Reviewing an old Realistic 42-2109?

[cgallery]

I'm sure some of you are aware of the following that has developed around the vintage Realistic 42-2101a and 42-2109, with the former made in Japan and the latter made in Korea.

I'm very fond of at least the 42-2109. I built my own turntable using a motor/platter from a Technics linear model, and I made my own DIY unipivot arm.

I then went on to try a multitude of phono preamps but ran into three main problem areas: (1) Hum. A lot of them just could not be arranged, at least in my system, so that hum was acceptably low. (2) RFI. Same as #1 above, I live nearby some radio station broadcast towers, and could easily hear radio stations on some models. This I could help with ferrite cores, but... (3) Sub/Infra (take your pick) -sonic energy causing woofer pumping. Many didn't have switches to cut this LF output, which is often baked right into a recordings.

I tried a bunch of models but none were acceptable in all three departments above, except a vintage 42-2109. While the 42-2101/09 don't have sub/infra-sonic filters, they do roll-off at 30-Hz, so that is that.

One aspect I've enjoyed about the 42-2109, is that it seems to make playback of mono vinyl a joy, even without having a mono switch/cable arrangement. Many of the other phono stages I've tried sounded very flat when playing mono recordings.

A few months ago, I started looking for a 42-2109 that wasn't scratched on the top (my original has some superficial scratches), and I've recently found one and swapped it into my system.

So I have this spare 42-2109 that I'd happily ship to someone for testing, so we can all see how good or bad it really is.

If there is any interest. If not, that is okay, too.

Maybe this one has been tested elsewhere, but I haven't been able to find anything.

 

[bigx5murf]

I already sent in a 42-2101a to Amir.

Also, if I recall the specs, this phono starts to roll off at 15k.

 

[cgallery]

I already sent in a 42-2101a to Amir.

Also, if I recall the specs, this phono starts to roll off at 15k.

Yep, the specs show 30-15k.

Was there every a review posted? How long ago did you send it?

 

[bigx5murf]

Early Dec 2019, not reviewed yet

 

[beefkabob]

This would qualify as a curiosity review. I can't imagine it would measure well. Probably headless panther territory.

 

[mhardy6647]

well, I had to look these up!

source: http://www.radioshackcatalogs.com/html/1987/hr029.html

source: http://www.radioshackcatalogs.com/html/1979/hr031.html


FWIW, I have one of these older MM phono preamp/EQ morphs from R/S here (courtesy, not surprisingly, of the swap pile at the Harvard, MA town dump):

source: http://www.radioshackcatalogs.com/html/1974/hr035.html

 

[bigx5murf]

I send in a Rolls VP29 at the same time, which just subjectively comparing the two when I had them, I'd be surprised if the Rolls didn't measure better than the Realistic. The Rolls VP29 is actually pretty cool, really nice build quality, despite being cheap and made in USA. Best of all, they're still available new from lots of retailers.

 

[mhardy6647]

Oh.
Speaking of cheap(ish), old(ish) phono preamps, audioXpress magazine published a review of a passel of budget phono preamps quite a few years back (early 2000s, I think?! April 2003) by the late Charles Hansen. Y'all might find it interesting. I tracked it down, courtesy of the Wayback machine:


https://web.archive.org/web/20061112180327/https://audioxpress.com/reviews/media/403hansen2090.pdf

 

[cgallery]

I send in a Rolls VP29 at the same time, which just subjectively comparing the two when I had them, I'd be surprised if the Rolls didn't measure better than the Realistic. The Rolls VP29 is actually pretty cool, really nice build quality, despite being cheap and made in USA. Best of all, they're still available new from lots of retailers.

I tried a Bellari PA550 and a variation of the Bellari VP549 and found them both to be hummy, I didn't bother with trying the VP29.

I tried a bunch of other models and found them all somewhat hummy, as well. The Radio Shack was hum-free, as was the Parasound zPhono. I just didn't like the fact that the zPhono didn't have any sort of sub/infrasonic filter, as the occasional woofer pumping interferes with good bass response, especially on instruments like the double bass.

It is interesting that at least one listener picked the battery-powered Radio Shack model as their 2nd choice in audioXpress review above.

Maybe the 42-2101a won't measure great, it sure checks all my boxes.

 

[bigx5murf]

With my particular examples, I think the RS has a bit of bass boost, comparing back and forth it made the VP29 sound lean. But the VP29 sounded cleaner to me. Both were as silent in between tracks as could be expected with the format.

I had both hooked up to two Technics SL1200mk1, one running a Signet cart and the other running a Precept cart, both using the same .2x.7 pfansthiel stylus.

I've replaced both with Cambridge 551p, and the built in phono on a Sony ta-ax6.

 

[restorer-john]

And here is the schematic is all its glory...

And specs...

 

[bigx5murf]

Well, it happened.

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ic-42-2101a-review-vintage-phono-stage.19624/