Space Oddity – the Realistic Optimus Pro LX5 Was The Weirdest Speaker of the 1990s!

Описание: This week it's time for another Retro Riff, in the strange shape of this small, inexpensive American bookshelf speaker from the mid 1990s...

Sold in the UK by Tandy (Radio Shack in the USA), the Realistic Optimus Pro LX5 also went by the name of the Genexxa Pro LX5 in some markets. It was a weird mixture of US Linaeum tweeter technology and Malaysian manufacture.

Mike and David agree that its sound is out of this world – with a spookily open and spacious top end that's more like an electrostatic than a conventional loudspeaker. What were they thinking!

Each episode of Hi-Fi Riff features Mike and David's unedited, unexpurgated views about all manner of weird and wonderful hi-fi designs.

Business executive Mike has a wealth of knowledge from previous hi-fi retail experience, and David has written about hi-fi for thirty years. Now Editor-in-Chief of StereoNET, he's picked up a few things along the way.

So relax and enjoy some one-take hi-fi riffing – and please leave your comments below. And don’t forget to hit the Subscribe button, this one goes up to eleven!

The eighties-tastic title tune is called ‘UFO/Mike’s Jumper’, and used with the express permission of our old pal and rights holder Simon Lythe.

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