Nice piece of hifi kit you have there. I have an 800B bought back in 86 for the princely sum of 85-bucks plus tax. Nobody wanted these things back then and the shop must have had about ten pieces of Fisher tube gear. I hauled that receiver all over the place in the early years of my career and loved it. Built like a tank and sounds like a dream. After years of gathering parts I just got it back from the shop with a full restoration. And it may be the last piece of almplification gear I ever get. One of the things I have noticed is that I now hear all sorts of mouth noises coming from poorly miked youtube programs - yours excluded. Hook it up to your Heresys and have a blast. Nice amp and thanks for putting this program together.
Don't listen and critique my early videos, you have been warned, the audio was horrible. :-) Thanks for commenting and watching. I also love my 800 and 500 receivers as well, they are classics that will always just scream cool.
My first unit was a fisher 400 receiver in 1964. I then switched ro Dynaco Stereo 70 and PAS Prreamp and a Fisher X 101 Tuner. In 1967 I got a used Mackintosh MR 71. Eventually I switched to transistor gear but returned to tubes. Eventually I settled with NAD gear. I miss the old Fishers. I could not keep the gear because being short on cash I would trade it at Audio Exchange and then at Stereo exchange both in NYC. Presently I returned to my Audible Illusions preamp and ADCOM amp. I could go on and on. As for tuner I have used many. Most of my "radio listening" I use the internet. Very interesting post. Thanks
Thanks for this video. I found a Fisher X-101-B amp and an FM 1000 tuner setting on the curb, in an open suitcase, about ten years ago. Both are still unrestored.
Glad you found it enjoyable. While both are nice pickups, the FM-1000 is much more rare. Assuming you are somewhere near your RUclips name, you still have some quality programming to access should you choose to get it restored.
@@stereoniche I'm in Manhattan. I've found much vintage gear in the trash. Too much to list. Do you know of any qualified service techs in my area? Thanks again.
The Pioneer SM-B200A receiver from the late 1950s had the same speaker configuration. My dad bought his new and I inherited it in the mid 70s. What a wonderful tone it had. I still own 2 Sansui 9090DB receivers that I've had since 1980 and they were used then. They sound great with a set of early 70s JBL L-100a enclosures.
There is a warmth to tube amps that can't be denied. I doubted this until after I heard an a/b of two Luxman amps in the late 1970s, one solid state, the other tube. The tube amp did indeed sound warmer, the SS more clinical, for lack of a better word. That said, I could have been happy with either one.
First off, great summary of this Amp. I was fortunate (!!) enough to be gifted one many years ago, by a colleague who found it in the basement of a home he lived in, and was cleaning up. I had it checked out, the pots cleaned up, and the levels all reset. Since then, it's been flawless, just requiring occasional cleaning up of the switches and pots. At 16:20 you mention "flexibility" of all the front dials, but you did not mention that the Bass and Treble knobs are also both dual switches, allowing you to set the bass and treble differently for each channel! This allows the listener to add some "depth" to a mono recording, by, for instance, adding more bass to the left channel, and more treble to the right. Again, a lovely amp, and yes, definitely a "winter" amp, though I do use it year-round (when I have the time, that is :))
Thanks for watching and commenting! I "think" the dual Bass/Treble was to help dial in early stereo as there were so many factors in getting it to work. Early on, the signals were split between AM and FM bands, so it probably helped in balancing the music. As well, in most all speakers I have found from that era that transitioned from mono to stereo, the speakers were most often slightly different and probably needed some adjustment to get them closer to balanced sound signatures. As you point out, also great in adding depth to those mono recordings. Great feature and thanks again for pointing it out!
@@stereoniche Ah, good point; I had not even considered the "simulcasting" aspect of AM/FM for different channels, until I watched your video. Given the different spectrum available to AM vs FM, tone tuning would definitely have been needed! On the point of speakers, it occurs to me (now, you must know that this amp is older than I am!) from my recollection of early 70s sound systems, that speakers (certainly "affordable" speakers) were likely the weakest link in audio equipment of the day. Once hooked up to a pair of (now 20 year old! but still "modern") B&W 600s, and a good (Pro-Ject Carbon Evo) turntable, or even a digital source, this Fisher's sound is absolutely fantastic! Your video was a great find! Thanks for taking the time to create it. While I have your attention :) I have never quite figured out how to pull off the front panel; I need to replace the indicator lamp, and would really like to get in closer to the control dials to give them a good blast with electronic cleaner/lubricant fluid. Any pointers? The manuals I have only cover the schematics, not the disassembly. My final project for this Amp is to find/build a replacement wooden frame/case, as mine came "naked", and then possibly undertake the task of re-capping, and testing a set of replacement tubes (though mine runs fine, to my ears; but of course, I don't have a reference) - thank you again!
@@kuyper On the faceplate, if I recall, once you remove the knobs, you will see some nuts on each side. Be sure to use a socket, not pliers, so as to not damage anything. Offhand, I don't think that will give you access to the pots, but maybe just the lights.
Tube amps of that era (and even today to a good degree) have rather high output source impedances. The ohms-law interaction with the attached speaker's frequency-dependent impedance will change the frequency response that the listener hears - you will not get a flat output response from the amp in this case. Typically with a 2-way speaker connected to a tube amp you'll get a little 80 Hz richness, additional output around 2 kHz, and rolloff between 3 kHz and about 6 or 8 kHz and then a little upsweep above 8000 Hz to about 11,000 Hz then a gentle downward slope. This is a good portion of what is described as "tube sound." Another thing that contributes to "tube sound" is the ability to run the gain a little higher than you could with a solid state amp because the tube amp will not produce raucous distortion when pushed hard in the bass, as opposed to the square wave - like clipping of a similarly driven solid state amp. This permits a higher average audio level than you can get with a solid state amp without really objectionable distortion. Hence the distinction that some people make about "tube watts" vs "transistor watts."
Bought a Fisher KX-200 from a neighbor for $25 in the 80's. Still have it, all original, and it sounds great! I understand the 7195 tubes are now worth nearly $100/apiece, and the amp has four of them. CD's, or any digital music source, sound superb going through it!
A friend's dad had a similar amp from that era, plus a matching tuner. His amp had no tone controls. This man also had an AR TT and AR bookshelf speakers. He bought it just after his den was finished, which was an addition to the home, and that's where the system went. Years later, his son (my friend) traded the amp and tuner it in for a solid state receiver, not caring if it was a vintage collector's piece of hif or not.
Besides the warmth, the other thing that tube amps do amazingly well is openness and space between the instruments on a front to back plane. With much solid state you can't hear that much space between the instruments, front to back. Also if driven into clipping, tube amps clip more gracefully, not likely to produce as sharp a clip waveform as solid state, and they are less likely to ruin your speakers. That's Big. It's amusing how some people are put off on tubes, because they think they will keep burning out. In reality, vintage NOS tubes usually last a real long time. Not only that, but they often don't reach their peak sound till after around 1,000 hours of play time.. My NOS Sylvania Black Plates from the 1950s are nearing the 300 hour mark. More depth than NOS 1950s Mullards, and they have a very beautiful lush sound to boot. I can't picture how they could sound any better, but they'll be around the 1,000 hour mark of play time by next years Xmas, and I will probably know how they can sound better then. The Citation II tube amp and the little Dynaco ST 35 tube amp are two of the best tube amps from the early 1960s. Surprising how much less money they get on the used market, being in the same class sonically as Marantz. The Dynaco ST 35 power amp, (sonically better than the more powerful ST 70 ), mainly because of more advanced and better transformers, is beginning to becoming known as one of the classic tube amps of all time. It just does everything right. What more can you want? The Marantz 9s continue to fetch real big money on the used market when one appears.
On another channel I mentioned that tube amps, while they sound great on everything, sound especially good on flutes and the lower registers of the piano. Flutes just sound so fluffy, full & smooth on all the good tube amps I've heard, and the lower keys on the piano really resound with fullness. No stinginess with warmth on tubes. But besides flute, piano, voice and massed strings (violins), I was reminded that there is one other instrument that tubes sound like they truly specialize in, like no other; the bass clarinet. Stream or find the Christmas album by Bela Fleck. About half way through the cd, there is a track where they do their take on the Christmas classic Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy. There is a bass clarinet that plays throughout in one channel. It's rich woody timbre and tone (and deepness of tone) is about the best sound your ears will ever take in. The album is a little strange in places; Bela must have a good sense of humor, but his albums always seem to be musically innovative with taking chances, and his albums are exceptionally well recorded. There is a RUclips video where you can hear another vintage wonder; the Acoustic Research AR1. The first, or one of the first acoustic suspension speakers ever. On the video it sounds so good that it is scary. And I don't scare easily. And I've listened to AR 3 and AR 5 speakers, which came later, quite a few times. Sometimes the original is still the one.
My first 3 vintage pieces were tube receivers, a Fisher 500c, Fisher 400, and a Scott 340B. I still own the 500c and 400. I still think they sound great. And yes, they definitely needed to be serviced and a few tubes replaced.
Cant wait to hear tubes in a good setup ( hasnt happened yet ), I have a few cap coupled units that i hear sounds more "Tube Like" before they moved to DC Coupled. Although inferior cap coupled amps sound so good so I can only assume tubes will sound even better. Im currently listening to a fully restored "The Fisher" 202 thats from 71 and is cap coupled.. Such a smooth sounding unit even if Hitachi built ( still a Fisher Design ).
I have a Fisher 202b. It’s great sounding. With Fisher 7591 (the output tube number) tube amplifiers you get a beautiful non-fatigue inducing sound quality. That said; don’t expect to play these amplifiers loudly. They loose bass at higher volumes. At normal volume levels I find the sound wonderful.
She's a beauty Scott, as I'm enamored with early-mid 60's tube equipment as well in my several H.H. Scott models. And I learned something new of the purpose of the REVERSE mode with respect to orchestral imaging and always thought of it as unnecessary by simply rewiring left/right at the speakers. Also, I have read in Scott documentation the center speaker could be used to fill in the 'hole' in imaging when the left/right speakers were separated by great distances in the room.
After I did the video I recalled the Klipsch Heresy was designed originally as a single speaker to fill in the midrange for Klipschorns. I can’t believe the majority of homes had rooms so big this was a common issue though.
According to the H.H. Scott owner's manual (model 299D), this was if speakers were more than 8 feet apart. I can only surmise speakers of the day didn't image quite so well to prompt the need for the center channel. @stereoniche
@@Mrsteve4761 Wow, 8'? Indeed, must have been horrible imaging, although, AR was just gaining traction around this time, but they would have been a premium buy for most.
I think that is correct. There is a picture of Frank Sinatra’s Stereo set-up with a center speaker in use on line. Frank really cared about the audio quality in his recordings so he probably also cared in his home system.
Very nice piece! Your gear always looks phenomenal. It’s an interesting time because that piece would be around $2500 based on the inflation calculator. Not necessarily out of a lot of peoples reach. I was 8 years old at the time. I remember my parent didn’t have that kind of discretionary income. We had a Dumont TV with about a 10” screen they bought at a 2nd store. Def different times.
Cntr Channel is for a third speaker. L+R L-R. It will reveal some of what was lost due to recording phase cancellation issues. cool effect but not loud enough to use on its own. H H Scott had these. You might find more info there.
It occurred to me later that it was probably used for filling in the "gaps" for large rooms, etc. which was the purpose of the Klipsch Heresy originally.
I have a Fisher 400 tube receiver. The only problem with it is its weight. I like to switch things in and out and because it is so big and heavy I rarely use it anymore.
Since stereo was fairly new I have a feeling they counted every input individually rather than a pair. 7 Channel A inputs + 7 Channel B inputs = 14 inputs.
Seems so, but I just couldn't see logically how it would be 14 in use as you could only use one at a time for mono, but just fun marketing from the 60's.
I don’t understand the importance you put on of Recapping! I’ve collected dozens of 60’s and 70’s vintage stereo components and I’ve not had one Recapped. If it ain’t Bulging or Bleeding, leave it go!
Nice piece of hifi kit you have there. I have an 800B bought back in 86 for the princely sum of 85-bucks plus tax. Nobody wanted these things back then and the shop must have had about ten pieces of Fisher tube gear. I hauled that receiver all over the place in the early years of my career and loved it. Built like a tank and sounds like a dream. After years of gathering parts I just got it back from the shop with a full restoration. And it may be the last piece of almplification gear I ever get. One of the things I have noticed is that I now hear all sorts of mouth noises coming from poorly miked youtube programs - yours excluded. Hook it up to your Heresys and have a blast. Nice amp and thanks for putting this program together.
Don't listen and critique my early videos, you have been warned, the audio was horrible. :-) Thanks for commenting and watching. I also love my 800 and 500 receivers as well, they are classics that will always just scream cool.
My first unit was a fisher 400 receiver in 1964. I then switched ro Dynaco Stereo 70 and PAS Prreamp and a Fisher X 101 Tuner. In 1967 I got a used Mackintosh MR 71. Eventually I switched to transistor gear but returned to tubes. Eventually I settled with NAD gear. I miss the old Fishers. I could not keep the gear because being short on cash I would trade it at Audio Exchange and then at Stereo exchange both in NYC. Presently I returned to my Audible Illusions preamp and ADCOM amp. I could go on and on. As for tuner I have used many. Most of my "radio listening" I use the internet. Very interesting post. Thanks
So much great gear over the years to appreciate. You had a good bit of it as well. Thanks for commenting!
Thanks for this video. I found a Fisher X-101-B amp and an FM 1000 tuner setting on the curb, in an open suitcase, about ten years ago. Both are still unrestored.
Glad you found it enjoyable. While both are nice pickups, the FM-1000 is much more rare. Assuming you are somewhere near your RUclips name, you still have some quality programming to access should you choose to get it restored.
@@stereoniche I'm in Manhattan. I've found much vintage gear in the trash. Too much to list. Do you know of any qualified service techs in my area? Thanks again.
The Pioneer SM-B200A receiver from the late 1950s had the same speaker configuration. My dad bought his new and I inherited it in the mid 70s. What a wonderful tone it had. I still own 2 Sansui 9090DB receivers that I've had since 1980 and they were used then. They sound great with a set of early 70s JBL L-100a enclosures.
This model is on my wish list
There is a warmth to tube amps that can't be denied. I doubted this until after I heard an a/b of two Luxman amps in the late 1970s, one solid state, the other tube. The tube amp did indeed sound warmer, the SS more clinical, for lack of a better word. That said, I could have been happy with either one.
Both types of amps certainly have their place.
First off, great summary of this Amp. I was fortunate (!!) enough to be gifted one many years ago, by a colleague who found it in the basement of a home he lived in, and was cleaning up. I had it checked out, the pots cleaned up, and the levels all reset. Since then, it's been flawless, just requiring occasional cleaning up of the switches and pots. At 16:20 you mention "flexibility" of all the front dials, but you did not mention that the Bass and Treble knobs are also both dual switches, allowing you to set the bass and treble differently for each channel! This allows the listener to add some "depth" to a mono recording, by, for instance, adding more bass to the left channel, and more treble to the right. Again, a lovely amp, and yes, definitely a "winter" amp, though I do use it year-round (when I have the time, that is :))
Thanks for watching and commenting! I "think" the dual Bass/Treble was to help dial in early stereo as there were so many factors in getting it to work. Early on, the signals were split between AM and FM bands, so it probably helped in balancing the music. As well, in most all speakers I have found from that era that transitioned from mono to stereo, the speakers were most often slightly different and probably needed some adjustment to get them closer to balanced sound signatures. As you point out, also great in adding depth to those mono recordings. Great feature and thanks again for pointing it out!
@@stereoniche Ah, good point; I had not even considered the "simulcasting" aspect of AM/FM for different channels, until I watched your video. Given the different spectrum available to AM vs FM, tone tuning would definitely have been needed! On the point of speakers, it occurs to me (now, you must know that this amp is older than I am!) from my recollection of early 70s sound systems, that speakers (certainly "affordable" speakers) were likely the weakest link in audio equipment of the day. Once hooked up to a pair of (now 20 year old! but still "modern") B&W 600s, and a good (Pro-Ject Carbon Evo) turntable, or even a digital source, this Fisher's sound is absolutely fantastic! Your video was a great find! Thanks for taking the time to create it. While I have your attention :) I have never quite figured out how to pull off the front panel; I need to replace the indicator lamp, and would really like to get in closer to the control dials to give them a good blast with electronic cleaner/lubricant fluid. Any pointers? The manuals I have only cover the schematics, not the disassembly. My final project for this Amp is to find/build a replacement wooden frame/case, as mine came "naked", and then possibly undertake the task of re-capping, and testing a set of replacement tubes (though mine runs fine, to my ears; but of course, I don't have a reference) - thank you again!
@@kuyper On the faceplate, if I recall, once you remove the knobs, you will see some nuts on each side. Be sure to use a socket, not pliers, so as to not damage anything. Offhand, I don't think that will give you access to the pots, but maybe just the lights.
@@stereoniche wonderful! Thank you!!
Tube amps of that era (and even today to a good degree) have rather high output source impedances. The ohms-law interaction with the attached speaker's frequency-dependent impedance will change the frequency response that the listener hears - you will not get a flat output response from the amp in this case. Typically with a 2-way speaker connected to a tube amp you'll get a little 80 Hz richness, additional output around 2 kHz, and rolloff between 3 kHz and about 6 or 8 kHz and then a little upsweep above 8000 Hz to about 11,000 Hz then a gentle downward slope. This is a good portion of what is described as "tube sound." Another thing that contributes to "tube sound" is the ability to run the gain a little higher than you could with a solid state amp because the tube amp will not produce raucous distortion when pushed hard in the bass, as opposed to the square wave - like clipping of a similarly driven solid state amp. This permits a higher average audio level than you can get with a solid state amp without really objectionable distortion. Hence the distinction that some people make about "tube watts" vs "transistor watts."
Bought a Fisher KX-200 from a neighbor for $25 in the 80's. Still have it, all original, and it sounds great! I understand the 7195 tubes are now worth nearly $100/apiece, and the amp has four of them. CD's, or any digital music source, sound superb going through it!
Thanks for sharing! They are awesome sounding, indeed.
I can’t believe how simple they are under the chassis!!!!
🤩
A friend's dad had a similar amp from that era, plus a matching tuner. His amp had no tone controls. This man also had an AR TT and AR bookshelf speakers. He bought it just after his den was finished, which was an addition to the home, and that's where the system went. Years later, his son (my friend) traded the amp and tuner it in for a solid state receiver, not caring if it was a vintage collector's piece of hif or not.
Those children! :-)
Besides the warmth, the other thing that tube amps do amazingly well is openness and space between the instruments on a front to back plane. With much solid state you can't hear that much space between the instruments, front to back. Also if driven into clipping, tube amps clip more gracefully, not likely to produce as sharp a clip waveform as solid state, and they are less likely to ruin your speakers. That's Big.
It's amusing how some people are put off on tubes, because they think they will keep burning out. In reality, vintage NOS tubes usually last a real long time. Not only that, but they often don't reach their peak sound till after around 1,000 hours of play time.. My NOS Sylvania Black Plates from the 1950s are nearing the 300 hour mark. More depth than NOS 1950s Mullards, and they have a very beautiful lush sound to boot. I can't picture how they could sound any better, but they'll be around the 1,000 hour mark of play time by next years Xmas, and I will probably know how they can sound better then.
The Citation II tube amp and the little Dynaco ST 35 tube amp are two of the best tube amps from the early 1960s. Surprising how much less money they get on the used market, being in the same class sonically as Marantz. The Dynaco ST 35 power amp, (sonically better than the more powerful ST 70 ), mainly because of more advanced and better transformers, is beginning to becoming known as one of the classic tube amps of all time. It just does everything right. What more can you want? The Marantz 9s continue to fetch real big money on the used market when one appears.
On another channel I mentioned that tube amps, while they sound great on everything, sound especially good on flutes and the lower registers of the piano. Flutes just sound so fluffy, full & smooth on all the good tube amps I've heard, and the lower keys on the piano really resound with fullness. No stinginess with warmth on tubes. But besides flute, piano, voice and massed strings (violins), I was reminded that there is one other instrument that tubes sound like they truly specialize in, like no other; the bass clarinet. Stream or find the Christmas album by Bela Fleck. About half way through the cd, there is a track where they do their take on the Christmas classic Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy. There is a bass clarinet that plays throughout in one channel. It's rich woody timbre and tone (and deepness of tone) is about the best sound your ears will ever take in. The album is a little strange in places; Bela must have a good sense of humor, but his albums always seem to be musically innovative with taking chances, and his albums are exceptionally well recorded.
There is a RUclips video where you can hear another vintage wonder; the Acoustic Research AR1. The first, or one of the first acoustic suspension speakers ever. On the video it sounds so good that it is scary. And I don't scare easily. And I've listened to AR 3 and AR 5 speakers, which came later, quite a few times. Sometimes the original is still the one.
My first 3 vintage pieces were tube receivers, a Fisher 500c, Fisher 400, and a Scott 340B. I still own the 500c and 400. I still think they sound great. And yes, they definitely needed to be serviced and a few tubes replaced.
Thanks for sharing! All great units!
Cant wait to hear tubes in a good setup ( hasnt happened yet ), I have a few cap coupled units that i hear sounds more "Tube Like" before they moved to DC Coupled. Although inferior cap coupled amps sound so good so I can only assume tubes will sound even better. Im currently listening to a fully restored "The Fisher" 202 thats from 71 and is cap coupled.. Such a smooth sounding unit even if Hitachi built ( still a Fisher Design ).
The center speaker connection setup had been used by Dynaco as a rear channel (L-R) and later became the Dynaquad setup with 2 rear speakers.
Every thing looks so awesome and I would love to hear the system playing in my home great package gear love to win it all !!!! ❤
Thanks for watching!
I have a Fisher 202b. It’s great sounding.
With Fisher 7591 (the output tube number) tube amplifiers you get a beautiful non-fatigue inducing sound quality.
That said; don’t expect to play these amplifiers loudly. They loose bass at higher volumes. At normal volume levels I find the sound wonderful.
She's a beauty Scott, as I'm enamored with early-mid 60's tube equipment as well in my several H.H. Scott models. And I learned something new of the purpose of the REVERSE mode with respect to orchestral imaging and always thought of it as unnecessary by simply rewiring left/right at the speakers. Also, I have read in Scott documentation the center speaker could be used to fill in the 'hole' in imaging when the left/right speakers were separated by great distances in the room.
After I did the video I recalled the Klipsch Heresy was designed originally as a single speaker to fill in the midrange for Klipschorns. I can’t believe the majority of homes had rooms so big this was a common issue though.
According to the H.H. Scott owner's manual (model 299D), this was if speakers were more than 8 feet apart. I can only surmise speakers of the day didn't image quite so well to prompt the need for the center channel. @stereoniche
@@Mrsteve4761 Wow, 8'? Indeed, must have been horrible imaging, although, AR was just gaining traction around this time, but they would have been a premium buy for most.
I think that is correct. There is a picture of Frank Sinatra’s Stereo set-up with a center speaker in use on line.
Frank really cared about the audio quality in his recordings so he probably also cared in his home system.
Very nice piece! Your gear always looks phenomenal. It’s an interesting time because that piece would be around $2500 based on the inflation calculator. Not necessarily out of a lot of peoples reach. I was 8 years old at the time. I remember my parent didn’t have that kind of discretionary income. We had a Dumont TV with about a 10” screen they bought at a 2nd store. Def different times.
It was certainly an interesting time. Sort of like switching to hi-definition and digital broadcast although I think that was much easier.
Cntr Channel is for a third speaker. L+R L-R. It will reveal some of what was lost due to recording phase cancellation issues. cool effect but not loud enough to use on its own. H H Scott had these. You might find more info there.
It occurred to me later that it was probably used for filling in the "gaps" for large rooms, etc. which was the purpose of the Klipsch Heresy originally.
4:50 Harden Carmen, that's funny ^^
That was their sister division that didn't do so well. LOL
I have a Fisher 400 tube receiver. The only problem with it is its weight. I like to switch things in and out and because it is so big and heavy I rarely use it anymore.
They are chunky. :-)
Since stereo was fairly new I have a feeling they counted every input individually rather than a pair. 7 Channel A inputs + 7 Channel B inputs = 14 inputs.
Seems so, but I just couldn't see logically how it would be 14 in use as you could only use one at a time for mono, but just fun marketing from the 60's.
I don’t understand the importance you put on of Recapping! I’ve collected dozens of 60’s and 70’s vintage stereo components and I’ve not had one Recapped. If it ain’t Bulging or Bleeding, leave it go!
So that one mention at the beginning of the video that this unit had been recapped was an over the top reference to recapping? 🙂