1963 Fisher Ambassador V find

nickdinatale

Active Member
Picked this up today at an estate sale. Brought it home, cleaned out the large dust bunnies running free in the back, used a little DeOxit, replaced a busted 12ax7, and brought it up on a variac.

Unfortunately, the Italian Provincial isn't really to my taste. I'm sort of considering taking the pre/tuner and using it in conjunction with some 100AZ monoblocks that I'm getting close to being done with. The only issue there is that I'd have to rig up some sort of power supply since it gets everything from the power amp.

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That is a nice find! What turntable does it come with?

I hear you on the Italian Privincial; but at least it's a fairly clean, masculine style appropriate for a den or office. If i'd found it, I would be tempted to make it the centerpiece of such a room....

I'd be inclined to keep the pre, tuner, and amp together; but I'm sure you'd be able to find schematics pretty easily to make them work separately. Plus, you should have no problem getting rid of the amp!
 
What's wrong with Italian provincial? Nice clean lines. Not too feminine like French provincial.
If you squint your eyes, it kind of looks MCM.

How does it sound? Can we get a shot of the speakers? I almost bought a French Provincial Ambassador V last weekend.
 
Unfortunately, the Italian Provincial isn't really to my taste.

Everybody wants "Modern" these days... hopefully the provincial styles will come back around a be appreciated soon too.
I have French and Italian and Modern Fisher pieces in my house, and while I am also on the Modern band-wagon, the others have that je ne sais quoi that has grown on me over the years.

I'm sort of considering taking the pre/tuner and using it in conjunction with some

Please keep the pieces together....
I predict that in the next 20-30 years we will see a much more concentrated focus on OEM high quality consoles. The last 40 years has already produced so much parting out/gutting/mining/cannibalizing of these treasures... So even just for speculation purposes (lowest reason) please keep the pieces together. :hug:
 
I agree with the above: the quality consoles are already becoming desirable; and I think we are not long from the time when the whole will be worth more than the sum of the parts.

Also, as "modern" continues to rocket upwards in price, the Italian Provincial is likely to become more popular. It is a good looking style: clean and elegant, that both ladies and gents can enjoy.
 
Hmm, lots of good cases here to keep it, or at least restore it and eventually get it into someone else's hands. Maybe I could even run the monoblocks as the power section without taking anything out of the console.

That is a nice find! What turntable does it come with?
It has a Garrard Type A II - definitely the weak point of the console in my opinion. I actually have a Rek O Kut B12GH chassis laying around that I'm sort of tempted to try and fit in instead...

How does it sound? Can we get a shot of the speakers? I almost bought a French Provincial Ambassador V last weekend.
It sounds decent so far! Very light on the treble and very heavy on the bass. I think tomorrow I'm going to crack open the back of the cabinets and see what's inside. Will share photos once I do so.
 
The Type A was considered a fairly good changer in it's day. You can certainly do better now but in 1963 that wouldn't have been considered a weak point.
 
Hmm, lots of good cases here to keep it, or at least restore it and eventually get it into someone else's hands. Maybe I could even run the monoblocks as the power section without taking anything out of the console.

It sounds decent so far! Very light on the treble and very heavy on the bass. I think tomorrow I'm going to crack open the back of the cabinets and see what's inside. Will share photos once I do so.

That's exactly how my RCA console sounded, even after I recapped the power amp and signal path of the preamp. I so regret that it didn't impress me cause I loved the look and kinda wanted to have a console. RCA build quality is really under the radar, (but Fisher is better, I'd say). I just didn't have it in me to dig any further so I pulled the power amp (which sounded very very nice).
Couldn't justify listening to light treble and heavy bass when I've experienced flat, airy sound stage. Still, there's regret for parting it out. I still have the console and may install full range drivers and a SE tube amp some day.
 
Looks line an SA16 amp? If it is, that's a great amp, but if you ever decide to run it without the tuner and preamp, the voltages will be high, which can be corrected with a resistor change. It will work with higher voltages but you will be running the 12ax7's outside of their operating parameters.
 
FredTroy; The Amp is the Model 680A which is a P-P 7591 Amp. Short of a SA-300-B in the President it's the best PURE AMP FISHER made for 1963.

To the OP. I agree with the comments above with regard to keeping it together. Prices are on the rise even for upper mid level consoles, and the Ambassador falls into that category. Recap the crossovers, it's the REAL WEAK LINK in FISHER Consoles (don't ask me how I know....I've only got 9 FISHER Console's in the House). Test the tweeters while you're at it, you may have 1 or 2 dead ones.
 
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