The Realistic STA-100 is a nice little receiver that was at the lower end of the performance spectrum for Realistic. It was produced from 1979 through 1981 in Korea and retailed for $279.95. The Realistic line was sold at Radio Shack as a lower priced, but equally featured, alternative to Pioneer, Sansui and other brands.
The STA-100 above has custom blue LED lights. Originally the STA-100 had white dial lamps.
Realistic’s advertising touted the STA-100 as:
Human engineered for you with a combination of features for superb performance and ease of operation.
And that’s what it is. Easy to use with good basic features. The dial face is wide and easy to see. It has a signal strength meter for easier tuning. Both the bass and treble controls are detented at zero. The styling is nice as well, although the push buttons on the left might have looked nicer in chrome or steel.
The STA-100 produces 22 watts per channel. The FM tuner is pretty good and can pull in some weaker stations. It also featured tape monitoring facilities, and a loudness button. Overall the receiver was an excellent value for the money. They rarely required service and were built to last.
It has inputs for magnetic phono, aux, tape in, tape out and tape dubbing to a second deck.
Of course, those of us that are old enough remember the Radio Shack catalog coming out each year. Hours were spent perusing the audio gear in those catalogs. You can relive those childhood memories fairly cheaply with the Realistic STA-100. They sell for roughly $100 and up to $200 in pristine working condition.
I used to have that receiver in my teen years! WOW that is very nice to see that again.
Yo lo tengo. Y no me deshago de él
I had this model in my bedroom in the mid 80s. Had a pair of Realistic 2 way bookshelf speakers (can’t remember the model #) hooked up to it and together they sounded great. Fine little receiver!