RCA Sub for 350 dollars. Nice sounding

And guess what....the subs are on sale for $199 along with a bunch of other stuff. Sounds like a good deal to me. I'm checking one out, especially since I can return it if I don't like it.

Ditto.. A friend in college worked for a speaker company that made mass market speakers. He told me many of the speakers for different brands were the same inside, just a different grill on the outside.

I can relate to finding something good in ordinary places. I have this old mini-receiver made in Taiwam made by "ElectroBrand". How generic can you get? It measures out at only 10 x 7 x 2.75 inches. Has everything a big receiver has: an Analog tuner, inputs for Phono, 2 Line inputs for CD, Etc., and a Tape In and Out with monitor. 2 Speaker outputs (RCA jacks) and A/B switch. I use 16awg wire with RCAs at one end. And has external FM and AM antenna connections. I play it in a Bedroom with a pair of B&W DM100i speakers. Well this thing is the sweetest little thing I have ever encountered. The FM sound is really good. I am about to switch it with a Vintage Rotel receiver I have at my office, because it amazingly sounds a lot better than the Rotel and it does not get played much were it is. Got it on eBay for $20. ENJOY your find !!!!

Radio Shack had to have this built by some big company, so no reason to believe that it could not be good.

Long ago, I ran one of the Sterling Electronics stores here in Texas, (similar to RS). Our entire line of receivers, amps and tuners were built by either Pioneer or Trio ( Kenwood ). The big guys simply go and contract stuff to be built with their own cosmetics and name plates. Some of it is bound to be crap and some is bound to be good.

The main thing you get with brand name gear is repeatability. You can be fairly certain that the line will be consistently of a particular nature or quality. RS may change vendors in mid stride, producing two different products within a short time.

If you really like what you hear, and do not feel that there is a better value, perhaps used at Audiogon, then go with what makes you happy. Just be certain that you get the same product you listened to.