Ambassador Rescued From Impending Doom!

DonQuixote99

just give me some truth
Got this Fisher Ambassador VII model A-690 for FREE!*

Cosmetically, very very nice--a scrape along an edge at the bottom of the right center door is the only thing anything like an issue. Electronically, some restoration needed. I'm quite a ways from anything like a throrough evaluation, but I can report one channel out somewhere in phono mode. Except after I had it going for a minute, it started coming through intermittently. Cable or control issue methinks.

FM stereo comes in nicely and seems to have an excellent S/N ratio except when it drifts.

Won't pass judgement on the speakers yet as I've only played it outdoors.

The fate of this unit is still up in the air--if it doesn't make it into our living room it will need to be rehomed. But even in the worst case it's not going to the landfill, and I'm going to do some level of fix-up on it to start....

Pic shows unit arrived in carport, with Roy the Wonder Dog sharing in the excitement.



*(if you don't count renting a truck, and a bunch of sweat equity....)
 

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Got this Fisher Ambassador VII model A-690 for FREE!*

Cosmetically, very very nice--a scrape along an edge at the bottom of the right center door is the only thing anything like an issue. Electronically, some restoration needed. I'm quite a ways from anything like a throrough evaluation, but I can report one channel out somewhere in phono mode. Except after I had it going for a minute, it started coming through intermittently. Cable or control issue methinks.

FM stereo comes in nicely and seems to have an excellent S/N ratio except when it drifts.

Won't pass judgement on the speakers yet as I've only played it outdoors.

The fate of this unit is still up in the air--if it doesn't make it into our living room it will need to be rehomed. But even in the worst case it's not going to the landfill, and I'm going to do some level of fix-up on it to start....

Pic shows unit arrived in carport, with Roy the Wonder Dog sharing in the excitement.



*(if you don't count renting a truck, and a bunch of sweat equity....)

SWEET!!! The Ambassador and FUTURA VI for 1965 both used the 59T/59A Tuner/preamp/amp. The Selector Push buttons on the Tuner/preamp are problematic. My Futura has the same problem with FM. Multiple cleanings (even taking the module out and physically cleaning it) has minimized it. It's got a decent tuner.

I've got a Service Manual for the 59T/59A combo. the 59A is a HYBRID AMP. There MAY be 4 pots on the amp face. DO NOT Touch them, they are for the transistor bias. It may have been modified by a service center to used some kind of varistor that keeps the voltage within 1/2v or so.

It's a good sounding unit and a recap to the amp and crossovers will really open it up. The ELL80/6HU8's are getting hard to find and expensive (>$40 each). There is a mod where you can build an adapter to plug in to the ELL80 socket, and use 2 EL95's in place of the 6HU8. A bit cheaper per tube.

Larry
 
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Good info, Larry. What sort of drivers will I find in the speaker sections? Are there surround issues to check, or are they of a perpetual-life sort?
 
Decent quality drivers for a console. No surrounds to rot out. Butyl rubber covered cloth surrounds. Should be 12"woofer, 5" mid in a can, and a 3-1/2" tweeter.
 
Great looking shape. Love the title! I though an ambassador was captured overseas and rescued by special forces or something lol!
 
Excellent save! Did you realize that the dial escutcheon is GOLD-PLATED? See #2 below:

65AmbassadorVIIControlPanel.jpg
 
Alas, Red, my unit seems to be from the silver era. More pics attached. Next step will be to take the back panel off the right speaker bay and take a gander.
 

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I'm usually not terribly fond of the Italian Provincials but that one looks great. I love the look of the wood - the catalog says 'distressed cherry' but that doesn't really look like cherry to me. They must have used a non-traditional stain like 'golden oak' to get that color.

It's not suprising that someone scraped the gold off your escutcheon, what with the prices these days. You should definitely ask for your money back.
 
Right, the Italian Provincial design is a little busy. I'd go for one of the 'cleaner' designs if I was ordering it.

Actually, my photos are bringing out a little more contrast in the wood tones/grain than you might notice in person, but it is a very nice 'antique' finish to be sure, and first-class veneering on top.

As for the speakers: it turns out there was foam on the woofers, and it's gone gone gone.
 
Right, the Italian Provincial design is a little busy. I'd go for one of the 'cleaner' designs if I was ordering it.

Actually, my photos are bringing out a little more contrast in the wood tones/grain than you might notice in person, but it is a very nice 'antique' finish to be sure, and first-class veneering on top.

As for the speakers: it turns out there was foam on the woofers, and it's gone gone gone.

DAMN! ALL of my FISHERS have Butyl covered Cloth surrounds.

NOTE: IIRC the "TYPICAL FISHER CONTROL PANEL" is from a 1966 brochure. My 65 FUTURA VI also has a chrome plated escutchoen.

Larry
 
Here's some of what I found today, when I checked out the right speakers.

First pic shows general layout. 4-way, two midrange in cans. I right away found a hunk of surround lying sideways in the woofer basket, and it was clear the speakers weren't functional. I proceded to remove all the speaker components for inspection and repair as necessary.

The surround is really toast on the woofer. I'm afraid I played the unit much too loudly when trying it out, given this situation. But the woofer doesn't rub if carefully depressed, so I have hopes it's basically ok. ID numbers on woofer, only barely visible on back, are SC80325-B and 137 7447.

Midranges (numbered M-125) and tweeter (T-129A) seem in good shape to look at.

CADMIUM ALERT: Cadmium oxide was found on tweeters, on terminal mounting on crossover, and especially on the midranges inside their cans. (see pic of midrange showing powder). For anyone who doesn't know, this powdery slightly-yellowish stuff is thought to be carcinogenic. Beware of skin contact and be very careful not to ingest or inhale it. I put on latex gloves, wiped the stuff up with damp paper towels, sealed all contaminated paper towels, gloves, etc in plastic bags before placing in trash, and washed-up thoroughly.

I've got two questions: First, the marked values on the crossover caps, from left to right (see pic), are 100 uf, 3 uf, and 18 uf. But I note the 18 uf one is much smaller than the 3 uf. Does that make any sense to anyone?

Second, can anyone confirm that the woofer is or isn't the original Fisher? The mid and tweet have Fisher lables on them, but the woofer does not. The lack of the expected butyl surrounds, and evidence that this speaker box has been opened previously, and 1 'non-standard' fastener on the woofer, all make me wonder if the woofer was replaced at some point.
 

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Are both the woofers identical? They look similar in shape to what mine look like in my Futura. They are possibly retrofits.

100_1641.jpg


What are the voltages on the 3uf and the 18uf caps. If the 3uf voltage is significantly higher than that of the 18, the 3 would be larger.

You can refoam the speakers for about $25.00 per set. Kits are available.

Larry
 
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Hmm, I might have expected to see a pleated-cloth surround on the woofer. The "137" on the woofer basket would indicate that it's made by CTS. I would imagine it to be a replacement.

What are the voltage ratings of those caps?

Dave
 
Are both the woofers identical? They look similar in shape to what mine look like in my Futura. They are possibly retrofits.



What are the voltages on the 3uf and the 18uf caps. If the 3uf voltage is significantly higher than that of the 18, the 3 would be larger.

You can refoam the speakers for about $25.00 per set. Kits are available.

Larry

My woofer does look very similar to that, and has the unusual (to my eyes anyway) metal covers on the sides of the magnet housing. I expect mine is a Fisher driver, possibly an OEM replacement as you suggest. I haven't looked at the left speaker to compare yet. Have to take off the amp to get to it (which I do plan to do).
 
Hmm, I might have expected to see a pleated-cloth surround on the woofer. The "137" on the woofer basket would indicate that it's made by CTS. I would imagine it to be a replacement.

What are the voltage ratings of those caps?

Dave

I checked again. No W number on woofer. It's a repair part I think, made to the original form factor at least.

The caps are all rated 25v. Pics attached, first of the left and middle ones, then the right one. I just find this curious; the middle one perhaps might be from a different 'line' and engineered differently.
 

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... ID numbers on woofer, only barely visible on back, are SC80325-B and 137 7447.
I'm thinking this is an aftermarket replacement. 137 is the EIA code for CTS and the 7447 indicates it was manufactured in the 47th week of 1974.

Dave
 
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I'm thinking this is an aftermarket replacement. 137 is the EIA code for CTS and the 7447 may indicate it was manufactured in the 47th week of 1974.

Dave

Gotcha. Any opinions on whether the CTS will match the original Fisher in sound? They have different surrounds, apparently, but I've read that foam (in good condition of course) sounds better than butyl.
 
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