OT: the fisher 500-C

no, it's not a camera, but a STEREO! i received today, the FISHER 500-C stereo! This is

a 1967 tube FM receiver and amplifier, the very LAST of the tube stereos made for the

consumer market. My dad had one when I was growing up, and threw it away

sometime in the 1980s when it was broken. Now they sell for anywhere up to $500

on eBay, I got this one for $275, and it is worth every penny. Not even playing

records, but just hooking up my little walkman CD player to it, through JBL speakers,

its warm, glowing, extraordinary sound makes you realize just what they meant by

HI-FIDELITY?

 

throw away your iPods, this was how music was meant to be heard?

 

it makes a worthy companion to the Leica M2 and M3, the Nikon F, the Rolleiflex

3.5F, and the other camera equipment that i use from the pre-1970 era...

Hmmmm, tubes. My father had a Heathkit he built that was four black boxes with knobs and lights and stuffed full of tubes. When you turned it on, it played FM stereo! None of that cheap AM. Dee-luxe. KLH speakers too.

 

And he had a Polaroid 350. Techno-dad.

I have a Marantz stero receiver that has been sitting in my ex music room for 20 years plus. Gladly swap it for a nice working classic camera. If interested, I'll give its specs offline. This one is from the 1980s. Believe I have KLM speakers as well. Not sure if I still have them, because I won't be back home in MA till April 1st.

Um, Lester, KLM is the airline, KLH is the speaker manufacturer.

 

Thinking of which, I still have the KLH-8 FM radio I bought in July, 1961 before I went off to college. It is due for an overhaul, the filter caps in the power supply need to be replaced -- fourth time -- and the power switch has finally failed -- second time. Great radio. When I got it I was an RA in U. Pittsburgh Physics department. Picked it up a lunch time, brought it back to the lab. The consensus was that the sounds it produced were physically impossible.

 

Funny that many posters here are thrilled by second- and third-rate old cameras while the hi-fi nuts -- as crazy as we all are -- want only the very good old gear. Part of the difference has to be that crappy audio gear reproduces sound poorly while crappy cameras can, if used well, take very good pictures.

 

Cheers,

 

Dan

I listen to 78's, so there !

Of all my stereo equipment over the years, none of it sounds as good as the tube amp my son designed and built. As a measure to consider other variables, I'm hearing his amp on my speakers (JBL Jubals). My Kenwoods, JVC's, Pioneers, and Marantz, just don't sound as good. They do look a whole lot better though.

I have a Fisher 500C sitting in my spare room. With all the tubes in it, it works well and sounds great (FM stereo tuner needs some alignment.) These do have a certain "magic" in their sound. I'm presently using a H.H. Scott LK-48-B from the early 60's as my main stereo amp.

I'd happily consider trading the Fisher 500C (it's missing all it's 12AX7 tubes) for a 2 x 3 Pacemaker Graphic or a Rolleiflex. 12AX7 tubes are readily available online at reasonable prices.

 

Dave

Alan, if the 500-C hasn't been updated and serviced, you're at risk of burning out the very expensive to replace 7591A output tubes. The selenium bias rectifier and output tube coupling capacitors should be replaced at a bare minimun. There's a lot of information about this on the web.

 

My basement stereo is a Fisher 500-B. Great tuner, the overall sound is nice, if a bit brittle at times. (There's a lot of complicated cabling in there, and some odd kludges to repair the frequency response errors the cable causes.)

john, thank you for the advice. there seem to be qualified fisher technicians on the

web, i'll have this unit looked over and put into good shape...

 

i knew it, people crazy enough in one area are likely to be crazy in other areas too!

long live classic equipment, of all kinds!

"I listen to 78's, so there !"

 

Hugo Winterhalter, or Artie Shaw?

When I was in the military, everyone had a stereo. At one time, I had a pretty penny invested in a Marantz power amp (300W/channel), preamp, tuner, Dual turntable, Nakamichi cassette deck and Infiniti Quantum Jr. speakers. Still have it, but no place to put it up. Maybe next year. The 300+ LPs are stored under the steps on boards.

I had one of those, which I found in a dump many years ago. It worked pretty well but I didn't need it so I loaned it to a friend. Unfortunately his house burned down. Goodbye Fisher.

 

I still have a barn full of Dynaco tube equipment, though, including three Mark III's and a Stereo 70 or two.

For those who are interested in using and maintaining tube audio equipment (as well as classics from the 'Solid State' era), there is a lovely web discussion forum similar in tone and tenor to photo.net devoted to audio:

 

http://www.audiokarma.org

 

There are some great folks there - who pool their knowledge and talent - they even have some members who will repair and restore for a nominal fee - nice folks all around. The place is free like here.

 

Worth a visit for those interested in ancient audio (as I am).

 

Best,

 

Wiggy

Other interesting sites for tube gear are:

 

http://www.decware.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi

 

http://www.audioroundtable.com/

 

Dave (aka hurdy_gurdyman)

Stereo: Sansui model 400 1968

Turntable: Garrard Zero 100 s 1970

Music: 60s 70s soul RB

Car: Vauxhall Victor VX 4/90 1966

Cameras: Pre 1975 (mostly)

Me: 1962