Fisher 800-C - anyone with experience?

[Lizard Leg]

Howdy guys - this is my first post. I found the forum while searching for info on a Fisher 800C I just acquired. Up until this point my experience with tube amps has all been guitar related.

A little back story. My son comes riding up on his bike the other day and dumps 4 7591 power tubes in my lap and asks me if I want these. Told him, I didn't have an amp for these, but yes, I did. Asked him where he got them.

Down the street, someone threw an old stereo in the garbage. Want me to go get it? Well, sure, if it wouldn't be too much trouble...:yes:

He took his four wheeler down and brought back a Fisher 800C, fully tubed with original tubes, original wood case, with grill, but missing the fuse and fuse holder cap.

At first, I was blinded by the 6 Telefunken smooth plates and the 3 Mullard short, ribbed with Halo getter. In the guitar amp world, those two tubes are king!:banana:

Then I got to looking at the iron on the Fisher and was thinking, wow, bet that would make a KILLER guitar amp. Well, I finally got to looking at the stereo itself. Pulled the cover, looked around, and it is clean, clean, clean inside. Wired in an inline fuse and lacking a variac at present, closed my eyes, took my chances and threw the switch.

Well, it works. A few minor issues with the tape mon switch shorting out and cutting out the left channel, but the FM reception is great, and so-so with my little MP3 player plugged into the back.

I did have a few technical questions about the unit and the circuit - anyone here that could answer a few questions?

Thanks,
Steve

[Tom Bavis]

I haven't dug into mine yet... it's my basement stereo and the amp section at least works great. The Sams schematic is at the bottom of my web page below (been meaning to make some better scans...)

http://www.audiophool.cjb.net/Audio.html

If you can post a close-up of the fuse holder, I can probably provide a cap (or a whole fuse holder).

[JohnVF]

I'm sure many will chime in, as this is a popular tube receiver around here (and should be anywhere). I just bought the Fisher X-202b integrated amp and it is supposedly the pre-amp/amp section out of the 500/800. Do a google search..there's some good stuff out there about the 800. My 202 is about 30-35 wpc, but those are quality watts and I have driven some pretty tough speakers with them, and it sounds absolutely fantastic. Mine was restored by a top-notch technician, is perfectly quiet and I would list it among the best sounding pieces of gear I own. Congrats on the find! (or, rather, your son's find..).

-john

[Lizard Leg]

thanks for the info guys! I've done a lot of searches in the past few days, and have the schematic already -thanks for posting that!

My main questions right now are, bypassing the tape mon switch so it is hard wired off, any drawbacks? Which input would be best for hooking up an MP3 player or CD player? For right now, I don't even have speakers to plug into yet - I lost all of my floor speakers in the storm and went the surround sound route afterwards.

I am using two of my 1x12 guitar speaker cabs, both loaded with 8 ohm speakers, just to see if it works.

[Lizard Leg]

BTW - one of the first upgrades I have in mind is changing out the two prong power for a grounded three prong. The cord as is right now still has the hang tag on it from Fisher!

There is a bolt right inside the chassis from where the power cord comes in, holding down one of the trannies. Any problem with doing the earth ground to that on the new cord?

[merrylander]

Don't put a three wire cord on it, one side of the line cord is already connected to the chassis througha resistor, about 860 ohms if memory serves.

[Lizard Leg]

Schematic shows it going to ground via an 820 ohm resistor, so I guess I am covered there! Thanks for the tip - I hadn't made it that far into the schematic yet.

Any thoughts on which input and any changes to the circuit for hooking up a CD player or MP3 player?

Steve

[JohnVF]

I run a cd player into the aux input on the 202 and it sounds great. Don't see why an MP3 player with an 1/8" to RCA y-cable wouldn't work just as well.

[Fisher_man]

I think the Aux input should work with MP3 player. The levels for AUX input is perfect input for anything modern. If your CD player works in it why an MP3 would not work ? Check again the cable you have for possible shorting.
Good luck!

[Lizard Leg]

Plugged it in last night (I have got to get some real speakers...) MP3 into the AUX jacks, level is much, much lower than FM, although sound quality is good.

With FM, vol. at 3 is loud. To get the same volume with MP3 players, vol. is at 7.

[zenith2134]

On your player, make sure the output volume is at 70% or higher. Maximum volume might not suit you well dependent on the player and its quality.

The 800-c is IMO one of the pinnacles of American HiFi and an all-around legend. Find some AR speakers from that time frame and you've got an absolutely killer setup brewing.

I owned a 500-c and it was just magical to use. Plus, the 800-c has got AM :D

[Lizard Leg]

I will admit that even running through guitar speaker cabs, the sound from the FM is unreal. can't wait to get some real speakers! But just too busy to do much with it right now, other than listen to it!

[JohnVF]

I have a Fisher FM tube tuner (200, matches the 202 integrated) that had a very slight tweak done to it to extend the high frequency and it is pure audio bliss. Yep...Fisher FM is audio BLISS.

What MP3 player are you using? I agree totally with the 'volume at 70%' post...it seems to be the magical place using the 1/8 plug out on my iPod. Any lower and the signal isn't enough, and higher and it starts to distort. And MP3s are already distorted enough.

BTW..when I auditioned my Fisher, one of the speakers was a stereo pair of horn-loaded '60s guitar cabinets that actually sounded nice. The Bozaks they were sitting on sounded much much better.

[Fisherdude]

Congrats on snagging your 800C! It's a keeper!

The Aux input is the correct input for an MP3 player or a CD player. The volume setting should be roughly the same as you would use for the FM setting. You don't need to do anything special, just hook the RCA cables from your CD or MP3 player to the Aux inputs, and you're ready to go. If the volume is significantly lower than it is on FM, then you simply might need to increase the volume on the MP3 player.

There's no need to bypass or short the tape monitor switch. Just use a contact cleaner on the switches.

[Fisher_man]

I agree with Fisherdude.One thing though, if you want to enjoy good sound - listen to CD or LP or direct connection. MP3 is a compressed music , it does not have the full tones and it will sound degraded . You become more sensitive (or sophisticated) to good sound if you start using good amps like you have...and good speakers too:)
Enjoy!

[Lizard Leg]

Can't wait to get some speakers...
This will be a backup stereo, probably in my music room, so take it easy on the $$, but any suggestions?

for the last year or two, almost everything I listen to is through a pair of Sennheiser monitor headphones, live, or just a guitar. I design and build guitar effects pedals once I'm done with the day job, so i don't have a lot fo time to just sit and listen like I used to.

Might plug my laptop into tonight and load a cd up to see. I still am amazed that their is no hum, no noise, no nothing. All the pots and switches need a good cleaning, but other than that, it seems to be in perfect owrking order.

BTW - I'm out of deoxit at the moment - I have a backup can of the rat shack cleaner - any thoughts on whether or not this is okay for the switches and pots on the Fisher?

[JohnVF]

There are a lot of good values in vintage speakers, and many sound great with vintage tube equipment. I've had KLH 17s and sixes on mine, as well as AR2ax, Boston Acoustics A150s, Large Advents and Pioneer HPM 100s. Most of these are pretty common and each sounds different and very good in its own way. There are a lot of more expensive (and newer) speakers around, but vintage speakers can be had for pretty cheap depending on where you live and how hard you look (or how lucky your are). I paid everything from 0$ to a few hundred for vintage speakers and I feel all have been great bargains for what they are. (especially the free ones given to me when buying other things).

I bet it doesn't remain a 'backup stereo' when you get some real speakers hooked to it....

[Lizard Leg]

if it sounds that good, and I think it will, I will have to see about adding another piece to the living room, but my main AV system in the living room is nothing by the standards you guys live by! harmon kardon receiver and Infinity surrounds, center and sub.

Just not sure if I have room left to add in floor speakers and the Fisher in the living room. I've been looking for a stereo for the music room (music room = guitars and amps, not stereos BTW) so... then the fisher found its way into my life. I went by the house around the corner that had thrown it out to see if I could get some more info - not home. Neighbor was and we talked for a few minutes and she will be passing along my number. I'm just crious about the back story.

[JohnVF]

You're underestimating a room's ability to handle new music systems. Right beside my HT receiver sits a Pioneer SX-1280 stereo receiver...about 65 pounds of '70s music-iron. The yamaha HT receiver lives life completely embarrassed and intimidated by it's neighbor. And across the room lives the fisher, embarrassing both the other two.

[Fisherdude]

...Right beside my HT receiver sits a Pioneer SX-1280 stereo receiver...about 65 pounds of '70s music-iron. The yamaha HT receiver lives life completely embarrassed and intimidated by it's neighbor. And across the room lives the fisher, embarrassing both the other two.

John, you feel that the Fisher bests the 1280?

[John L]

The Functional Idiot, who threw it away, should be shot. :yes:

[JohnVF]

John, you feel that the Fisher bests the 1280?

Yep. Might be a personal taste thing but on the Fisher I get lost in the music, and on the Pioneer I just sit around and listen. I don't really know how to phrase it..the Pioneer makes more 'sound' the Fisher makes more 'music'.

That was my FM-200-B at the Chicago AK get-together...I told you it was for sale with the matching X-202-b and you recommended it...so I went back and bought it over Easter when visiting my parents. Thanks for the recommendation! I love this amp. It's in as good of condition as the tuner. They deserve to be back together, of course.

Cheers,
john

[Lizard Leg]

It's not so much that the room can't handle, it's the aesthetics I guess. My living room is 16 x 26, with cathedral ceilings, 14' center, 8' sides. The way the living room is laid out furniture wise, I just don't have the space for the additional speakers and stereo stand. As much as I am liking the stereo, other than putting it in the music room, I just don't know where to put it!

I will say that knowing what I know about this unit now, I will not be cannibilizing it for the trannies to build a guitar amp! Before I do that, I'll pass it along to someone who can really appreciate it.

BTW - I plugged a decent MP3 player into it last night, my wife's iPod, and it sounded 100 times better than the one I had been using, and the volume levels were much closer to the FM signal levels.

[JohnVF]

When I use the separate FM tuner with my integrated fisher, the FM signal is lower than the AUX input. As long as you don't have to crank the volume to get a decent volume it shouldn't be a big deal.

As for many set-ups in one room, I was half-joking as my apartment has been taken over by vintage electronics in the small span of about a year. My furniture is vintage, too, though so it all kind of works in a museum sort of way.

[Lizard Leg]

I would like to say thanks for the great info and the welcome to AK. I am much more into vintage tube guitar amps and tubes however. Not sure how it works with vintage tube stereos, but in a tube amp, changing out the main pre-amp tubes (generally V1 and V2) and to a lesser degree the PI and rectifier tubes, can make a so-so amp into a beast.

I have a new Genz Benz Black Pearl 30 (5-12AX7, 4 EL-84, 5AR4 rectifier) that I have been playing with retubing for a while now to get the sound that speaks to me and I have to admit, one of the Fisher Mullards in V1, and the Telefunken in V2 is pure sonic bliss! Got a tip yesterday about trying one of the TF's in the PI slot, so I might try that this weekend.