Fisher X-1000 tube amplifier

does anyone have one of these? would you recommend?

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=fi...php%3Ff%3D36%26t%3D8384%26start%3D140;700;371

 

I like their integrated gear better than their recievers with their seperates as my favorites.


Steve

 

Yep; naturally. Vintage preamps in general are pretty crappy sounding though. A modern preamp is a much better choice. The vintage power amps are much more simple beasts and they used some heavy iron back then so the amps can sound quite good by today's standards. They typically lack the bass control that modern, high-end tube amps have though.

Fisher made very good quality gear. The one that I have never owned but always drooled over is the SA-1000 power amp.

-Bill

 

Hey Bill, I'm fortunate to own a SA-100. The 202T pre/tuner mates well with it.
The 1000 and 400CX are at the top of my "Fisher want list"


Steve

 

I've had that as well as a smaller version, I forgot the model. A couple of tuners and a preamp. A monoblock and a few integrated amps. I never cared for the size and weight of the receivers much.
-Bill

 

Ask over at AudioKarma. They have a Fisher section where a lot of Fisher experts reside. I believe it's a sought after integrated amp by Fisher collectors. I have a 500C and a X-100-C and really love them.

 

I never liked the looks of their post "brass" looking gear either, including the 400cx.

Steve

 

Thanks, I'll do that.

 

Do you dislike the phono stage, the line stage or both?

 

Both can be uniquely bad or uniformly poor performers. One issue is the lack of standards then. There is still a rather wide range of impedances and loadings offered among modern equipment makers but it seemed basically random back in the '50s. It's odd as the technology for phono was well on its way but there was still some development going on in cartridge design and so the target was always moving (pardon the pun). I guess the main issues that I have with them is noise and lack of resolution. Bass control can be rotten by comparison to modern gear also. The only thing that makes them attractive is the matching cases (to suit the power amps) and the 3D soundscape some can add to the mix. It isn't hi-fi by today's standards though. ...I also like my remote volume control.
-Bill

 

Hey Bill, have you heard a in spec Citation I? It is wonderful sounding to my ears.
You can also tweak the turnover and rolloff for LP's and 78's.


Steve

 

No. I have heard a lot of preamps and amps but not that one. Quite a few preamps included a number of phono settings to address the bewildering array of EQ schemes used in producing the recordings. I could care less about that travesty of the earlier audio era and only collect 33 Lps in RIAA, so no issues here that cannot be fairly easily addressed. My chosen modern preamps are significantly better sounding and behaving than an array of vintage units that I have had which were considered by most to be excellent in their day, and somewhat oddly today, by many more who still feel that way about them. Not that all of those vntage units sounded "bad" but they certainly do not sound as transparent and thus "correct" as do their modern replacements.
-Bill

 

Modern electrical components (capacitors etc) and speaker materials are better engineered than in the past (except for vacuum tubes) but that is separate from the basic audio design and circuit. I'm becoming more and more astonished how good the old designs can sound with modern implementation. The designs which depart from the oldies but goodies are the ones that are turning into flavors of the year.

 

I find the marantz 7 with updated parts a reasonable baseline to improve from personally. Phono stage is not "the best" but not bad to me. I have a reissue VAC built and a couple of homebrews. As far as line stages I like the idea a disc player or DAC should be made to drive a power amp directly....conceding most are not.

 

I have the Fisher X-1000. I found it in the streets of Brooklyn a few years ago and restored it. First tube piece I've owned but I love it. It's loud and smooth. I turn the treble up a bit, and paired with my original large Advents it's basically heaven.