Mark Davis
Active Member
What is every ones opinion on this receiver?
FISHER 200 RETRO TRANSISTOR FM-MPX RECEIVER.
- Thread starter Mark Davis
- Start date
the skipper
Professional Curmudgeon
Had one. Bought it new in '67. Didn't like it. Worst purchase of my audio life. Buggy as hell from day 1. One channel always weak, Mux died after the warranty expired and then one of the chrome strips on the front panel started peeling off.
quiet
Addicted Member
Low power, hard to work on, hard to keep running right, dark sound,,,,,, Getting your hands on a good vintage Fisher receiver is not so easy as you might think. There are lots of reasons for that . And the ones you really want are very pricey for what you get when compared to the other brands of the day. Many things come together to make a unit collectible and the Fisher has all the wrong ones if you want something you can get for a reasonable amount of money and actually use day in and day out. It's a tube era leftover. Plenty of 1966/1972 30 to 50 watt Pioneer, Kenwood, Heath, Sansui, Lafayette, Magnavox, JVC, Allied, Scott, Sony,,,,,,,, for a 1/4 the cost plug and play. All sound great with excellent build.
Popcorn time.
Popcorn time.
Mark Davis
Active Member
Any particular models jump out for the above mentioned other receivers? I know of a Kenwood kw-60 available. Not sure what a good price would be.
hemiram
Active Member
I sold a lot of lower end Pioneers, Kenwoods, Sansuis, Technics, and others back in the early to mid '70's. The Technics were the most trouble free across the board, it was a rare one that had any issues at all out of the box. The lower end Kenwoods and Pioneers seemed to have a lot of soldering issues with regards to the volume/tone/balance controls, and some of the plugs that were hand soldered. The mid range and higher end ones were pretty good. I had a low end Kenwood, I don't remember the model number come out of the box and make no sound at all, except a very slight hum. The volume control wasn't connected! By that point I was trying to get my customers to move up to at least a lower end Kenwood, if they had a Kenwood thing going, same for Pioneer. The odd thing to me was that I had people buying stuff from me that seemed fixated that all their components had to be from the same manufacturer, but they would mix and match car speakers and when quad started for home gear, would buy one brand for the fronts and another for the rears. Since I had had a lot of problems with the low end Kenwood receivers and had gotten good at finding bad solder joints, I had no problem connecting the volume control and not have to send back the dead unit and wait for a replacement or repair, which took forever most of the time. My own HK330B took months to return from HK's service depot when it started sounding very dull, like my tweeters had blown. When it came back, it sounded better than it ever did, but I had moved on and replaced it with my long time unit, a Panasonic/Technics (I've seen them with both names, along with National) SA-6500. It's weak spot was the slide controls. Mine was working great after 30+ years, but the volume slider had become intermittent, so it became my surround power amp. At almost 46 years old, it's still working daily for a friend without any repairs except for me keying up a 300 watt linear amp next to it and blowing out the FM right after I bought it. A diode had it going again. I have one now that works pretty well, but needs filter caps, which I have ordered. And the Sansui receivers I sold were in general, nightmares. LOTS of bad soldering in them. I would run them for a week straight before sending one home with someone. A couple of years in, I stopped selling them unless someone really really really wanted one. Grey market warranty on Sansui's made for a world of hassle.
quiet
Addicted Member
Wow. Kenwood KW-60. From 1961 I think. AM/FM simulcast stereo. Not FM stereo. A real novelty piece for sure. Your going to have to go over to the tube section and ask over there on that one. Lots of folks love tubes. Have you had a tube unit?
If you can get a good working tube unit for not much money I think you should try it at least for the experience. They can be a very hands on type of thing. If it's a very healthy unit it can be used everyday.
I have a 1963 Pioneer tube receiver myself. I don't use it because it's not stable due to old original parts inside even though it works well. It's way cool for sure.
If you are thinking Fisher I would hold out for the 700 solid state receiver. Make sure it works like new money and be prepared to pay the going rate and plan to never sell it, maybe $400. Then hope for the best.
If you find your way to the "Receiver Collectors; Raise Your Hands!!!" thread in the Solid State section and look at post #329 I can tell you about anything on that list first hand. I have all of them. That's a good list of what your looking for. Anything else and I would not be speaking from current experience. Expect to pay $75 to $200 for what's on the list. Only a few of them are not worth the effort.
If you can get a good working tube unit for not much money I think you should try it at least for the experience. They can be a very hands on type of thing. If it's a very healthy unit it can be used everyday.
I have a 1963 Pioneer tube receiver myself. I don't use it because it's not stable due to old original parts inside even though it works well. It's way cool for sure.
If you are thinking Fisher I would hold out for the 700 solid state receiver. Make sure it works like new money and be prepared to pay the going rate and plan to never sell it, maybe $400. Then hope for the best.
If you find your way to the "Receiver Collectors; Raise Your Hands!!!" thread in the Solid State section and look at post #329 I can tell you about anything on that list first hand. I have all of them. That's a good list of what your looking for. Anything else and I would not be speaking from current experience. Expect to pay $75 to $200 for what's on the list. Only a few of them are not worth the effort.
Mark Davis
Active Member
Whay are your thoughts on a Technics SA-303 Stereo Receiver for $80? In great condition?
50nstillhifi
Super Member
Hmmmm.... did not realize many of these receivers had issues such as soldering and controller knobs. I have come across a couple of units both Kenwood and Pioneer seemingly working fine.. although I give "test period" as well to ensure safe use.
On the note of "mixed components", I remember most friends in the purchasing of their stereos applying such a strict guideline. I suppose the thought was purity in a sense and a branding in terms of presentation of their rigs.
Although, at this time, I find most vintage models having survived years of use (or neglect) will play relatively well whether "stand alone" or mixed in with modern and tech forward devices.
On the note of "mixed components", I remember most friends in the purchasing of their stereos applying such a strict guideline. I suppose the thought was purity in a sense and a branding in terms of presentation of their rigs.
Although, at this time, I find most vintage models having survived years of use (or neglect) will play relatively well whether "stand alone" or mixed in with modern and tech forward devices.
Mark Davis
Active Member
I was looking to use the Technics SA-303 Stereo Receiver for $80 in the bedroom or as a second receiver not my main one.
hemiram
Active Member
The SA-303 was a decent enough receiver for most of us back then, so it should be now too.
If it works well out of the box, the only thing I would do is change out the filter caps as a preventative thing. If you want to "go wild", leave them alone. But at 35-40 years old, I would rather not have them pop when I turned it on some day, and it's an easy job, unless they are glued in and there is little room.. Could be a week, a month, or years before they go, you never know. Some of them seem to last and last, some don't. Caps you can get, it's the switches, knobs, some IC's and the transformer (You can substitute one from a similar receiver as long as it fits.) that are hard to find unless you get lucky. A couple of times I've been pleasantly surprised when I looked for some part for a radio or stereo component long since it was carried by the manufacturer on Ebay and found it. Only drawback was the price and I had to buy a whole set of knobs, or an entire board to get one IC. My Sa-500 will be here Monday. I have caps coming, I hope they show up at the same time, so I can have it up and running by Monday night!
If it works well out of the box, the only thing I would do is change out the filter caps as a preventative thing. If you want to "go wild", leave them alone. But at 35-40 years old, I would rather not have them pop when I turned it on some day, and it's an easy job, unless they are glued in and there is little room.. Could be a week, a month, or years before they go, you never know. Some of them seem to last and last, some don't. Caps you can get, it's the switches, knobs, some IC's and the transformer (You can substitute one from a similar receiver as long as it fits.) that are hard to find unless you get lucky. A couple of times I've been pleasantly surprised when I looked for some part for a radio or stereo component long since it was carried by the manufacturer on Ebay and found it. Only drawback was the price and I had to buy a whole set of knobs, or an entire board to get one IC. My Sa-500 will be here Monday. I have caps coming, I hope they show up at the same time, so I can have it up and running by Monday night!
