EQ Z1 Professional Digital Reference by Fisher

[Ibemiked]

i know this forum is reserved for mostly The Fisher gear but... I picked up this sweet piece yesterday! It's an EQ Z1 Professional Digital Reference by Fisher! This was Fishers TOTL EQ for the RS Z1 Receiver. There was also a Z1 Cassette, CD, turntable and Possibly DAT Tape. This is some nice gear! If you ever run across anything Z1 for a reasonable price GRAB IT! Don't think twice! This stuff is the real deal and you will not be disappointed! I was lucky to get this EQ, maybe if I'm super lucky I'll land a few more pieces of this Z1 puzzle. The EQ not only looks super cool it greatly improved the sound of the Front channel of my HT system. I'm powering Vintage Polk RTA12c's with a Marantz MM9000 5 channel amp with an Integra 6.4 as a preamp. It sounded good before but with the EQ Z1 between the integra and Marantz it literally sounds 10-20 times better! When the volume is set at 1 it sounds as loud as it did before at 10! My normal go to volume setting was 28-30 now with the EQ 18-20. I use a Onkyo stereo preamp to compensate for the center channel to match the volume of the front speakers, it's a Paradigm Reference biamp speaker so i used a single male RCA to double female RCA adaptor so I could power it with 2 channels of the amp. Huge difference in sound quality with the center biamped!

 

[thornev]

If you're using EQ so you can reduce volume on the receiver, you're adding too much EQ which makes the sound of what you're listening to unnatural. EQ was not meant to ADD music where it was never there (although I'll plead guilty to upping the bass on some records that I FEEL need it). EQ was meant to REMOVE those frequencies in a room that resonate where they should not. But then that's the argument of a purist so I'll shutup now.

 

[Ibemiked]

If you're using EQ so you can reduce volume on the receiver, you're adding too much EQ which makes the sound of what you're listening to unnatural. EQ was not meant to ADD music where it was never there (although I'll plead guilty to upping the bass on some records that I FEEL need it). EQ was meant to REMOVE those frequencies in a room that resonate where they should not. But then that's the argument of a purist so I'll shutup now.

I forgot to mention the fact that I have a stereo preamp for the Front speakers. Integra 6.4 HT preamp to Stanton S8 mixer (preamp) to the Fisher EQ Z1 to the Marantz MM9000. But I had this preamp applied prior to the EQ Z1 which really boosted the overall volume. I see what you're saying though.

 

[sKiZo]

Hey, it's purty enough who cares if it works? <G>

But agree ... the goal is to have the same volume level with the EQ in as with it bypassed. If you're getting boost (or cut) when you find your sweet spot, next step is to adjust ALL the controls so you have the same relative position on the sliders and the volume doesn't change when you hit the bypass button. Good place to start with yours would be to drop all the sliders -3db and fine tune from there.

 

[Ibemiked]

Hey, it's purty enough who cares if it works? <G>

But agree ... the goal is to have the same volume level with the EQ in as with it bypassed. If you're getting boost (or cut) when you find your sweet spot, next step is to adjust ALL the controls so you have the same relative position on the sliders and the volume doesn't change when you hit the bypass button. Good place to start with yours would be to drop all the sliders -3db and fine tune from there.

Im happy with the setup. So that everything was balanced I have separate preamps for the Center, Front and Rear speakers. My integra 6.4 is not a true 7.1 it's 6.1 but has 7.1 ability? It's an older model. I was most concerned about the Front & center speakers anyway. The signal from the integra is kind of weak with all channels set to the highest level. So I added the preamps, I then added the EQ to the fronts and it made it was much louder at low volume then the other channels so I just decreased the volume of
The Front Channel preamp, problem solved. I'm pretty happy with my HT setup! I'll never part with my Marantz MM9000! I also have an older Kenwood 2 channel 150WPC amp for the center channel, my center speaker is a Paradigm Reference Biamp speaker
So It uses both channels of the amp. The Front, LRC rear are powered by the Marantz, im only running a 6.1 setup,
Actually it's 6.2 because I have 2 subwoofers. I could go 7.2 by only using one channel for the center but it honestly makes a big difference biamping the center! That Paradigm Reference is one of the best center channel speakers (for the $) ever made!

 

[Lossless]

Wanna sell it? I recently acquired RS-Z1 Receiver.

 

[Ibemiked]

Wanna sell it? I recently acquired RS-Z1 Receiver.

I'm not looking to sell right now but if and when I am I'll be sure to let you know. I'd love to get my hands on some more z1 gear! It's defintelty some underrated stuff! I don't think many people know about it. I'd love to get the z1 turntable! Or an RS or the z1 tape deck or cd and I'm pretty sure they made a z1 dat player too. Great stuff! Pretty rare too!

 

[Ibemiked]

Wanna sell it? I recently acquired RS-Z1 Receiver.

Just an FYI there's actually an EQ-Z1 on eBay right now! Think it's a bid auction and the price wasn't to high last time I checked. Theres an RS-Z1 from the same seller also.

 

[Lossless]

Just an FYI there's actually an EQ-Z1 on eBay right now! Think it's a bid auction and the price wasn't to high last time I checked. Theres an RS-Z1 from the same seller also.

Thanks for the heads up.

 

[Lossless]

I'm not looking to sell right now but if and when I am I'll be sure to let you know. I'd love to get my hands on some more z1 gear! It's defintelty some underrated stuff! I don't think many people know about it. I'd love to get the z1 turntable! Or an RS or the z1 tape deck or cd and I'm pretty sure they made a z1 dat player too. Great stuff! Pretty rare too!

Underrated! You’re telling me! I picked mine up in near mint condition on eBay. I was the only bidder. Thank God! Found it by accident after googling “class A receiver”. Seller had listed it as “Class A receiver”. It was in temperature controlled storage facility for over 10 years. Factory fisher AM antenna, No internal dust, no marks, tight volume control,no RCA connector scratches/makings like it’s ever been plugged into anything. Had to drive 3 hrs to get it but it was well worth the drive. I probably wouldn’t actually use EQ, it just looks cool! Most of the Z1 stuff I have seen is usually over seas. I’ve been in heaven ever since. It has replaced my Yamaha CR1040 which never sounded the same after a reputable local stereo shop “fixed” replaced amplifier transistors.