Fisher Consoles 1959-1965

[vsam]

Originally Posted by TheRed1

Unrepresented below are the saddest cases: AK members who have inherited Fisher consoles through their families. They are truly blameless; having grown up with the high fidelity and never knowing any other mode of existence. Off the top of my head I can only think of only one such case: Duffinator and his beautiful 1955 Custom Electra II. Are there others?

Since this post was from last year, you know by now that I'm another "saddest case," having inherited a GORGEOUS truly custom console, boohoopoorpoorpitifulme. LOL. http://audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=409688

I'm also laughing at your explanation of your avatar's ultimate intent and your grid pics - reminds me of my dad and his plotting everything on graph paper to ensure exactly where chosen pieces, including said Fisher console, would go when they moved into this (current) house. And the avatar creative process sounds more than a little familiar. Seems I'm not the only one who slaved over a dumb little graphic. ;-)

[AZOrganist]

We've had a Contemporary C-810 and Stereo Companion 560 in the family for years; it sat for years in our guest room as decorative furniture for many years. For Christmas last year my partner had the whole thing gone over, and we've been enjoying it now for several weeks.

Capacitors have been replaced, and tubes have all been checked. The radio may never again be what it once was, but the amps sound terrific. We're not going to do anything with the old Garrard changer; my Dual 1229 plugged into a phono preamp sounds magnificent on this rig. We are cheating in one regard, though: tonight I plugged my old Pioneer graphic equalizer in to see if the midrange could be tamed on the speakers--they were much too "forward" for my taste, and the high treble much too weak. It seems to have worked; a big cut at 1 kHz and a somewhat lesser one at 4 kHz, plus even smaller ones at 250 Hz and 2 kHz balance the tone considerably--the treble comes through better now.

I'm amazed at how authoritatively this console fills a huge living room!

[juanrmag]

Well, just picked up a Custom Electra V Modern this weekend. It is my first console and first vacuum tube-driven audio component. The thing is in fairly tip top shape. I think one of the midrange drivers is out and every so often the audio crackles in & out...not sure if that is the electronics or the vinyl or what. Overall, though, it sounds pretty good.

It appears to be all original tubes, everything appears to work, and even the business card from the dealer is taped to the back - looks to have been local all its life. It has the MPX unit installed, though it is not reflected in the model # tag on the back with an "X". I plan to spend some time here learning how I can get this beauty cleaned up a bit more. After just a wipe down and polish with a bit of lemon oil the cabinet looks great. I certainly wouldn't guess it is 50 years old. How do I know if I need/should re-cap?

Also, was originally planning to plug in a standalone turntable to the Aux in, but it is only mono aux in
Can I plug in another stereo source into the MPX inputs instead or will that not work? What is the REV in/out used for? I searched and haven't found anything about this, yet.

Here's some initial pics...

[TheRed1]

Congratulations! The CE V Modern cabinet is one of Fisher's all-time best designs (in my opinion). Yours looks to be in excellent condition.

Jon has the service manual available at the fisherconsoles.com website. I took a quick look at the preamp schematic. I wonder why they only offered a mono AUX input on this model - that was uncharacteristically stingy for Fisher. My '59 Contemporary II is both earlier and further down in the model hierarchy but it has stereo AUX inputs.

I presume the standalone turntable you mention has a low-level output magnetic cartridge. In that case you should have good results using the MPX inputs providing you use an outboard phono preamp. Alternately, you could use the PHONO inputs but you'd have to either unplug the on-board changer or use an input switching device. Looking at the schematic, the 460-T's PHONO inputs do appear to be low-level inputs designed for magnetic cartridges. They have an extra preamp stage as well as RIAA EQ.

[juanrmag]

Yeah, it thought it odd there was not stereo aux inputs. Now that you say it, an external switcher on the phono input does sound like the best idea, to take advantage of the built-in preamp stage.

Looking at the back label stamped "W" I am taking that to mean walnut finish. Does that sound right?

[TheRed1]

Originally Posted by juanrmag

Looking at the back label stamped "W" I am taking that to mean walnut finish. Does that sound right?

Yes and walnut almost always equals modern/contemporary. Somewhere I posted a list of Fisher 'cabinet codes'. . . here:

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/sho...32#post4094132

Sometimes they indicate the wood (which was used in a particular style console - i.e.: W = Walnut = Modern/Contemporary) and sometimes they indicate the style (for which a particular type of wood was usually used - i.e.: P = Provincial = Cherry/Fruitwood). Fisher was very consistent in their inconsistencies.

[Sam Cogley]

That damned "P" code...sometimes it even shows up where the factory says it couldn't.

[sslade43]

What's a Custom Electric V Modern look worth in working condition? I picked one up that was supposedly working a couple months ago. I've never owned a console before, so I am excited to check the Fisher console out.

[sslade43]

Well, I got it home and it works! Evidently the previous owner didn't know how to operate it. Where is the aux on the 460a? I can't seem to find it and I want to test it out.

[juanrmag]

Originally Posted by sslade43

Well, I got it home and it works! Evidently the previous owner didn't know how to operate it. Where is the aux on the 460a? I can't seem to find it and I want to test it out.

It's just left of/and next to the Phono inputs. It's just a single RCA since the Aux is mono only.

[sslade43]

Thanks, I found it!

[sslade43]

Here are a couple pictures of the console. I still can't believe the previous owner didn't think it worked. It sounds great!

[shacky]

Gorgeous!

[TheRed1]

Congratulations! Yet another beautiful CE V! That wouldn't, by any chance, be the Delaware one, would it? There have been some real interesting Fisher consoles popping up recently. Late Summer/Fall is always a dangerous time for me.

[sslade43]

Thanks. No, I'm in Kansas.