Fisher solid state gear prices???
- Thread starter nolasally
- Start date
Probably the rarity card, 1st gen S.S., designed by the same guys that gave you the 500/800B, 400, 500/800C, and most of the post '58 tube gear. For the time they were well built, and pretty much had some cutting edge stuff going on with the tuners (Tune-O-Matic, Varactor tuning presets, etc.) And with one that is rebuilt with today's parts can pretty much hold their own against 70's Japanese stuff in the same wattage class.
500-T, 550-T, 700-T here. And yes they sound quite close to what my 400's and 800c's sound like. Even my 500TX (2nd Gen) has most of this sound quality. I think part of it is the fact that the early units were mainly cap coupled. However the 500-TX is direct coupled.
Audio Fan
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"Near" tube gear values? Have you seen the sold values for an 800-T? I have a nice one with documentation and remote and am shocked at the prices they sell for on the bay.
I think this is being driven by the Asia market. Perhaps, for some reason, they prefer the early SS Fisher gear over other manufacturers offerings of the same era? Not really sure.
I think this is being driven by the Asia market. Perhaps, for some reason, they prefer the early SS Fisher gear over other manufacturers offerings of the same era? Not really sure.
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Some of the early SS gear does indeed sound fairly tubey. Probably the output caps like Larry mentioned. I've got a first generation Sherwood solid state, and its surprisingly similar sounding to the Sherwood tube integrated it basically replaced. Even my cap coupled Pioneer has a certain musical sound to it that later direct coupled amps don't really match. DC amps might beat the snot out of a cap amp in terms of accuracy, specs, and damping but I find that they tend to suck some of the life out of the music. Maybe its just the reduction in damping and the wee bit of whatever extra distortion the cap adds to the equation that explains it.
KentTeffeteller
Gimpus Stereophilus!
1. Made in the USA.
2. Made when Avery Fisher owned and ran the company.
3. Very high performance when in proper operating order.
4. Made before cost cutting began taking place.
5. Classic audio equipment.
6. They sound very excellent
7. Their tuner sections are among the finest performing.
8. They have beautiful, timeless styling.
9. The increased value of Fisher tube equipment made them desirable.
10. Like all early transistor equipment of great quality, people are finally waking up to the fact that this era of SS is often the best sounding to a trained ear.
11. They make you want to listen to music.
KentTeffeteller
Gimpus Stereophilus!
Also add to this the excessive design for the spec sheet, rather than musical reproduction. And the circuit overdesign from the wattage wars. Too many amplifiers also had circuitry spoilers built in to accommodate poor turntables, tape machines, and gear not up to better amplifiers and speakers. And also too much cost cutting as HiFi became a more common item in homes, and equipment was more mass manufactured in higher numbers. The Europeans and Japanese are buying up the better 1965-1973 golden age of solid state gear. They listened and are choosing with their ears.
Many of us here, are beginning to realize this era of gear is hard to beat when it's listened to with our ears, on it's merits, we have gotten wiser. I went from this era, to later middle of the line, to monster receivers. And returned to the old sound I liked best in the end. For me, this era of SS done right satisfies me, it makes me want to listen to more music rather than turn it off.
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yeah, the early stuff is pretty bare bones in terms of general circuit design and component count. The tone amp board in the Sherwood for example is 2 transistors per channel, a handful of caps and resistors and the controls. If you look at the equivalent for their tube model its not very much different. Same story with the phono circuit.
Even when you get to the power amp stage there isn't a whole bunch going on in there.
One really nice thing with the Sherwood at least, its 100% silicon. No stupid germanium headaches inside. The transistors that were noisy can be easily replaced with modern ones for something like a dime a piece. The Pioneer is mostly the same, slightly more component count on the amp boards but still pretty barebones.
Even when you get to the power amp stage there isn't a whole bunch going on in there.
One really nice thing with the Sherwood at least, its 100% silicon. No stupid germanium headaches inside. The transistors that were noisy can be easily replaced with modern ones for something like a dime a piece. The Pioneer is mostly the same, slightly more component count on the amp boards but still pretty barebones.
I didn't realize that they were. I got my 500T for $50 and have seen 200T for $40. But I really hope the secret isn't getting out.
My Fisher 500T is on the shelf, being preserved for special occasions. I think it holds its own vs. the Pilot 402 and Scott LK-72
