Earlly (ca 1971-74) Fisher Quad Receivers--share what you love/know about 'em!

[essNeff]

Sounds great!



I have kept thinking I had some bigger repair issue with my 404, the controls of which I cleaned the bejeezus out of when I first got it, and still had problems. Now, I've recleaned two controls yet again, and it seems like I have it near perfect. I'm just saying, there could just be one part of one of those controls on your unit that needs just a bit more cleaning. Of course, I can't blame you if you put it back on the shelf for a year or two, before you do that. That's what I did.

Thanks for the encouragement.
I have the 801 setup on my bench now. I will leave it for awhile and then revisit it with "Soap on a rope" hoping the Left channel will respond to the chemical scrub. There's not much else I can do.

 

[Ric Harris]

There's one of these relics on the Goodwill auction site. I'd snipe it and give it the attention it needs but the resale on Fisher thanks to crap they made in the 80's and after has me taking a pass on it. Too bad they looked to be made well. When ever I see fuses on the backside as well as heat sinks that usually is a sign that the amp or receiver means business.

 

[larryderouin]

Take this with a grain of salt, sugar or whatever, but I've learned that LINEAR sliders have a different carbon track formulation than rotary pots, and DeOxit D-5 will Damage them. This is where DeOxit FADERLUBE (F-5) comes in. It's got a different cleaner formulation and lubricant in one can. It's actually formulated specifically for linear sliders. In other words, on LINEAR SLIDERS, USE ONLY FADERLUBE. Rotary pots, in/out switches, etc. can be given the usual D-5/F-5 or G5 treatment.)

 

[larryderouin]

Ric; All of the QUADup to about 1974 were DESIGNED by FISHER (owned by EMERSON) by the same guys who brought us the 400-500B&C and all the rest of the great stuff in the 60's, and built in Japan usually. In 1975 SANYO got control over FISHER from EMERSON, and Quality took a gradual nosedive to about 1980 when it dropped off the charts. FISHER was relegated to a 2nd or 3rd tier status instead of 1st tier as they had been during the 50's and 60's. If the Back side has FISHER RADIO Co. L.I.City N.Y. it was still FISHER owned by EMERSON. Anything with a Chatsworth Cal. Address is SANYO owned.

FISHER didn't put relay activated protection circuits into their units until after Sanyo bought the Co. Everything before hand was fused. No real problem with that, but when they did go they took out more than 1 or 3 parts.

 

[johnblue]

Picked this up a while back, been sitting around for a while on the shelf.

The Fisher 434, nearly identical to the 634, less power and slightly less intricate quad controls. same joystick, no seperate volume pots per channel near the joystick..

I think sears or wards also had a rebranded version of the 434

Pretty cool "the Fisher" branded Darlington STK amps lined up in the back. Super clean PCBs and almost fully discreet, I counted about 4 chips in all that circuitry.

It may not have huge power but it has every quad in-out tape control you can imagine, probably an awesome quad preamp, though I don't do quad so I have only done two channels at a time. 

I'll post some pics of the inside. Everything is pretty minty, I'm missing one knob though luckily it's for a 1pole switch and not a dual pot. and can't find anything perfect to replace it though.

 

[Blast]

I've got a 4030. It doesn't get much use.

 

[Kingfisher]

Curious to know who built Fishers in Hong Kong while the company was owned by Emerson? The Japanese ones were built by Hitachi...they were known for using the same type of knobs on multiple Fisher and Hitachi models during the early '70's.

 

[Mark Carlson]

Illinoisteve, here's what you need:

Also, here's one from '72 I overlooked, the Fisher 40:

And some Fisher 4-channel accessories from 1974:

The Fisher DR-14 CD-4 Disc Demodulator

The Fisher CP-40 4- and 2-Channel 8-Track Tape Cartridge Player

The Fisher QP-44 2/4-Channel Headphones

I've been thinking about SQ and have realized that I like and philosophically support the idea of it. I like bridging technologies that enable a new way, but don't discriminate against the old. A lot of bridging technologies in audio are in the equipment area, for example, a multi-speed turntable that lets you play 16, 33, 45, and 78 rpm records or a cartridge that accepts microgroove and earlier wider styli and even the flip-over stylus cartridge. People designing them, consciously said to customers, 'we're not going to make you give up on a format of record you want listen to, and we definitely aren't saying throw away your old records." SQ records are like that: playable on a stereo system or on an SQ quad system, and the SQ quad system plays in stereo or quadraphonic, too.

Bridging technologies aren't always what is chosen. Think of the battle between VHS and Beta in the video tape cartridge wars! The originators of each format were determined to triumph over and destroy the other one. Had someone made an adapter to let one kind of cartridge play in a machine for the other one they probably would have gotten sued. There was a bit of a struggle, when LPs were new, over what size they would be, 10" or 12", but record players with 10" platters could in most cases still play a 12" disk, for if they included the 78 speed they needed to accommodate 12" 78s.

If enthusiasts for MP3 and other digital formats want to drive out earlier audio formats, it isn't really working...though it may eventually seem to. Still, I think there will continue to be somebody continuing to play lacquer 78s and vinyl LPs and audio cassettes and reel-to-reel tapes, and CDs. Somebody's gonna be playing an SQ record.

 

[Mark Carlson]

From 1972-1974 I worked in Minneapolis and though I had a lot of albums and 8 tracks I did not actually own anything to play them on.
A large upscale department store offered a Fisher 40 with the four 101 speakers for $400. As just a student at the University of Minnesota at a part time job it took some time. But after amassing that great sum in those days I went and bought the system. IT WAS GREAT!!! But the decoder went bad and I had to take it in for factory warranty repair. It took many weeks, but it was worth the wait. I still have this system today and just was lucky enough to find another one
You can never have too many Fisher 40s!!!

 

[Ohighway]

What era does this guy fit into ?

 

[Mark Carlson]

My knowledge of Fisher is very thin and pretty much limited to the 40 system that was a table top console unit turntable, AM-FM receiver and 8 track player with four 101 speakers. This would be a question for illinoissteve to answer, but if I were to make a guess for you it would be 1974 to 1975.

 

[larryderouin]

Mid 70's probably. Look on the back and check for the Co. name and address. If it's Long Island, N.Y. it's Early to mid 70's when Emerson owned FISHER. Anything with Chatsworth Ca. is Sanyo owned. Probably made in Japan.

 

[Ohighway]

Long Island is in Japan.... right ? ;-)

 

[larryderouin]

About 8000 miles east of Mt. Fuji.

 

[Nashou66]

Here is my 601 I got a few years ago. I used the tuner only with my HH scott 299C . But recently i decided to clean it up and get it
working properly. At some point I will do a re cap but it sounds pretty good as is.

One thing I need to do is some how redo the lettering . These come off with just soap and water cleaning !!!!

Any one have any sugestions? I heard using wax paper with laser jet toner works well .

Here it is hanging out with a couple of my Yammy's

Nashou

 

[Ric Harris]

Ric; All of the QUADup to about 1974 were DESIGNED by FISHER (owned by EMERSON) by the same guys who brought us the 400-500B&C and all the rest of the great stuff in the 60's, and built in Japan usually. In 1975 SANYO got control over FISHER from EMERSON, and Quality took a gradual nosedive to about 1980 when it dropped off the charts. FISHER was relegated to a 2nd or 3rd tier status instead of 1st tier as they had been during the 50's and 60's. If the Back side has FISHER RADIO Co. L.I.City N.Y. it was still FISHER owned by EMERSON. Anything with a Chatsworth Cal. Address is SANYO owned.

FISHER didn't put relay activated protection circuits into their units until after Sanyo bought the Co. Everything before hand was fused. No real problem with that, but when they did go they took out more than 1 or 3 parts.

Yeah my 2nd stereo receiver as a teen was a Sanyo. I wanted more power than my Pioneer SX 550 had and it was a POS. I've learned recently to have more respect the older Fisher products. I also recently learned that the 8 drivers in my RSL Magnificent's also found in Wharfedale W60-70's were Fisher produced. Any Fisher speakers I've worked on usually had Foster components that I give a some good some not so good rating too. As for Emerson there's another name destroyed by "sound design" quality products. Magnavox, KLH, Scott all went down the same trail.

 

[Kingfisher]

I don't have much love for Emerson. They bought Dumont in 1958, Pilot in 1965, Fisher in 1969, and Scott in 1985. Did they ever revive any of these names to their former glory?

 

[Kingfisher]

Long Island is in Japan.... right ? ;-)

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Look inside your Fisher to see if the output transistors say "Hitachi" on them, or if there are any Hitachi logos on the transformers capacitors, transistors PCB's etc. I am almost 100% percent certain yours was made by Hitachi.

 

[Ric Harris]

Mid 70's probably. Look on the back and check for the Co. name and address. If it's Long Island, N.Y. it's Early to mid 70's when Emerson owned FISHER. Anything with Chatsworth Ca. is Sanyo owned. Probably made in Japan.

I spied a Marantz amp (the champagne colored variety from the 80's) Chatsworth CA was printed on the back. I've passed on them before. I likely will again.

 

[MJ1951]

Hi,
I am new to AK, have been following several threads when I do a search for audio info on the web there are always many threads that lead back to AK, so here I am. I recently found a Fisher 495 at an estate sale for $15 couldn't pass it up. A bit dirty but other than that looked complete. Brought it home, cleaned and used some deoxit, new led kit for the old fuse lamps and it looks great. Everything works fine except the FM tuner. It is quiet and the stereo beacon light is not coming on. Signal strength meter is working fine. All other functions, Phono, Aux and AM are loud and clear on the 3rd level of volume. FM has to be set at 6 in order to be heard. I am not a tech but I have a neighbor who works for TI and is good with electronics and knows how to read technical stuff. Any thoughts or direction would be greatly appreciated.