FISHER all-tube receivers from 1961-66 are cheap and sound wonderful!

Thanks.

 

Thanks for the heads up on these receivers. I've been reading up on old tube gear that might fit a budget and the old Fishers seem really nice. If I ever decide to mess with tubes I'll keep these models in mind. Cheers!
--------- Chris

 

I'll heed your cautionary warning. FWIW, I emailed the seller of the above receiver and this is what he said in reply to my inquiry about work done and the tubes:

Dear Dennis :
Exactly is I don't know ,because I bought at garage sale 3 month ago . I check and the first owner let me know he changer only 2 small Resistors , it under 7591 tube .some tube original and some tube is no .because item over 40 year old .
- 7591 tube : westinghouse , sylvania , rca and dumont .
- 12ax7 tube : rca , sylvania , raytheon , electronic .
- 6au6 tube : fisher and electronic .
- 6aq8 tube : fisher .
thanks

My little girl is on a "Yellow Submarine" jag of late and the phrase "steer clear!" has leapt to my mind in regards to this auction.

 

That's cool of you

I tried for the 500C that was sold by the guy who did the Stereophile review. It had been worked on and was in, presumably, impeccable shape, but it slipped out of my hands. I put in my max bid with 8 seconds to go and someone a bit craftier and less risk-averse (I've had a few auctions where the final bid submit page has taken TOO many seconds to load & the bid never went through!) won it with *6* seconds to go, $10 over me. I'd love a 500C or 800C as I really want the headphone option. Thanks for thinking of others!

 

Talk about memories. That 1964 Fisher is the exact one my father bought and I spent countless hours with it while growing up.

 

Thanks to both of you for your thoughts. Yes it is 10 guage, I moved my stuff around to the side wall and ended up with 20 feet. No loss at 20 ft can I tell, though this is with a fairly powerful NAD Master Series M3, which is why I asked the question.

 

So Steve, can we get some kind of a secret word or handshake so we can identify these when they are up and by who ?

 

The 400 that Sushimaster posted this morning looks like that guy does it right, at least sounds like it, from little I know. He seems to have built this from the idea of original sound , but also with some extra safeties built in ?

 

The seller tele12ax7, I have him booked marked in my favorites.
He seems like he does restorations the right way! If I had some extra dough, I would try some of his stuff.

IMO, I think the most important thing he does is put in a CL-90 in-rush current limiter to protect and extend the life of the tubes.

Would be nice to own some vintage Scott, Fisher, Mac or Marantz tube gear, but I'm content restoring my meager Dynaco tube amps.

- Sushimaster

 

What was the power output of the 400, 500 and 800 series receivers?

 

A friend offered his nice clean, but not minty, Fisher 400 for $300. Should I? He says it still has the original Fisher branded tubes.

 

Not super clean I guess but looks like it could clean up well.

 

If it's in original condition, it probably will need restoration (capacitors, replace weak tubes, FM alignment, cleaning of switches & pots, etc)....which will cost more $$ in addition to the $300 asking price, to sound its best. Unless you do it yourself to save some money. But yes I would pull the trigger.

- Sushimaster

 

I need something to do when I am home for the summer

 

AWESOME post steve Very informative and interesting. Was quite a read hearing about this vintage unit. How about combining it with some 1960s Electro-voice EV-6s with the 18" woofer

 

VERY cool.....but....Im still in love with my lil old HK_350i (( 20 watt per channel solid state )) theres just something about that thing..I cant part with it.

 

Check out the old EV speaker...a great match for older tube stuff!

http://hubpages.com/hub/Electro-Voice-EV-Six-6

Used to have a pair of these....long gone though...!

 

Honestly didnt think they sounded as good as how the guy on that site raves about them. Still very good sounding but he goes a bit overboard. Limited power handling, and a bit of a limited very high end. Good smooth sound overall, and great midrange and smoothness over the bass range up through the midrange though! Awesome sounding on earlier recordings that have a very natural recorded sound. But size wise just way too big and too hard to position.

Way better than most Klipsch speakera honestly but without the super high efficiency of them.

 

I brought my "new" 800b home yesterday. Have not even had a chance to hook it up yet. I don't think I stole it for $400 but it was recently checked out, a couple of resistors and tubes replaced and in good working order. And I didn't have to pay for shipping, and I can go back to the seller if there is a problem with it. The faceplate is very clean with none of the lettering worn off. One of the black switches has been replaced with one that does not match, will need to find a replacement for that.

It was purported to be "mostly original tubes" but seems to have many Westinghouse tubes, and at least some other non-originals. But I haven't checked them all. Were the originals branded "Fisher"?