Fisher Consoles 1959-1965

ChadHahn said:

The President cost $7500!

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I believe the sale price was $1495 which was $1K off the regular price of $2495. The margin on a President was well over 50% so even at that sale price the dealer was still making a few dollars. The highest MSRP for a President that I know of was in 1965: a fairly hefty $2795. And that was a hybrid model!

Lman said:

You may want to consider the cost of replacing the output tubes, if necessary. The Philharmonic III uses the 6HU8, which can be pricey. The IV uses a different (290-T vs. 280-T) chassis so maybe it uses a different tube. Just something to consider.

The Garrard AT-6 is considered a decent turntable by today's standards so, if you spin vinyl, you don't have to worry about replacing it.

Lou

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Thanks for that tip. But I passed on it. It was just too big to get in my Integra. And I had no place to store it.

coffee123 said:

That is a one georgous console! seriously makes me want to go out an find a nice fisher now...

Mark

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Thanks, Mark. It's sort of the centerpiece of my home. But just wait until you see AK member mcsteam22's 61 Statesman that he's been working on. It's a similar French Provincial design and I'm hoping he'll be posting an update on his progress pretty soon. *hint, hint*

Hi Red 1 et All:

A while back I posted a query about my Fisher console labeled W-59- "Warwick'. Has the 49-A amp and 49-T pre/ tuner/controller. Cabinet looks alot like the 'Futura V-modern' pictured in your post.
Brought it all up on the variac and seems pretty much fine except phono left channel has a hum which worsens as volume increases.
Would like to know a source for parts, schematic source you gave me.
Also, any reasonable and reliable repair service providers in NY metro area?
Kind of on the fence about restoring the cabinet-needs a fair amount of TLC. Thought of building a custom cab for the electronics and proper boxes for the speakers. Can the existing speaker enclosures in the console be improved? Appreciate any thoughts and/or advice you may have.

Regards, Mark

The Warwick appears to be a rebadged 1964 Futura V. Perhaps Fisher produced too many of this style in 1964 and changed the name and offered them at a discount to their dealers in 1965. The MSRP of the Futura V was $845 and that is also the "regular" price of the Warwick.



Have you isolated the source of your phono hum to the tuner/pre-amp? My friend's Custom Electra which has the same chassis also had a hum but it was a loose wire in the tone arm of the turntable. Unplug the turntable (the RCA connectors are waaay up inside there so be sure to vacuum out the spiders first) and see if your hum persists. As far as improving the speakers goes, I'd just hook up external speakers to the console. I would guess that the Warwick has the same speaker selector switch as the Custom Electra which has an 'external speakers' setting and dedicated connections on the back. There's no telling what speakers might sound good when paired with the 49-A but it has enough power to allow you a wide spectrum of candidates.

No suggestions for a NYC area technician but if you're ever in the DC area don't forget to bring your tubes with you and have them tested at the Radio and Television Museum in Bowie, Md.

Got the ol lady to put up the $$$ for a 1965 Electra in Chantilly (VA) on CL. Great shape but has some small nicks, dings, etc., typical dirty pots, pins sockets.. Everything works. Model E-490-P. French Provincial, Cherry Fruitwood. SERIAL 10642A. Originally purchased Oct. '64 @ Campbells Music Store in 7 Corners for $695.00 + Tax.

Pictures @ the post on the Dollars and sense forum. http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?p=2943520&posted=1#post2943520

Wow, Larry, that Electra sure is one clean console. It's good to know a fellow AK'er (and wife!) got that one. Too bad about the glass but I'm confident that you guys will eventually run across a disembodied 49-T for parts. I've seen quite a few in the past couple of years.

Thanks. I was surprised at it's actual condition. Better than the pictures on CL.

Finished cleaning the tuner and amp. Got it running right now to check the tubes for any fall off after prolonged use(+2 hours). They all tested above 70% except one of the ECC-80's on my EICO. The one ECC80(6HU8)made 60%(barely in the good range.). All of the tubes are Fisher either made in Germany/West Germany/Great Britain with the exception of the ECC-80's(6HU8). They are ITT made in Germany. I dipped each in plain water (top down) and then rolled them across a paper towel to dry. About 1/2 lost most of their lettering. DAMN! So much for trying to keep them legible and somewhat clean.

All the pots/switches/tube sockets were de-oxited. That fixed the flaky sockets, etc.

Guess I'll get the old lady some tubes for XMAS. HMMM Something different. They aren't appliances, kitchen utensils, or other stuff I usually get her. Was running out of ideas............



Larry

So what's your opinion of the Electra thus far? Compared to all the Astro-sonic Magnavoxes (Magnavoces? Magnavocum? Magnavoxen?) you've heard, where would you rate the 49-T/49-A's sound?

(Tubes make great stocking stuffers, by the way.)

3 of my Maggies have the 10wpc and the 4th has the 30wpc amp.
the Maggie tend to either have not a lot of bass or too much. Highs are really shrill with the attenuator. With the pot the treble is more managable. But still shrill.
They all sound pretty much alike.


Note the FISHER needs some tuner work (Multiplex needs adjust, and a general Tuner Alignment). Other than that and a re-cap it should be a real winner.

1.) BASS is very good. NOT TOO MUCH. It doesn't get BOOMY. But that may be partially a difference between open baffle and closed box.

2.) Treble is very good. Mids are tied in here too. Seems that they vary equally with the pot. Not Shrill at all and the mids are actually noticable.

3.) Stereo Separation. OUTSTANDING!! NUFF SAID!

4.) With one loose tube socket in the tuner section needing replacement(I can wiggle the tube slightly and get the tuner back, I've changed the 6ba6 3 times and it still has the intermittent. Yes I De-Oxited all the sockets.) It pulls in stations well on the internal antenna. AM is WEAK, or it may be placement.It definately needs an alignment.

5.) Volume adjustment is smooth all the way across the board. It get uncomfortable at about 1130 on the pot. It's that loud with a pair of SP-2500 Sansui's on it as "B's" running by themselves. The internal speakers sound like generic console speakers. Nothing spectacular but they ARE better than the Maggie's. I used the Sansui's to A/B the internals for testing. I have a pair of XP-55B's on the wall in the bedroom being worked by the 2000A Sansui. Maybe I should put the XP-55b's on the Fisher for shits and giggles.

Comparing the E-490-P (1965 Electra) against a R-494(1969 Royal Electra) it's almost a toss up. The 490 has a tonal quality that's hard to define. It has LESS of a sharp edge that I see/feel in a strictly SS unit. Although I have absolutely NO experience with an ELAC Miracord 10F TT, and damn near a lifetime with BSR's, I have to give it to the ELAC. Smoother operation, NO or very little plastic, and built like a tank.

on a 0-10 Scale:

I'd give the Fisher E-490-P an 8.5
I'd give the Fisher R-494 a 8.1
I give any of my Maggies a 5.3. But the East German judge gave them a 9.7. Go figure.........


Larry

Great review, Larry. I've always thought that Fisher's hybrids were pretty competitive with their all-tube predecessors. I'd be very curious to hear one of the high-end Fishers from their hybrid era. They claimed 120 watts for the 64-65 Presidents and that may not be hype given their transistorized output stage. The Electras were supposedly 50 watts - do you think that sounds accurate based on what you're hearing?

I'd say 50-60 IHF OR IEF or whatever acronym the FCC/ICC is using this week. RMS watts? Maybe 15-20 RMS Watts at most based on what I'm hearing plus from what I see on the amp for filter caps. 3000uf/50v. I've got the SM on order so I'll do a re-cap on it. Also the tubes may be weaker than my EICO is indicating. I have access to a HICKOK tester so I'll retest the tubes and change as necessary.

Considering that the FCC/ICC hadn't got into the act at that point in ordering everyone to adhere to the same testing parameters, I think 120 for the Presidents may be hype. Not much mind ya, but hype. From what I've seen and heard from Fishers, They appear to pretty much be what they say. Having said that, everyone was trying to one up each other from the mid 60's on, and then the FCC/ICC getting everyone on the same sheet tended to straighten them out. They had one standard for testing and it shook out all the buggy ones and the cheats. I think FISHER pretty much had the closest specs to what they were advertising.

I'd like to see one put on the bench and tested to the 1972 parameters and see what they come up with. It would be interesting to say the least.

Larry

OT but still useful....

larryderouin said:

I dipped each in plain water (top down) and then rolled them across a paper towel to dry. About 1/2 lost most of their lettering. DAMN! So much for trying to keep them legible and somewhat clean. Larry

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here's a suggestion for tube cleaning. I got these tubes absolutely covered in dust....



if you've ever had some BB's of any kind, you know how delicate the lettering is. What I did was to round up a bunch of Q-tips, the brand name ones with the thickest cotton tips, and mix up a solution of diluted Simple Green. I then carefully took each tube and taking extreme care to avoid the markings, cleaned the remaining areas of the glass with the Q-tips dipped in cleaning solution, changing swabs frequently, as soon as they got dirty rather than smearing the dirt from one place to another....

Came out pretty nice huh?.....:thmbsp:

Been listening to it for a few days now. Other than a problem with the thing kicking back and forth between mono and stereo in FM, it sounds great. The stylus on the V-15 needs to be replaced. I'm thinking about putting my new 400V.3 Stanton on there and see how that sounds on the ELAC Miracord.

The manuals are on order from Rick Stout. Hopefully I can get the multiplexer to stop changing it's mind.

Larry

Hi Fisher folks,

I bought a Fisher Philharmonic console yesterday. It's in VERY good condition. It's all tubes and is a model P-291. The model charts posted earlier in this thread list consoles through 1965 and show a Philharmonic V as the P-290. What's a P-291? 1966 model? The outputs are the dual pentode PP variety. As soon as I'm able, I'll post some pics including the tube/chassis layout from the tag on the rear.

If I can figure out how to fit it into the house somewhere, the wife might acutally like it. I've trashed a few consoles in the past to get the amps and other parts, but this one may be fun to restore. I have a Fisher 400 and an FM-90B tuner, but have never come across a Fisher console.

Thanks,
John

Nerdorama,

Looking forward to the pictures. You have a '66 as you surmised - the last of Fisher's tubed consoles. Here is a smattering of information on your console:

Thanks Red1,

Mine's the Early American.

John

I know it's after 1965, but

1966 is close. Here are some pictures of my weekend console find. It's in nice condition. Since the front looks just like the Early American brochure picture above I'm only posting insides for now. It's quite clean and it appears to have had a Calrad SS phono preamp added. This fits with the Pickering magnetic cartridge in the turntable. The receiver is pretty spotless and should be a fun restoration. Anyone have schematics for a P-291? Can't seem to get a hit on Google.

Anyway, here they are.

John

Someone took real pride in that console to have kept it so clean for all these years. And I'm pretty sure it is a '66 as I have both the catalog and price list for that year. The P-290 was 1965; the P-291, 1966; P-292, 1967 and the P-293 was from 1968 (the last year I have information on). Your console may have been purchased subsequent to 1966 but it wasn't a P-292 which would have been 100% solid state. The Early American from '67 looked like this:



I have seen some indications that Fisher either overproduced in '66 or possibly still had some 1966 tube/tube hybrid models in available in 1967 (the year Fisher went 100% solid state) for its more conservative clients who weren't comfortable with the new technology.

Lman said:

You may want to consider the cost of replacing the output tubes, if necessary. The Philharmonic III uses the 6HU8, which can be pricey. The IV uses a different (290-T vs. 280-T) chassis so maybe it uses a different tube. Just something to consider.

The Garrard AT-6 is considered a decent turntable by today's standards so, if you spin vinyl, you don't have to worry about replacing it.

Lou

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In my newly acquired Philharmonic IV. You are correct it uses the same output tubes, (2) 6HU8, as the Philly III. Though this example also has the optional mpx-77 module, along with the AT-6.