Fisher STV-890 purchase help! No mid range?

Ealyb11

Well-Known Member
Local store has a pair of great cosmetically looking Fisher STV-890 floor speakers. 3-way. 15' woofer. 20$. I hooked them up to a Fisher CA-885 amplifier, bought the amp (and the EQ, for 30$ it's awesome) but left the speakers behind because the Mid-range drivers made no sound. Tweeters and woofers were perfect, but both mids were silent. I wired it up correctly, am I missing something? I found it odd these would both not be working...I'd jump on them for 20$ if the mids worked.

Ben
 
I know for $20 bucks you think they're a bargain but ......

They are rack system speakers. Built cheap and not very good sounding. Most likely, that's why they're so cheap. Pass on them. You can do much better.

If you really like the amp and EQ, get better speakers. A lot of speaker can be had for under $50 bucks that would outperform them. Check out your local thrift stores. Keep an eye on CL also. Better to get something that needs a re-foam, then swapping drivers out.
 
I have Paradigm 7se's and Cerwin Vega D1's that are great. I just like a good deal. This Fisher amp and EQ i got is nasty awesome. Sound quality is excellent hooked up to my Paradigm's. I passed on the fisher speakers
 
I have a pair of STV-430s, similar size, also BEEEG woofers. I think they're 16". I got them with some other speakers and a big AV receiver for cheap. With that amp, they were very boomey, bass over powering everything, until I dialed the bass back to -4 or so. Then they sounded pretty nice....after I replaced the tweeters. The originals were dead. I have had them apart, and cleaned the slip-on connections where the wires from the crossover connects to the speakers. For a while I had an intermittent problem with less sound coming out of one of the pair and I think it was dirty connections. Could be the problem with the midranges in the set you looked at. I know these are not acclaimed speakers, but they sound pretty good with my Kenwood KR-750 with tone controls flat. Bass isn't boomey with that amp, but when there's bass in the record, you hear it. I wouldn't pay a lot for this family of Fishers, but they aren't necessarily bad paired with certain equipment.
 
I also have a pair of these STV-890s. What's funny is that these went along with the awesome CA-890 integrated, but the speakers boxes and crossovers are just cheap. They have a simple brace above the 15" woofer and nothing else in the cabs. The labels on the front state "Digital Ready" and "For Use With Television Receivers" but have no shielding. They do look impressive though as they are massive. I'm saving mine for future experimentation.
 
Yes, these STV models are part of the "home theater" "surround sound" craze. Objective-- to make cartoonish adventure movies more scary. I've thought very seriously of replacing the crossovers with ones that permit adjusting of the output of the three speakers to something flatter and sane, outsmarting the original marketing scheme.
 
Old thread I know....but
I also have Fisher Speakers from the 80's. And yes...they were very "boomy"
What I did as illinoisteve suggested, was to install upgraded caps from P.E., They are 1% audio grade caps. They are a tight fit into the cabs from the back side...but they did fit. I also added some denim type insulation that was about 1/2 thick and about 12"wide around the sides and back around the bottom of the inside of the cabinet. This made a remarkable improvement, and took that "boomy-ness" out. I really like these STV 884's now and I will be upgrading these with some real oak veneer to make them look prettier.
FYI: I do use the original amp and EQ with these speakers
 
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