tweeters on the spring terminal set and couldn't find a replacement. So I ended up with a realistic replacement dual piezo tweeter for both spkrs and had to modify the Machs for it to fit. I thought the piezo tweeter degraded the sound of the Mach because piezo's sound brash and harsh and are not as good as compression drive tweeters.
Over the years the spring terminal set has the foam surround deteriorating badly but the screw terminal earlier set is still in great shape, The spring terminal set has speaker grilles made of smooth material whereas the screw terminl set has grilles that are more fuzzy something like terry cloth.
Using linseed oil on the cabinets keep them shiny and on like new condition.
Back in the 70's alot of people made fun of Realistic audio equipment and didn't take it seriously but Radio Shack carried excellent quality stuff that stands the test of time. I still ise my system daily and even after 35 years of use it is still as good as the day I bought the system.

This is going to be a different twist on a Mach One review....I built my Mach Ones! In 1979 I was in High school and found out I could order from RS National Parts the individual mid-range horns(2), woofers(2) and crossovers(2), plus purchase off the shelf RS bullet tweeters(2) and RS L-pads(4) for less than the cost of 1 Mach one! So I built my own cabinets from quality nine ply Birch plywood and did not put the mid range horn in its own box within the cabinet. This increases the cubic feet of the enclosure fairly significantly and extends the bass response. I have had my home built Mach Ones in storage with large Lawn trash bags over them for over 15 years. My son recently moved out so I now have a man cave and set up an old school Analogue system....McIntosh MX114 tuner/pre-amp, McIntosh MC2105 Amp, Mach Ones, Pioneer PL518 direct drive with Shure V-15 type V-MR and a Marantz 93SE single disk CD. I was shocked to find no foam rot on the first generation 15" woofers after all this time...plus being stored in an out-building with no temp or humidity control! I find they do sound better if elevated off of the carpeted floor by about a foot and located approx 4" from the wall. I put some modern Jazz (Fourplay) in the Marantz and was absolutely blown away by how tight the bass is, how accurate the midrange is on stringed instruments and the shear magnitude and sound pressure these giants can generate at moderate power levels from a good amp is amazing. I am glad I held on to them all this time. BTW if you have not done the math these are 37 years old now!

To be accurate the first generation Mach Ones with the 10 screws in the plate are BETTER in terms of the crossover used and the better non rotting woofer suspension.
The plates crack due to pressure waves caused buy the woofer. Not the amount of screws.
Do the mods on audiokarma and these bad boys will blow you away.

You will spend at least 2 grand to equal the sound of these. They need a quality amp. Vintage. Not the new plastic black mass market crap of today.

I've owned a pair of Radio Shack's 'infamous' Mach One speakers for almost three decades
now and didn't realize that anyone even remembered these old 'heavyweights' from the past.
I worked for the company from 1979-1980 and again from 2001 to 2007. I sold several sets
of the original 4024 version - which were current in the pre-1980's lineup. They were some of
the best speakers I've heard EVER in the under $500(per pair)category, and that includes
Advent/KLH, Altec/JBL consumer models and other top names of that time. When I went
to Japan in 1979, I saw the domestic equivalent of the U.S. model and was just as highly impressed with the sound. The foam surrounds on my 4029 woofers lasted almost 20 years
and then began to crumble. I looked into replacing the woofers with 15 inch JBLs but the cost of the replacements would have been more than I originally paid for the speakers. I had the woofers refoamed but the repair shop couldn't obtain exact original materials so they substituted Cerwin Vega materials - but I wasn't happy with the sound afterward. Before Radio Shack closed out their line of raw replacement speaker drivers, I decided to replace the original 6-ohm woofers(the gold basket ones) with Radio Shack's own 8-ohm 100 watt 15 inch woofers with the polypropylene cones(40-1301a). And now these speakers sound BETTER than they did even NEW with the original woofers! I tweaked my system and ran them for over four hours continuously at 100 watts per channel and they never showed any signs of strain or degradation of sound quality. The only home speakers I've heard since my 'upgrade' that sounded better are audiophile speakers costing five to ten times as much as the Machs originally sold for. I bought my 4029s for $140.00 a piece when Radio Shack was closing out the model from the line and replacing them with the Mach Two(which wasn't anywhere near as good). And the woofer replacements only cost me around $180.00. I'll still be rocking these refurbed 'babies' as long as they last......and they just might even outlast ME!

I just bought the mach ones after searching for the perfect pair on ebay. I have the 4024 model. Sound good? Yeah. Loud? No doubt. Handle extreme power? No question. I do like them however I will be prob one of the only to give a review that may make people question. I have a pair of realistic optimus t110 that no doubt have better sound quality. But let me explain... I installed a tweeter and crossover from the klipsch sb2 model. I matched them with a dayton woofer (reference) and a dayton passive radiator. Sound quality does not compare. My towers have more range by far but do not have the "punch" that the mach ones have. The towers can handle 100 watts rms all day but the mach ones will take that and laugh. All in all.....hapoy that I have them. I use them to jam at extreme levels. I use my t110's when I want a sweet sound that is unmatched. I would put those up against the best. Ive had many models from klipsch and im telling you my t110's are unmatched. So sweet.

Like you need another Mach One review! Mine are of the 4029 type witha 4-ohm woofer. When I got them, someone had replaced the (no doubt ruined) original woofers with some junk and they sounded thin and unremarkable. I found perfect replacements at parts-express.com and put them in. Immediate improvement, but the lower mids still were thin. I did my due diligence and went to audiokarma.org and learned about the Tier 1 upgrade. A fair amount of work, but brother, let me tell you...it was worth it! Truly awesome sound now, shakes the whole house. I've found them to be listenable on all types of music, though classical will tend to point out the flaws. Sinatra never sounded better and classic rock is what these are all about! If you like the sound of a rock band live, you will dig these monsters. If you get a pair, consider doing the Tier 1 upgrade. It's not difficult and makes these things +/-3dB, which is amazing for '70s tech! At the very least, replace the capacitors in the crossovers. They're old and weak. Oh, and don't use a modern "home theater" amp on them. At least on the 4029s. They draw lots of juice due to the 4-ohm woofer and they won't sound good. When I switched from my Yamaha to my old Sansui 7070, they woke right up! Enjoy them-they are classics.

I purchased my Mach One's in the late '70's $199.00 each. At the time they were a Very reasonably priced, and Very top quality alternative, to all the top dollar, "high end" audiophile speakers on the marked. The JVC Amp I had at the time only pushed out around 45 watts RMS but the Mach ones would still vibrate things off the shelves - and do it with no distortion that I could detect. Once I found the globe on a decorative oil lamp shattered after a nights partying with the speakers getting a good workout: Ain't sayin' the speakers did it, but the lamp Was well protected from the partiers - and it Was in one piece the day before!!! My pair is over 30 years old and the foam is still going strong! Another commenter has stated that the plastic around the tweeter screws tends to crack - not on mine.
My partyin' days are over; but I still like to feel the music become a part of me once in a while and these speakers don't miss a lick - even with only 60 watts RMS driving them!
I have heard JBL's, and many of the high end speakers, and nothing against how they sound: But I get the same, even better than some, performance out of my Mach one's. My only regret is that when I bought mine I didn't buy a second pair for surround! I have read on line that possibly the Woofer coils of the early units were made by Altec Lansing? Might explain that shattered lamp globe?

The two Realistic Mach Ones I have were my father's and he sold them to me when I was high school. He ended up with 6 total and decided to use 301's for (two center channels) on the early surround system he had. I have always favored Kenwood Recievers as they seemed to have the most bang for the little money I usually had. I know that they aren't even considered good by most standards but they've always been dependable for a casual + user like me.

It seems that the newer home theater recievers (particularly those with DSP) sound pretty bad with the Mach Ones. Skip the multichannel audio stuff give me some AC/DC maybe even the song "If you want blood... You got it" I like loud noisy Rock n Roll and I have all but (gasp) abandoned CD's in favor of MP3's. I have never had that discerning of an ear to tell that it's bad quality. In fact my computer is more or less the stereo and I have an old Onkyo Reciever pushing my Mach One's as computer speakers. My tape deck has died. Which is a shame as it was an early 80's Teac with the soft touch controls. I no longer have a turntable and aside from the computer the only other audio source is a MD deck. (I do still have a couple of the later sony MD walkmen) I am willing to sacrifice the sound quality i am too primitive to miss anyway for the portability and ease of Ipods and Mp3s. To further sully my blasphemous resume of audio equipment I have a set of 301's (series 3 or 4?) and Acoustimass 10's for my tv and Bose QC 15's. They are WONDERFUL for ADD adults like me. I have heard the arguements about the sound quality muddy this and that... and I have no earthly idea what they are talking about. I besmirch my ears just the same at high volume from an ipod. And when the dropship in Aliens crashes I hear that metal pipe behind me. Apparently I am easily amused.

Back to the Mach Ones I sit with them pointed at my head like a double barrel shotgun and I play first person shooters and by God when a grenade goes off nearby the windows rattle. I listen to classic rock and some newer stuff but mostly rock. With higher bitrate Mp3's (320 is good me thinks) I hear most if not all the things I heard on my old realistic turntable with the diamond stylus. I hear "Hey you get your filthy hands off my desert..." (or was it dessert?!?) Followed by a really good impression of a nuclear explosion. My hair moves, my dog runs away, dishes in the kitchen cabinet tinkle, wife gets mad. Family legend has it that my Dad cracked an 7ft by 14ft plate glass window with four Mach Ones demo'ing that very song. Did it really happen? I don't know I didn't witness it, but the window IS cracked. Anyhow they are more than sufficient to turn my brain to pudding on 11. The pair I own have been around the world on a Nimitz Class Carrier. They are the reason why the Satellite Communications (repair) shop was called "Club SATCOM". Two western pacific tours under their belt and two years in Italy make them well travelled. Unfortunately the outsides have some nicks and wear from numerous military moves (with my Dad and later me) the cloth grills have some snags from cats who unwisely sharpened claws. Grr. Izzy the Doberchicken keeps them from getting too comfortable with them now. Izzy sits in Daddy's room. Cats no longer enter Daddy's room.

Anyhow Mach Ones... I think mine are the 4029;s, the four my Dad own are are well. My woofers are in good shape, all of his need to be refoamed. He has given them to me and I pick them up Labor Day Weekend. If anyone has a GOOD well documented (success) source for repair I would be grateful. I would prefer to have someone that has done it ALOT repair them so I don't glue my eyelid to my ballcap (again) I live in Ohio but would be fine shipping the woofers out. The master plan is to run a 2nd reciever or maybe a two channel amp line and get the audio source to both... Or heck I may run three recievers and do my own redneck surround off the computer (I think it will output 7.1) I have threatened my wife with putting two in our already VERY small master bathroom so I can rock out with my... er um take a shower. (not really the moisture would be fatal to them)

It's hard to find them, but if you want volume over (high) quality then these are friggin great speakers. Please note that much of this review was tongue in cheek, but really--they are the only speakers that I would want on a (get your filthy hands off my...) desert island. And the older and fuzzier sounding amp and music you can find the better.

If anyone has a good trusted source for re-coning the woofers please email me. scirocco16vr32@gmail.com. Local to Cincinnati would be a plus.

Foster / Fostex created one heck of a speaker back in the day & their Frankenstein was the Realistic Mach One Speaker... The true Monsters of Rock! I own a set of the 4029's and can definitely tell you with out a shadow of a doubt, that these are " Quality Speakers " !

I play vintage rock spanning the 50's all the way to the late 80's and I would not listen with anything other than my Mach's connected to my Marantz 2270 & fed by my Dual 1228..

All this talk about 4024's being better quality than the 4029 is non-sense, very subtle changes were made over the years, with the 15" woofer going from 8 ohms to 6, which I think is a good thing, being able to input more power from high drive amps. dampening in the tweeters & mid's via ferrofluid which increases stability in the driver. I would put up my 4029's against a 4024 with 100 watts for hours and watch the 4024 shut down due to overload.

Now a days, I rarely step into Radio Shack, but back in the day, they had some seriously great Audiophile equipment that could stand up to anything made today... I have numerous sets of JBL's and these Mach's can hold their own against the " so called " best!