Fisher Consoles 1959-1965

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This is my 1962 cabinet for the fisher 500b. I'm guessing it was custom made as I see nothing like it on this thread.
Speakers are Whafedales. There was a Garrard Model A in the right side of the main cabinet in a pull out.
Plenty of drawers. Super well made. Bi fold louver doors on speaker cabinets. There was a large opening in the
left side where the Thorens now sits that had a large chromed frame about 2" into the opening. I have no idea what would have been there.
There is a Sony reel to reel in the top right pull out above where the turntable pull is.
These are not the best pictures. Stumbled on this thread while at work. Cabinet quality and fit is outstanding.
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Pic's didn't come thru. In any case FISHER never made a console for the 500b. They did make the 62 Executive based on the 800b (same size so either will fit.). With Wharfdales in the console it should pretty damned good compared to the Jensen's normally in the FISHER's of the time.
 
Now they show up. Probably a Barzilay cabinet. There were quite a few custom cabinet makers/custom cabinet kit makers and Barzilay was one of if not the best. That opening where the thorens is could have possibly been for a Reel to Reel chassis sitting upright. Quite a few of them were like that.
 
Very cool system, Paul-J. One of these days I'll get my hands on a Fisher 400/500/800 without breaking the bank!
 
Did Fisher have a Thorens TD 124 in any of their consoles or any Thorens? Looking through models on the Fisher website, there appears to be Garrard and Duals but I didn't see Thorens turntables. Looking at a console locally that appears to have a Thorens TD 124 turntable, Fisher X-200 tube amp and km-60 tuner and a reel to reel I can't ID - if that combo is known perhaps someone would have an idea on the reel to reel. The speakers are not built in and it is in a very mid-century modern teak cabinet that I don't see on the Fisher website, so maybe custom. I will try to get pics tomorrow, at least add to the thread.
 
Pictures of a very nice Teak Fisher console. It looked to be a home install, as it is a Danish teak crezenda or sideboard that was adapted. The turntable is a Thorens TD 124 with a wooden Grado tonearm, Fisher KX-200 tube Amp, Fisher km-60 Tuner and a Sony 262D reel to reel deck. The Turntable and tape deck plinthes are on sliders. I tried to buy it at auction but it went for a bit more than I was willing to go for "as is" condition. Final out the door price was around $1,000 which is still good value with that table.

I could see in the back and there was good coating of dust on the tubes so a cleaning and likely bit of a refurb was in order. The folks did say they plugged it in and fired it up for a while, which I don't think was the best idea before cleaning things up!
 

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Pictures of a very nice Teak Fisher console. It looked to be a home install, as it is a Danish teak crezenda or sideboard that was adapted. The turntable is a Thorens TD 124 with a wooden Grado tonearm, Fisher KX-200 tube Amp, Fisher km-60 Tuner and a Sony 262D reel to reel deck. The Turntable and tape deck plinthes are on sliders. I tried to buy it at auction but it went for a bit more than I was willing to go for "as is" condition. Final out the door price was around $1,000 which is still good value with that table.

I could see in the back and there was good coating of dust on the tubes so a cleaning and likely bit of a refurb was in order. The folks did say they plugged it in and fired it up for a while, which I don't think was the best idea before cleaning things up!

$1k is in the range of what the TD124 would sell for by itself on eBay.


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This is my 1962 cabinet for the fisher 500b. I'm guessing it was custom made as I see nothing like it on this thread.
Speakers are Whafedales. There was a Garrard Model A in the right side of the main cabinet in a pull out.
Plenty of drawers. Super well made. Bi fold louver doors on speaker cabinets. There was a large opening in the
left side where the Thorens now sits that had a large chromed frame about 2" into the opening. I have no idea what would have been there.
There is a Sony reel to reel in the top right pull out above where the turntable pull is.
These are not the best pictures. Stumbled on this thread while at work. Cabinet quality and fit is outstanding.
20160719_182813.jpg

I'm going to guess that it's a cabinet from one of the Japanese/Hong Kong custom outfitters. I've never seen a Barzilay that looked anything like that, and the general style (especially the bifold doors on the speaker cabinets) reminds me of some of the other custom cabinet setups that were brought back from Southeast Asia by military officers.
 
The TD 124 in this shape with that arm is around $800, so it was a good buy with the amp and tuner. The tape deck is not a high value one though. The equipment will need an overhaul so there is a good opportunity for the buyer to add a lot of value.
 
The TD 124 in this shape with that arm is around $800, so it was a good buy with the amp and tuner. The tape deck is not a high value one though. The equipment will need an overhaul so there is a good opportunity for the buyer to add a lot of value.

Don't discount the value of that Danish-style teak furniture.
 
Any Idea about the following, the year and model, and what it is worth, It also have the reel tapes recorder .
 
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Michel Theo: No pics come up. Please read the forum rules regarding pricing of items(worth of a piece of gear), sales, etc. on the general forums.
 
Purchased a Fisher Coronet II C55-W today from an estate. Just got it into my basement. What a back breaker. Jeez I don't know why I do this? Too tired now to mess with it after leaving the house at 3:45am and not getting back home until 7PM. What a day. Before loading I disassembled most pieces and packed separately inside my truck. Besides the built-in speakers this unit came with 101T, SA16, RC88, & Space Expander reverb unit. It also came with two small rectangular speakers labeled "Fisher Wide Surround". They weren't connected to anything. Just sitting on top. Cords have rca jacks. Are these original to the C55-W or maybe something from a different Fisher console? I downloaded the service manual (thank you) and did not see anything about it having wide surround speakers. I'll post some pics tomorrow. Thanks, Matt
 
Purchased a Fisher Coronet II C55-W today from an estate. Just got it into my basement. What a back breaker. Jeez I don't know why I do this? Too tired now to mess with it after leaving the house at 3:45am and not getting back home until 7PM. What a day. Before loading I disassembled most pieces and packed separately inside my truck. Besides the built-in speakers this unit came with 101T, SA16, RC88, & Space Expander reverb unit. It also came with two small rectangular speakers labeled "Fisher Wide Surround". They weren't connected to anything. Just sitting on top. Cords have rca jacks. Are these original to the C55-W or maybe something from a different Fisher console? I downloaded the service manual (thank you) and did not see anything about it having wide surround speakers. I'll post some pics tomorrow. Thanks, Matt

I spoke too soon and just answered my question. Found the OM online and it did come with these little speakers. I love this stuff, but I've become a hoarder.
 
Actually the WS-1 speakers were an optional item for all consoles that had the WS-1 RCA Jack's. IIRC they cost $39.99 a pair.
 
I spoke too soon and just answered my question. Found the OM online and it did come with these little speakers. I love this stuff, but I've become a hoarder.
Hi Matt! Very cool.
If you hook up the WS-1 speakers, report back on how you think they sound. I've never heard them in action before.
-Mike
 
Hi Matt! Very cool.
If you hook up the WS-1 speakers, report back on how you think they sound. I've never heard them in action before.
-Mike

How do the stock speakers sound? I'm confident the tuner/preamp and power amp can be recapped and will sound great. The speakers???? Maybe I'm wrong, but I kind of doubt they will live up to the standards of the rest of the equipment. One WS-1 has been dropped, is cracked and needs disassembled, clamped, and glued. The other has something funky growing on one panel. Both are easy fixes. The console itself is in great shape and all the equipment looks great. No rust only dust. All the tubes look original. Output tubes are bugle boys. It is an attractive modern walnut design. If I didn't fear being hanged for blasphemy I would consider re-purposing the speakers into record storage.
Matt
 
How do the stock speakers sound? I'm confident the tuner/preamp and power amp can be recapped and will sound great. The speakers???? Maybe I'm wrong, but I kind of doubt they will live up to the standards of the rest of the equipment. One WS-1 has been dropped, is cracked and needs disassembled, clamped, and glued. The other has something funky growing on one panel. Both are easy fixes. The console itself is in great shape and all the equipment looks great. No rust only dust. All the tubes look original. Output tubes are bugle boys. It is an attractive modern walnut design. If I didn't fear being hanged for blasphemy I would consider re-purposing the speakers into record storage.
Matt

Not sure, Matt. Haven't seen or heard your console before so I don't know about the "stock speakers" (I assume you mean the ones in the console cabinet). I wouldn't try to change/upgrade them - that is a big gamble to get speakers that work well inside the console. Instead, recap the speakers too!

Is yours the 1961 Coronet?
http://www.fisherconsoles.com/coronet II.html
Open up the speaker back panels if you can get to them (may have to remove the amp to get to one of them if it's like my Fisher console). I'm guessing you will immediately see if the crossover capacitors are original (I'd bet on it), and probably a date code written in magic marker on masking tape over the wirewound resistors indicating when the console was put together. Assuming the caps are original and almost 60 years old....change em out before judging the speakers.

I recapped my speakers in my 1965 Fisher Futura, and it made a big improvement (following the lead of Larry with his identical console). I've been meaning for months to post about it....I'll do so soon with some photos here.

By the way, from the service manual I don't see a connection for the WS-1 speakers on your amp. My 1965 Futura has dedicated connections for them.

I'd be interested in seeing the guts of yours as you look it over!
-Mike
 
Yes it is the '61 Coronet. I took these pics before I started disassembly at the estate so I could remember where things were. I believe the surround speakers plug into the rca jacks located just behind the 100T on the cabinet. In order to remove the power amp I had to remove one rear speaker baffle panel as the wiring to the SA16 was buried behind the panel. I also took the center rear panel off to gain access to the stop pins on the turntable drawer glides. These pins keep the turntable drawer from pulling all the way out and are held in place by little spring clips. Once the pins were removed it was easy to pull the turntable and its' drawer out as one assembly. As I now look at the pictures I see it was unnecessary to remove the panel as the pins are accessible through the two holes in the panel. The preamp/tuner faceplate is labeled "Coronet" which I believe identifies it as originating with a console as opposed to being sold as a separate component piece. I also own a Fisher 100T that IS labeled "100T". It is virtually identical to the Coronet with the one exception of the placement of the center channel output jack. Maybe just a serial number version difference? Neither my newly acquired Coronet nor my 100T have the mpx adapter.
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The rest of my pics are here:
www.indoorphin.com/radio/fisher_c55w
 
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The WS-1's are Not compatible with the Coronet with the SA-16. If it were there would be 2 RCA Jacks on the Sa-16 that are marked with WS-1 ONLY. They are mid-high speakers. Don't connect them directly to the SA-16 or you'll blow the coils out of the speaker from the bass.
 
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