The WORST $200 Speakers EVER?
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- čas přidán 21. 07. 2024
- #unboxing #throwback #80s
New old stock American HiFi RX-860 3-way speaker system with LED power level display. Possibly the worst speakers ever? Let's find out. I hope you enjoy the video
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You should straight up hook these up to your most powerful amp and do a smoke test ala Dank Pods. People love the blue smoke.
I knew at least one of the speakers was fake I didn't expect 2 haha
If you need to purchase the owner's manual or the useless warranty card. We can mail that to you for only $24.95 plus shipping and handling.
That price tag on them speakers is a clear display of what companies think of consumers.
Absolute garbage... fun video though!
those are something I would have found in a dumpster as a kid, played around with for a while before blowing the speakers and throwing them away. Opening up speakers and finding fake mids and highs was so common 😂
My first amp was an American hi-fi. Total garbage
They sounded exactly like I imagined they would LOL
Hah, wow, I could swear I saw these at Champion Auto Stores (long gone Midwest chain) at one time, only it was a white box. Along with KRACO and Sparkomatic stereos.
It'd be interesting to put real speakers in that styrene or ABS case just for yucks, bonus if one could find them with the chinsy chrome voicecoil dustcover. Add some acoustic insulation. They still wouldn't be great due to the shape and thickness of the enclosure but it might be do-able.
Gotta love the power meters. As an odd aside, a technique I used in model railroading to simulate fire (for instance, a campfire). Use a Miniatronics 1.5v micro mini lamp and connect it to the earphone jack of a small 8 transistor radio with an add-on 9v adapter. You tune it to a classical station of your choice and the flicker for the 'flame' would vary with the music. The effect was WAY better than the more common fire kits which had an easily decernable repeating flicker pattern.
Aaaanyway . . . .
Considering what my cellphone and laptop can do it should be possible to vastly improve them. Again, just for yucks since I sorta dig that 1980's cheapo Taiwan aesthetic. Hopefully you didn't pay much for that NOS junk, even if it is just for fun. :)
Local to me back when it was open at "western auto" in La they used to carry kraco and sparkomatic brand. My first ever subs were 2 12" sparkomatic in my grandmas trunk lol.......Im 42
I was a kid but I remember this type of stereo equipment. My brother was in high school and bought " mind blower" speakers, had amp built in the speakers. Absolutely crap, lasted 2 days.
“Junkier than I thought they would be. “😂
"Respone" 😂😂😂😂 That was a dead giveaway. Lol
Wholesale at the time, depending on how many you would be getting. Ran between $8.00 and $12.00
Great stuff, Made specifically for flea markets, Arabic stores, That wanted to rip people off. Then when they came back, Take out the no refunds sign.
Flea market speakers or jc Whitney catalog speakers
The speakers you would actually be wanting in those days would be the Pioneer TSX series these days they go for a super high premium if you can find them at all. As they are quite sought after in the Bosozoku japanese car culture. Usually spotted mounted on the rear parcel shelf.
Wait? They are worth something?? I use them in my garage as radio speakers. I might look it up.
I only knew one person in the 80's that had these rear-deck mount type speakers. His dad bought him the best ones Sony offered cause he wasn't allowed to cut any holes in his Buick Regal.
Wowowow! You have an old school stereo channel? You've just made my week!!
Id still gut the enclosures. Put in some sound deadening to kill the plasticy hollowness. The use some cheap, good speakers from Parts Express. Make a real 3way out of them. Then use a real amp to power them.
The plastic is way too thin. The resonance would absolutely be uncontrollable. If you want to make dogs howl, I'm sure it would work!
Look around for the die cast Realistic "Minimus" series. I retrofitted some of those with MB quart and Dynaudio drivers. Very nice for close monitor listening.
@@cpufrost I wouldn't go outta my way to purchase these to mod. Only do it if I obtained them somehow. And it was a rainy day.
I enjoy all your videos with a passion. Thanks for doing this type of content l.
They use the term "high-temperature" a lot. They don't seem to realize that that term is used to describe speakers that can handle high temperatures, not speakers that reach high temperatures just by using them. 8:50 Yeah, I'd put them at mid-80's, also. Silver surface mount car speakers were a big thing around then(Sony was big on it). They all sounded weak, though.
Straight from the back of a JC Whitney Catalog from the 90s. Lol
When an item comes shipped in just packaging paper, you know it's going to be sh.... I mean... good stuff!
Those look very similar to the old Craig brand speakers. Kraco marketed them too.
And if it's Craig, you know where they came from - Radio Shack.
When you opened it and realised there was no tweeters had me dying 🤣🤣
...maybe switch the speakers...you have the left speaker on the right side, and they will not properly image...or you can put them directly in the trash...always fun Big D...do you remember "Big Brut" speakers? or Sparkomatic, or Kraco....Craig Powerplay...Jenson Triax...I had these types of speakers in my Mom's 1976 4 door Nova...along with a booster /eq under the dash...also, a pair of Pioneer TSX8 deck mount 3 ways on the rear deck...mounted with 2 face tape...which became dislodged, and hit me in the head at a sudden stop..but it started a hobby that has lasted 40 years and counting...great show Big D, as usual
And Big D with the winning bid of 43 cents. Seller was excited to unload them at a profit. 😂
I like whenever he mentions “Flea Market” speakers because I totally remember stuff like this being sold out of vans on hooks with big price tags on them. Everything from 10” Pyramid subs to Alphine (Yes, Alphine) speakers and head units. Occasionally there’d be a few Pyramid Gold series amps that were decent for Subs on a budget (PB-300?) or the famous PB-100 . Damn I miss those days here in the NY Westchester area.😕
Lol right up there with "Techwood" audio 😂
I had a pair that were very similar box speakers that I bought at a flea market type store back in 1987. There were a couple of differences. The "woofer" cone was white, the foam surround was blue and the dust cap was silver. The magnet was HUGE and believe it or not, it was vented!! BUT the mids , highs and lights were sealed off, so i cut it open and like yours, the mids and tweeter was fake, only the lights had wire to them but they actually sound really good and even had a 1 1/2" voice coil on the 4" .It was surprising stout. They were packaged in a glossy white box. The 80's/early 90's had some really cool audio!
Loving this series! Also the off camera moment is the story of my life 😂
LEDs for the “power meter” are just wired in parallel so there’s no “metering” happening at all. Pure junk. BUT, those cheesy looking cabinets are total retro fab. Stuff them with some modern high quality drivers and some sound deadening material for the plastic and you’ve got a great sounding set of flea-market cheaters 😂
Would be fun (but ultimately still probably disappointing) to get a 3-Way Dayton Audio setup going in em.
Yep I have actually seen something similar turned out pretty amazing and even amazing looking with good drivers mixing like a gold colour and the owner claimed they sounded pretty good but the box was better than this one.
He said it was some speakers he found on the garbage and put good stuff inside cause they looked amazing but was other very different model than this one and from Europe.
Lol why tho I would put them back together and blow them up with a 4000 pv lol 🔥
Reminds me of the old kraco speakers from the late 80s
some of them with the metal enclosures and 3-way drivers weren't half bad.
@@v12alpine I owned the kraco truck box speakers with a passive radiator they did sound nice actually for what they were
@@joeyholthusen6495
Joey; unfortunately many people don't know what a great invention the passive radiator was. Shame they don't use them today. I was in the electronics business for over 35 years started when I was 17.
I think Kraco is a step up from these! And that's very scary
@@wal2 unbranded sparkomatic speaker? Hmm 🤔
Those are the exact say as a set of Pyramids my older brother put in his 1987 Jeep. It didn't come with a radio or speakers so I guess a step up from none at all.
Speakers for the hearing impaired.
When I was a kid, these are the types of speakers we would come across as freebies to play around with. Hook them up to just about anything equally cheap and cheesy, overdrive the crap out of them and move on to the next.
Yes! That's how I got into audio.
In the 70's and 80's my dad had a collection of garbage home speakers like this that I used to screw around with. They were so pathetic(as were the kmart brand stereos I had to power them) I spent the first 15 years of my life assuming that speakers vibrate so fast that you can't see them move.
The sad part is this is something that keeps repeating it self...
I bought some crap Auna 5.1 speakers which is 2 bookshelf, 1 center speaker, 2 tower speakers and one 10 inch sub, it's a German brand and they cost like 300eur like 3 years ago or some crap...
The wattage is all big lies, the center speaker came with a dead tweeter, the woofers on center and bookshelf speakers inside are generic unbranded and there's a sticker with like 5w and like 2w on the tweeter and they claim quite a few dozens of watts and much more in full power LOL.
They also sound horrible worse than my Logitech Z5500 PC speakers from 2005 and the subwoofer doesn't even work as a subwoofer cause it only makes rattling and air port noises and it's also far from the 100+ rated wattage.
Only the tower speakers are actually OKish which are the only ones with actual built-in crossover while the others is just a cap for the tweeter and are at least somehow clear contrary to the muddy muted sound of all the other speakers, they actually sound better than the Z5500 satellite speakers but I mean they have 2 much bigger woofers and like 1 inch silk dome tweeter so it's not surprising.
The only thing that surprised me in them is that the bookshelf and center speakers actually even have a tweeter which for how horrible they sound I thought it would be piezoelectric crap, but they arent much better anyway, it's just a tiny plastic tweeter speaker...
Ps: they weren't exactly that cheap, but in EU there's not much like US cheap good speakers, here even something entry level like Klipach Reference Home Theater pack is almost 1000eur and even more depending on the seller while in US some ppl bought it like 2 years ago in promotions for 250 US $ and was around 350$ the normal price.
Edit: Most Hifi 5.1 here are close to 1000eur. The best deal I could find here is really just 5.0 Jamo speakers which are pretty decent for just slightly below 500eur but adding a good sub it goes again to 900eur and higher which is more than 1 month salary in my crap country 😡
@@guily6669 Where do you live, if you don't mind me asking? I actually live sort-of close to Klipsch (where their better stuff comes from). On another note: US hifi nerds are always looking for old European made vacuum tubes (Mullard, Amperex, Telefunken, Siemens, Philips rebrands, etc.). I have some that are worth $600-$700 each and some $500/pair. People used to throw away projectors and oscilloscopes that have hundreds of dollars worth of tubes alone in them.
@@robsolf Bahaha, speakers so quick, they're fast asleep!
Love these types of videos 👌👌
I think we need to see the 150w being fed into these.. You know to test their claimed power input.
Boom 💥
10 watts max if your lucky LMFAO@@wal2
I used to have some realistic 4 way bass reflex speakers something similar to those and they sounded good for what they were at the time
ratshack actually used decent stuff.
Bet they were true 4 way speakers though.
Lol! Love the VU meters. I would have thought they would be brighter? 4” driver only! 150 watts? 😂
I had those back in the day and the radio shack drop in speakers rhat were square and fit in 6x9 spaces didnt have no backs on them just 4 screws that went in the 6x9 holes
Wow. The woofer was about what I expected , but the fake mids and tweeters really threw me. I expected at least a piezo disk tweeter. Apparently this was something you bought at a flea market in the 80's when you couldn't afford to buy the Pyramid speakers, also sold at the same flea market. I don't think these sold for more than $20 new with the idea that you were getting a steal. 🙄
this might be the first time my 20 dollar desktop speakers sound better than the speakers in the video..
What color was the van you bought them out of?
That´s the kind of stuff i have seen a lot through the back windows of Ladas, Wartburgs and Skodas around eastern europe in the 80ies. Classy! 😂
those were speakers you'd see in truck stops too. haha
They are so good that they look just like those old "white van speaker scam" 😂
Just print a crazy high value on the package, sell for cheap and it sells like hot bread while being massively cheaper speakers than the already kinda cheap price they used to ask already LOL.
dude those white van speakers actually slapped..... at least the ones I got did... back in like 2002, lol
Believe it or not the white van speaker scammers are still going hard. They’ve just changed up their game and offerings to even worse products.
I remember growing up following behind cars and seeing them in the rear view windows
Loved this video. Love watching vids about the old stuff!!! Such a lie about it being a three-way speaker system. That fake mid-range!!!
I remember getting ones similar to these from the Flea Market back in the late 80's early 90's....
They went on to make the white van " hi end" speakers sold in walmart parking lots.
love to see these get some power to them for kentucky fried speakers.......
Killer video! I love the old stuff!
did they go into producing multimedia speakers in the 90s? just change the molding and there you go
Makes me think about the Pyramid speakers, my neighbour had a pair looking like these, but from Pyramid, with real led meters and a glowing green Light from the dustcap!
Love these old tech videos! Big D, if you can ever find those Sony 3-Way 8” mobile speakers, I’d enjoy seeing you review them. I saw them around ‘87-‘88, always kicked myself for not buying them. Anyone else ever see those beautiful, if impractical, speakers?
Yeah my friend has these in his custom dodge van. They were better than these American hi-fi.
@@MarvinHartmann452Glad to hear somebody else saw them, most people’s eyes glaze over when I’m trying to explain them. Appreciate you, thanks for sharing
I had a pair of similar pioneer units that jamed for loudness back in 1988 but nothing bass .
Did they charge extra for pre-blowung them?
WOW, these sound like computer speakers from the 90's. I bought one of these amps at a flea market that said it was like 1000 watts. One of the channels was wired backwards and it wouldn't even power my factory door speakers on my car let alone kicker 3 way truck boxes I had at the time. Major disappointment. The electronics inside the amp looked like it was out of a tv set or toy from the 90's.
These were available inJC Whitney catalogs for the longest time. Most of the stuff they sold for car audio made flea market crap look good in comparison.
put some new speakers in and do another video .thank you for all your hard work and videos .
J.c. Whitney special..... lol, thanks for taking the hit Big D
I remember these a friend had a set in his pickup they was pretty bad even back then he had the mounted to the cab corners about 6” from your head was very loud pointed into your ear
hey i had these! got them second hand in 2010 or some like that... they looked nice on the 80's car but damn they sound like a AM radio lol also like 5w or some like that
I can even hear the enclosures resonating from here 😅
In the UK, we had a name for stuff like these crappy electronics. We called them "a mugs eyeful", cheap plastic, fake claims, and often complete lies about specs and abilities. The term refers to them looking more than they actually are. Cheap scratchy plastic coated in equally cheap silver (usually) spray paint, badly applied. Flashy LEDs that mean nothing, and glued on (often misspelled in Chinese English) info plates covering holes in the case. My mates dad loved crap like this in his car. Horrible cheap head unit, and speakers that sounded horrible, even to a kid. I remember the PMPO/RMS output debates he'd read in the car audio magazines. There was a motor factor (car accessories shop) near us and it sold crap like this in the window, the boxes were usually sun faded.
The sad part is this is why many people get frustrated with car audio. They buy “upgrades” based on specs and looks and then are disappointed
A buddy of mines back in the early 90's had a pair of pioneer speakers made like that, that were loud, and actually had some bass! Sounded pretty good for back then! They were grey, and I think the name was TS-X9. It was a complete system, tape deck, amp, and speakers! Lol!! 😂
How much can those 150 watt speakers actually handle before melt down?
I had a pair like that for my 87 Chevy nova, but they were from RadioShack. I don’t remember if they were Optimus or realistic but they sounded like crap too.
Nothing screams '80s like dash mounted speakers😂
Looks like what you would get in a late 80’s cheap boom box.
Usually i skip over the part when you play music because it never mattered what was playing, it sounds the same on my phone...until today, those speakers sound like crap and if it sounds like that on my phone, i can only imagine what it sounds like there 😂
It was baaaaaad!
ok new challenge for you put newer modern speakers in it and actually make them sound good, also the led power meter is not even a meter it jus lights all them up at the same time cause there wired in series lol
Lol I don't know why I find this video so funny. But the cheapness of the speakers is just funny to me.
200 bucks, this company was laughing all the way to the bank
I remember them . They were junk .
They really nail that shoebox tone
That 350W is just 3.50W cheap boombox speakers with fake mids and highs. I found a pair of dai-ichi speakers on my last dumpster dive that looks like that and is a real 3-way speaker and has a plastic cone. It says 50W but seems the woofer starts to knock around almost half a volume on a stock head unit.
I remember the old Kraco speakers you could get at pawn shops and flea markets back in the 80's. They sucked soooo bad. Lol supposedly rated for 300 watts
I've got the pyramid version of these that the center caps light up. The pyramid versions are actually built heavier and better.
Those should give your ELAC’s a run for their money !!! LMAO !!! Hahahaha
@0:59 - Bro, that just screams mid-80's, white van swap meet or flea market. I loved looking as a kid but had no idea it was all garbage.
I bought these phase3 and radio shack had these they were real high pitched b good tweeters
Just by the grammar mistakes I got worried. Sound quality is bad to put it nicely. Either way, love seeing the old equipment!
Upgrade the drivers in them! Add a lil CLD and stuff with pink panther!!!
At least they look cool thanks for sharing.
These were probably sold in the K-Mart automotive department back in the day for $39 for the pair. Single 4" driver, 150W is the detonation point where the voice coils melt. :P
Fun look at these. They sounded better than I thought they would, but they are still cheap 4" full range in plastic boxes.
Kmart sold some crap back in the day, but I highly doubt these were sold there. These are almost 100% flea market crap. Just cheap enough and flashy enough to unload on unsuspecting people that couldn't return them.
Pawn shop specials! Wonder which was better Pyramid or American HIFI?
The old pioneer TSX8 were the fire kraco made some turbo series ,I think sanyo did the square looking speakers,, Panasonic ,I think everybody tried these at one yime Sony Pyramid still does
Holy cow, those may have even been worse than the old Kraco and Pyramid crap from back then. The terrible sound of those brings back bad memories that we did not know were so bad back in the 80's. Heck, even the Pioneer speakers of that design were not so great. lol
These are literally some of the worst sounding speakers I've ever heard
Would be a good setup with newer speakers n tweets in it
Got an old Tenna set of speakers the face looked like that but there was no back they fit in a 6 x9 opening vheap ass tenna phase3
I remember these types of speakers from back in the day
I only knew one person that had these rear-deck mount type speakers. His dad bought him the best ones Sony offered cause his dad wouldn't allow him to cut any holes in his Buick Regal.
Hook those bad boys up to a 150 watt/channel amp and lets see how they last at that claimed power handling.
LEDs will outlast the speaker. Quality right thur
@@CheezeCracker Replace the LEDs with NE-2 glow lamps which don't fire until voltage goes over 80-90V. More than likely the only audio you'd be hearing at that point is from the inductors in the amp! 😀
@@cpufrost Brilliant!
i guess if the enclosure is polypropylene that means "polypropylene system" cuz that's a paper cone. soon as i saw that paper (no) surround, it was over
Sounds like an old alarm clock or something 😂
Those remind me of flea market speaker stands
I would use them on my ham radios as external speakers they’d look good next to my radios
american hifi had a decent run in the early 2000s they made the volfenhag , dhd , performance teknique , and american pro bass machine brands . i sold quite a bit of it and performed ok for cheap stuff.
And don’t forget they were parent for Rockwood, Kenford and Koiiler as well.
I had the same set of American Hi-Fi speakers about 15 years ago, they were not any better back then either.... 🤷
Would have to believe they sound equivalent to late 90s, early 2000s computer speakers...
I remember the similar speakers from MCI and they were garbage. You would find these in older customs vans. I'm surprised the meter actually works.
Edit:High temperature was like a throwaway word in those days, just like "ferrofluid" except the later is actually a thing.
Yes! I love these old school amps and speaker vids!👍