Fisher 202 Futura - Any good?

.. I have to say it's pretty-clear that there is no clear conscensus on the solid-state Fisher gear.his is the first stereo gear I heard) ...
I'm w/GT on this one. Finding a nice Fisher would only tell me to find a suitable speaker setup & I wouldn't look back.
 
I am pretty impressed with the sound on this receiver after some elbow grease. The original owner who dropped it off at the thrift store probably just gave up on it, which is his or her loss and my gain!
 
I got my 500TX for $30. After cleanup, I checked it over and brought it up on a DBT, even tho the P.O. had had it running the day before. No pops, squeaks, rumbles, hiss, or any other noises. The varactor tuning knobs(presets) all work as originally advertised, as does the Auto Scan. It did have the usual "Vintage Receiver Infirmaties", scratchy pots, and a blown bulb. A full recap of all the boards except the RF board brought it back to it's former glory. It sounds very much like my tubed 400, but with a slightly harsher presentation (to me, typical SS). It's doing yeoman duty in the bedroom with a set of XP-55's and a GX-4000D. I can't complain as the speakers are holding it back some. Hooking up a pair of SANSUI SP2500's for testing brought out what sounds to me a fullness that the XP-55's can't deliver. SP-200's do the same. The Sansui's are more efficient than the XP-55's so that's a lot of it there. I'd wager to say with even better speakers the 500TX would do really well. As would most all of the EARLY PRE SANYO FISHER Solid State Gear.

Larry
 
Re-Fisher 202 Any Good?

I think that someone else remarked that Fisher was still building some highly descent equipment in The Futura Series 201/202. These receivers were the first outsourced Fishers ever built. The parent company (Emerson) would not allow continued production in the US except for speaker enclosures..and the 201 and 202 were both very much designed under the scrutiny of Avery Fisher. They are Japanese made "American" recievers. They are the last componensts Mr. Fisher permitted to be called "The Fisher". He demanded the removal of that traditional title when the quality control was taken from his domain by the powers that be...who totally screwed Fisher Radio...but The 201/202 are good receivers. They are not quite the same as the Transistor or Professional series....not near the relief and transparency...but, in my opinion they blew the socks of the Marantz 2215 which was not musical sounding. the Futuras were musical sounding as Fishers were. Something very good about these receivers: Their rear panels were Excellent. They had binding post speaker terminals that could be tightly done with finger or screwdriver and the backplate is steel! (Not cardboard as would be just around the corner). The Fisher will never die. The old classics will be the ones remembered (and used) by posterity. The years following are just another example of corporate greed and takeover. The people on this forum know what The Fisher really is:tresbon: "Beam Me Up Avery"
Babe
 
I think that someone else remarked that Fisher was still building some highly descent equipment in The Futura Series 201/202. These receivers were the first outsourced Fishers ever built. The parent company (Emerson) would not allow continued production in the US except for speaker enclosures..and the 201 and 202 were both very much designed under the scrutiny of Avery Fisher. They are Japanese made "American" recievers. They are the last componensts Mr. Fisher permitted to be called "The Fisher". He demanded the removal of that traditional title when the quality control was taken from his domain by the powers that be...who totally screwed Fisher Radio...but The 201/202 are good receivers. They are not quite the same as the Transistor or Professional series....not near the relief and transparency...but, in my opinion they blew the socks of the Marantz 2215 which was not musical sounding. the Futuras were musical sounding as Fishers were. Something very good about these receivers: Their rear panels were Excellent. They had binding post speaker terminals that could be tightly done with finger or screwdriver and the backplate is steel! (Not cardboard as would be just around the corner). The Fisher will never die. The old classics will be the ones remembered (and used) by posterity. The years following are just another example of corporate greed and takeover. The people on this forum know what The Fisher really is:tresbon: "Beam Me Up Avery"
Babe

I rather like mine. After some help from some AK'ers on how to get things working right, it sounds and performs great (at last through headphones). I need to get some speakers for this. Any recommendations?
 
I would recommend replacing all the electrolytic caps in this receiver with Nichicon audio grade electrolytic caps. Even with the big main filter cap my electrolytic capacitor order only came to about $22.00

With new electrolytic caps the receiver will sound much better. mine sounded too warm in the mids and lacking in the highs. New caps have it sounding much better and will make the receiver more reliable in the long run. Concerning resistors, don't replace any unless you should in the future have a problem and you suspect a resistor is the cause.

If the stereo indicator bulbs ever burn out a quick permanent fix is to just use a couple red LEDs connected in series to the wires that went to one of the stereo indicator bulbs and leave the other bulb disconnected. I have a set of LED Christmas lights I had hacked up for a Christmas display at work a few years ago. I got a couple red LEDs from the string of lights and super glued them in place. Didn't need a dropping resistor either.

Concerning the adjustable stuff on the AM-FM IF board, the FM MPX board, the AM RF amp board & the FM RF amp board don't touch any adjustments on any of those boards. I would recommend if you cannot do it yourself to take the receiver to someone once you are finished and have them check the alignment of the tuner.
 
I would recommend replacing all the electrolytic caps in this receiver with Nichicon audio grade electrolytic caps. Even with the big main filter cap my electrolytic capacitor order only came to about $22.00

With new electrolytic caps the receiver will sound much better. mine sounded too warm in the mids and lacking in the highs. New caps have it sounding much better and will make the receiver more reliable in the long run. Concerning resistors, don't replace any unless you should in the future have a problem and you suspect a resistor is the cause.

If the stereo indicator bulbs ever burn out a quick permanent fix is to just use a couple red LEDs connected in series to the wires that went to one of the stereo indicator bulbs and leave the other bulb disconnected. I have a set of LED Christmas lights I had hacked up for a Christmas display at work a few years ago. I got a couple red LEDs from the string of lights and super glued them in place. Didn't need a dropping resistor either.

Concerning the adjustable stuff on the AM-FM IF board, the FM MPX board, the AM RF amp board & the FM RF amp board don't touch any adjustments on any of those boards. I would recommend if you cannot do it yourself to take the receiver to someone once you are finished and have them check the alignment of the tuner.

No clue how to do any of this. I would scrap the receiver for sure if I ever tried to recap it.
 
jabbo. Edit your profile and put at least the county and state you are in. If someone is close, you might get lucky and get them to at least show you how to do the basics and look over your shoulder while you do the recap. And if that $$ in your pocket is getting too hot, you might be able to find one that would do it for you. Option one is probably better if you are the curious sort and then you have more $$$ for speakers.

Larry
 
jabbo. Edit your profile and put at least the county and state you are in. If someone is close, you might get lucky and get them to at least show you how to do the basics and look over your shoulder while you do the recap. And if that $$ in your pocket is getting too hot, you might be able to find one that would do it for you. Option one is probably better if you are the curious sort and then you have more $$$ for speakers.

Larry

Stuff to consider for sure. It is running fine at the moment. I suspect this thing sat unused for many moons.
 
How is the receiver running now? Still good I assume?

I got mine finished last week and have it at work where it sounds truly amazing. I do notice that it takes awhile once first turned on before I really enjoy the sound, but once it has been run for awhile the receiver sounds totally amazing. I assume that is because certain parts are warming up or maybe it is the caps that sound better after having voltage applied for awhile? Of course it could also be that my ears have to get adjusted to the sound :D Not really sure here. One thing I noticed is with the powered sub the bass is very clean and deep and is so that you almost don't even notice the sub is there. Might I add that the receiver has no hum whatsoever and don't appear to have any of the normal solid state hiss at least not that I can tell.
 
How is the receiver running now? Still good I assume?

I got mine finished last week and have it at work where it sounds truly amazing. I do notice that it takes awhile once first turned on before I really enjoy the sound, but once it has been run for awhile the receiver sounds totally amazing. I assume that is because certain parts are warming up or maybe it is the caps that sound better after having voltage applied for awhile? Of course it could also be that my ears have to get adjusted to the sound :D Not really sure here. One thing I noticed is with the powered sub the bass is very clean and deep and is so that you almost don't even notice the sub is there. Might I add that the receiver has no hum whatsoever and don't appear to have any of the normal solid state hiss at least not that I can tell.

Yeah, it's been great. Still only through headphones as I need to get some speakers for it, but it just has a really nice, warm sound. AM is slightly scratchy, but it is in the basement currently, so maybe that is affecting the signal.
 
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