I have joined the tube club: Enter The Fisher 800-B!

For me this has been a journey over six months in the making. In January I bought on ebay an early to mid-1960s vintage Fisher 800-B integrated tube amp, as shown below. I debated my choice of this amp in this thread. It was a tough call for me between the 800-B and the 800-C, which was the successor to the 800-B and had a headphone jack. In the end I went with the 800-B.

I had it sent directly to Paul Grzybek, owner of Bizzy Bee Tube Audio Design, in Naperville, Illinois. Paul does excellent work and is very busy, so I had to wait many months for him to get the amp on the bench and restore it to its full glory. Imagine waiting six months!

Well, I was very patient. I had purchased an early 1980s NAD 3120 integrated, vintage Fisher XP7 speakers, and a Sony DVP-S9000ES (a man needs something to listen to his DADs with) to listen with in the meantime, allowing me to have my first ever "real" stereo set. Before that I just listened to the headphone out of my Sony SCD-C222ES carousel with my Grado SR-60s, which I enjoyed very much, or the speakers on my 1994 Sony boom box, which are nearly useless for critical listening.

So, yesterday I stopped by my apartment office for some other mail and it just so happened The Fisher was there waiting for me. It had probably been there quite a few days, but Mr. FedEx had neglected to leave a note on my door and I had no tracking number. Anyway, I brought it home . . . and had to go back to work for a few hours. But then I was able to return and unpack it. Paul did a great job packing it securely, so it arrived in perfect condition.

After following Paul's instructions for final setup, inserting the four vintage 7591 output tubes in their sockets, connecting my <cough>radio shack</cough> speaker wire and Grover MKI interconnects, and rearranging my gear so The Fisher would be on the top shelf, I finally got to listen.

It was late by that time and because I live in an apartment, I was hesitant to turn it up too loud. The only CD I put on was Steve's Muddy Waters Sings Big Bill/Folk Singer two-fur on MCA. The minute I heard music from the speakers I knew something was different. And it just kept getting better (I hadn't let it warm up first. Six months was long enough). By the time the disc got to My Home Is In The Delta, The Fisher must have had all the warm up it needs because the music was so spooky real. I've read Steve write about being able to hear down into the mix. I don't know if that's what I was hearing but the echo sounded alive, the quiet passages sounded alive, and the music seemed more dynamic, too. All I know is I had a big smile on my face and I knew the wait had been worth it. This puppy sings!

I'm just going to enjoy my new setup for a while. I think then my next upgrade will be to spring for the Grover SR speaker wire. I guess the moral of this story is that good things are worth waiting for!

 

Wow, way to go freb! That's a beauty!

 

Thanks, Dave!

Just a matter of time, Steve. I had my eyes on a perfect walnut case on ebay about two weeks ago, but I decided I would wait to make sure I would be happy with the amp first. They run about $120 in near mint shape. Is there any truth to the tubes lasting longer if no case is used, because they stay cooler? For now I don't have any young people or pets I need to worry about touching the insides and I think it looks cool "naked" as is, but I would like to keep dust off it, so I'll probably get a case soon.

Another really cool thing about this amp are the two magic eye tuning beam windows. I don't know what they are exactly, but they are like a green cathode display that converges as a line when you lock in a radio station. The amp also includes the obsolete FM-AM stereo system. Don't think I'll be making much use of that. This is a neat page that discusses the 800-B.

 

Great story ... several months ago, I was fortunate enough to find a Fisher 400 at a Garage Sale ... it had been in a box in this guy's garage for 20+ years ... he had bought it new back in the mid-'60s ... a friend helped me clean the pots ... other than that and a little dirt and dust, it works great ... it also had its wooden case ...

 

Great photo. Looks just like the Fisher my dad had while I was growing up, I could only use it if I treated it with respect.

Use it well!

 

Congrats! You have one of the finest sounding tube amps of all time. Fisher is my favorite vintage tube gear, hands down. Welcome to the club.

I don't use a wooden case for mine because I believe that the cooler the tubes are kept, the longer they will last. I like the extra ventilation of the open chassis. If you really want a case, pdenny has one he might be willing to sell for the right price.

 

Thanks, guys! Considering the sound this, and it looks like other Fishers, put out, they really are underpriced. Before I considered a Fisher, I was looking at McIntosh MC-240s. Those are pricey. I'm sure they sound awesome, but pricey. But I decided I wanted to get an integrated amp with less fuss and the tuners were a bonus. My dad had a Fisher, too. I was describing to him the Fisher XP7 speakers I have and he thought he had the exact same ones 40 years ago!

For now, I'll probably get a rubbermaid-type storage container and turn it upside down over the amp as a cover when it's not in use. No worries about decor here as being single has its benefits.

Another thing, as far as I can tell, this looks to have all original, or at least vintage, tubes. I see "Made in West Germany" and "Made in Holland" on some 12AX7s, so maybe they're Telefunken?

 

Nice one. Can you detail the tube complement in that baby?

 

Copied from this site:

V1
6AQ8
FM RF amp, oscillator/mixer

V2
6AU6
FM 1st IF amp

V3
6AU6
FM 2nd IF amp

V4
6AU6
FM limiter

V5
6BA6
AM RF amp

V6
6BE6
AM converter

V7
6EQ7
AM IF/detector

V8
EM84A
AM tuning eye

V9
EM84A
FM tuning eye

V10
12AX7
Channel A phono preamp

V11
12AX7
Channel B phono preamp

V12
12AX7
Channel A tone control amp

V13
12AX7
Channel B tone control amp

V14
12AX7
Channel A voltage amp/phase inverter

V15
12AX7
Channel B voltage amp/phase inverter

V16
7591
Channel B power amplifier

V17
7591
Channel B power amplifier

V18
7591
Channel A power amplifier

V19
7591
Channel A power amplifier

V20
12AT7
Low pass and 19KC amp

V21
12AX7
38K synch oscillator

V22
12AX7
Audio amplifier

All the tubes I can read the printing on appear to be Fisher labeled OEM tubes.

 

A weird question, can you guys smell your tube amps when they're on? I smell mine. It's not unpleasant and it's hard to describe, some sort of electrical odor.
Not like burning or anything. Low-level not overpowering. I imagine something just gets warm and gives off a smell. Maybe the tubes?

 

Yep - they have a smell that's sorta musty inna way (not basement musty) - when I visited yesman a few weeks ago we were talking tubes and I mentioned the smell of old tube amps when they're good and warm...

 

I can also smell the lovely scent of hot tubes if I stick my head over my Dynacos or my GE PortaColor TV and sniff. Nothing to worry about unless you begin smelling obvious burning odors...

-Aaron

 

Nice! That's fitting, JFK and I share the same alma mater. This must be what Marilyn was attracted to.

 

YOU ARE NOW HOOKED!!!!!!!Congrats!!!!!!

 

Today I played a lot of tunes and brought back a few dead artists. I think it is most magical on quieter songs, like Muddy Waters's My Home Is In The Delta and Elvis's Love Me Tender. Those ones are goosebump material.

 

Hey freb! Should we pre-sign you up for the SH Forums 12 step program now?

Have fun man.

 

Yes, the are probably exactly that. The way to verify on the Telefunkens is to pull them out carefully and look at the bottom of the tube. If there is a small, inlaid diamond in the glass...you've got Telefunkens. Telefunken also made 12AX7s without the diamond logo, but they aren't very common and I don't know what's up with them. I think I have one or two in my collection. I would recommend that you stick those Telefunkens in the phono pre and tone control section of the amp. Use the Bugle Boys for the phase inverters. You can safely swap these around without affecting bias or AC balance. It's the power tubes that you don't want to change around.

Now THAT is a cool piece of information! Steve, where did you find this out? I didn't know President Kennedy was an audiophile.

 

If the 7591s are original they are Westinghouse-made (number inked on the top with dots and/or a line below it, maybe a date code as well)

-Aaron

 

Preach on, brother Steve. This is exactly it.....a great explanation of what tubes do to the sound of your music. I remember when you explained this to me back when I first joined the forum. This was at the same time I was just starting to get curious about vintage tubes and was still listening to modern solid-state audiophile gear. During my first real tube experience, I remember being floored by the sound of the cymbals....so much air and space, and the decay.....so life-like. I had that "eerie" feeling again the other night listening to my UK "Revolver" needle drop. I must have played "I'm Only Sleeping" 15 or 20 times in a row. It felt so intimate and incredible.....I swear I could have reached out and touched John Lennon. His voice sounded so REAL. This was at about 4 am and I'm sure the neighbors thought I was insane.

Regarding the "woolly bass".....one of the reasons I love Fisher integrateds so much is because the bass is incredible. For a vintage tube amp, it is extremely accurate, tight, and defined. Must be the solid-state rectifier? Anyway, the bass on the Fisher amps I've heard and the sound of the amps in general has more in common with something like the Marantz 8B than the Scott amps that Fisher are most commonly compared to, IMO.

 

I'm waiting for my 500-C to arrive, of course that is a whole other story!! just wish me well that I don't get ripped off!!!!!!!!!Prix, are all the Fishers ss rectified???Then it should sound more like a 240 than a Scott?

 

I'd say it's the quality of the output transformers!

 

I get a kick out of that old ad for the Fisher "C"-line, the successor to my amp, and what I understand to be the last great Fisher integrateds. Look at those prices. In today's dollars that 800-C would cost about $2600, the 500-C would cost about $2250, and the 400 would cost about $1900, according to the federal reserve's consumer price index calculator. If you can get vintage gear that is in nice shape at a price close to what it originally sold for, I think you're getting a heck of a deal. And for the most part, that's pretty much what these Fishers run for, something close to what they originally sold for.