Jon Kasper
New Member
Hi all,
Have been rocking out to my Fisher 400 over the past year thanks to the awesome recommendations on this forum, and have really been loving it! Have the 400 driving two Klipsch Cornwall IIs, using both my TT (with the 400s phono/pre) and a DAC (Grant Fidelity Tubedac-11). 4ohms tap for the cornwalls. My Fisher 400 is a basic restore job I believe which I purchased off ebay, see the pictures attached.
Have two questions hoping some of the seasons 400 vets may be able to be able to help with if there's any chance.
1. Tube rolling
Truth be told, I'm a rookie when it comes to which tube goes where and am struggling to figure out where I might be able to experiment/improve things. At present I am using a strong matched quad of some new EH 7868s for the output tubes which I am very happy with. thanks Jim mcshane!
With respect to other sections... when I bought the Fisher 400 it had a smorgesboard which I have slowly been replacing as my budget allows, but not sure if what I have done is ideal or could be done better... on a budget.
Here's what I currently am using in the other sections right now:
V10 & V11: new production matched pair of Sovtek 12AX7.
V12 & V13: new production matched pair of Tung Sol 12ax7 (NOT gold plate pins)
V8 & V9: new production matched pair of tung sol 12ax7 (NOT gold plate pins)
And then old stock in all other sections, not sure of the quality/effectiveness of the remaining tubes in place as I have only replaced the output tubes and the 12AX7 as per above.
Does the selection above seem sound, could it be made better? Is there any key tubes I have not replaced/looked into that I should ie if they play a part in quality of sound produced. I dont use the Fm receiver so not a big deal if the other tubes are only used for radio.
Other tubes I have on hand and in other sections:
- 3 12AX7 Pilot Radio (which I believe are Japanese Raytheon long plates)
- 2 12ax7 Toshiba (toyko shibaura electric)
- 1 12ax7 Sylvania
- 1 12AX7 Valvo
- 1 12AX7 marked "ASB USA" which I believe if Raytheon
- 1 12AX7 Bogen
Also have a matched pair of 12Ax7 RCA black long plates on the way.
Is there any key tubes I should look into perhaps in other spots in my unit, ie any key tubes other than V8,V9,V10,V11, V12 and V13 as that's all that I have replaced. And based on what I have in there now after replacement, any of the tubes I have on stock above worth rolling in?
2. Phono/Pre
A few weeks ago I bought a used Grant Fidelity Tubetac-11 as a secondary source of music, my Turntable is the main source. I have been feeding the DAC into the Fisher 400 via the line/aux input. After using the DAC with the 400 for a few weeks, the DAC seems to be on par and maybe even superior sound compared to when I use my TT through the Fisher 400. When I say superior, I mean it seems like a veil/haze is almost lifted, more detailed and clearer if that makes sense. The TT I have is a rega planar 3 with some improvements to it. This seems a tad odd as I understand the Fisher's phono section is highly regarded, so would have expected the TT to sound better than the DAC given the DAC is ok but nothing special.
My question - perhaps is there something that can easily be done to my Fisher 400 to make the TT sound better? I don't think any work has been done to the phono stage on my Fisher, but have attached a picture as I'm not sure.
I purchased some caps per board member Sony - replace existing .01uF ceramic coupling capacitors (there are 2 of them I believe) with .01uF Vitamin Q and replace the existing .022uF capacitors (2 of them as well) to a Russian K40Y-9 .022uF 400V capacitor. Might this provide an improvement to sound quality when playing my TT thru the Fisher 400? Any other recommended improvements based on the pics attached.
Thanks very much and really appreciate any help someone may be able to offer!
Have been rocking out to my Fisher 400 over the past year thanks to the awesome recommendations on this forum, and have really been loving it! Have the 400 driving two Klipsch Cornwall IIs, using both my TT (with the 400s phono/pre) and a DAC (Grant Fidelity Tubedac-11). 4ohms tap for the cornwalls. My Fisher 400 is a basic restore job I believe which I purchased off ebay, see the pictures attached.
Have two questions hoping some of the seasons 400 vets may be able to be able to help with if there's any chance.
1. Tube rolling
Truth be told, I'm a rookie when it comes to which tube goes where and am struggling to figure out where I might be able to experiment/improve things. At present I am using a strong matched quad of some new EH 7868s for the output tubes which I am very happy with. thanks Jim mcshane!
With respect to other sections... when I bought the Fisher 400 it had a smorgesboard which I have slowly been replacing as my budget allows, but not sure if what I have done is ideal or could be done better... on a budget.
Here's what I currently am using in the other sections right now:
V10 & V11: new production matched pair of Sovtek 12AX7.
V12 & V13: new production matched pair of Tung Sol 12ax7 (NOT gold plate pins)
V8 & V9: new production matched pair of tung sol 12ax7 (NOT gold plate pins)
And then old stock in all other sections, not sure of the quality/effectiveness of the remaining tubes in place as I have only replaced the output tubes and the 12AX7 as per above.
Does the selection above seem sound, could it be made better? Is there any key tubes I have not replaced/looked into that I should ie if they play a part in quality of sound produced. I dont use the Fm receiver so not a big deal if the other tubes are only used for radio.
Other tubes I have on hand and in other sections:
- 3 12AX7 Pilot Radio (which I believe are Japanese Raytheon long plates)
- 2 12ax7 Toshiba (toyko shibaura electric)
- 1 12ax7 Sylvania
- 1 12AX7 Valvo
- 1 12AX7 marked "ASB USA" which I believe if Raytheon
- 1 12AX7 Bogen
Also have a matched pair of 12Ax7 RCA black long plates on the way.
Is there any key tubes I should look into perhaps in other spots in my unit, ie any key tubes other than V8,V9,V10,V11, V12 and V13 as that's all that I have replaced. And based on what I have in there now after replacement, any of the tubes I have on stock above worth rolling in?
2. Phono/Pre
A few weeks ago I bought a used Grant Fidelity Tubetac-11 as a secondary source of music, my Turntable is the main source. I have been feeding the DAC into the Fisher 400 via the line/aux input. After using the DAC with the 400 for a few weeks, the DAC seems to be on par and maybe even superior sound compared to when I use my TT through the Fisher 400. When I say superior, I mean it seems like a veil/haze is almost lifted, more detailed and clearer if that makes sense. The TT I have is a rega planar 3 with some improvements to it. This seems a tad odd as I understand the Fisher's phono section is highly regarded, so would have expected the TT to sound better than the DAC given the DAC is ok but nothing special.
My question - perhaps is there something that can easily be done to my Fisher 400 to make the TT sound better? I don't think any work has been done to the phono stage on my Fisher, but have attached a picture as I'm not sure.
I purchased some caps per board member Sony - replace existing .01uF ceramic coupling capacitors (there are 2 of them I believe) with .01uF Vitamin Q and replace the existing .022uF capacitors (2 of them as well) to a Russian K40Y-9 .022uF 400V capacitor. Might this provide an improvement to sound quality when playing my TT thru the Fisher 400? Any other recommended improvements based on the pics attached.
Thanks very much and really appreciate any help someone may be able to offer!