Fisher 800c at a party

[hakemon]

So I'm planning to use my 800c at a party. It WILL be pushed, but will be playing mostly 33's. Mostly heavy metal, and actually for example, the opening song is going to be Live Wire from Motley Crue..

It will be connected to 6 ohm Pioneer CS-G403's, with their GIANT woofers. Since at a party everyone wants their bass.

Now in my room, I know it can push these speakers fairly good..

Thing is, can I REALLY push it loudly for party levels? I want to know before I even do it. It has new caps, resistors, and mostly NOS tubes (oldest I could find in still great passing condition)..

I could put a fan on it if I had too.

I mainly want to freak party goers out with this old amp doing such great sound.

 

[Jailtime]

How sensitive are the Pioneers? If they're around 95dB/1W, you should have no problem rocking the house with the 800C. I've run mine pretty hard, volume around 2 o'clock with no problems. Keep it somewhere that it can breathe, and don't let the drunks get close to it!

 

[hakemon]

From what I can tell, they are 92dB sensitive.

Being 6 ohms won't destroy the amp? I was once told the 800c is only rated for 8ohms..

 

[Jailtime]

800C has 4, 8, and 16 ohm taps. You're fine running those Pioneers on the 8 ohm tap. If your party is indoors, the 800C should be powerful enough to provide the tunes. Do a bit of listening before your party to find out where the limits of the 800C are. You'll be able to tell when it runs out of juice.

 

[hakemon]

One speaker will be inside, the other speaker will be at the pool house outside. (protected from the water of course).. It'd be cool if the bass could be felt IN the pool

I'll do some maxing on it later when it's afternoon and see where it's limits are.

 

[JonL]

Sounds like a great party!

 

[hakemon]

It will be.. Though someone will be connecting their iPod and later loading their bad "cRAP" (as i call it), as I want to be able to enjoy the party myself, and not be the DJ all night.

He was worried the iPod would get fried by the amp, lol. I told him only if the music sucks bad enough..

 

[Jailtime]

Careful with that cRAP, loudness controls or boosted bass may lead to some issues. We can only hope that the Fisher fries the Ipod.

 

[hakemon]

For the most part music will be fead by turntable, but also my laptop for other music I just don't have on albums.

 

[sloober]

I would limit the control to yourself. Keep it hidden, and away from open windows near the pool. All you need is someone to turn it off, and back on quickly, or a spray through the window. I would aim a small fan to make a breeze across it. John

 

[hakemon]

I was going to put it near a hallway, covered with a fan aiming into it, and an exhaust fan at the back, to force airflow..

I think just to get peoples attention, I'm gonna start with a crappy record, that's all scratched and a horrible OOLLLD band with only high mids.. Then say "what'd you expect? It's older than you!"

Then put on the Motley Crue album and play Live Wire and watch all the faces go from "booo!" to "WTF!?"

 

[sloober]

Another great thing for parties. Load up a party playlist on itunes (in lossless hopefully) and hook it to the 800c. If you have an ipod touch (iphone, ipad), use the remote app to control it. Also think there is a DJ mode where users can select upcoming songs.

 

[hakemon]

I mainly use AAC at 320Kbps just to save space, because I have nearly 30GB of music..

I would use the iPod to control, but my friends wifi sucks so bad it'll never work right.

 

[libertycaps]

A semi-related question:

Is it okay to gang up 2 pairs of speakers on one 8ohm post? Cuz i'm still a bit on the fence about doing that with my HH Scott LV-72 and 2 pairs of 8ohm Klipsch.

 

[sgmlaw]

The 800C should have plenty of stamina for this kind of use.

As far as speakers and impedances go, the 8 ohm tap should be fine. While equipped for 4 ohms, this amp section does not have a lot of steam into more difficult loads, and I will even run 4 ohm speakers off the 8 ohm taps at times. I would not run two sets of speakers off of this design, unless they were all exceedingly easy loads. It is at heart a 30 wpc design with moderate current headroom, albeit a very good sounding one.

If you can find horns, you would have the quintessential '60s party system. Paired to a pair of older heritage Klipsches or Altecs, the entire neighborhood will hear it.

Try running it "nude", out in the open on a table or stand, where it will present the most interesting display to those unfamiliar with vacuum equipment. It will also run coolest that way.

Just me, but running an ipod through a tubed Fisher is like serving stale fast food on fine china.

 

[audiodon]

Just keep the drink containers off the cabinet of the Fisher if you have one.

 

[--@H@B-->]

Its not really any of my business and i dont want to poop on anyones parade, but you dont have anything else to dj a party with?

Why would you want to dj a party with a vintage tube receiver? I mean, there wont be any discernible sonic difference between that and anything else considering room acoustics. I positive most other people at the party wont even care.

So why do it?

 

[bobva]

dont do it

party goers are not there to here the sound your 500 can produce.

they are there to have fun and wreak things. They could care less if you were to drive your car into the house and use that system.

your 500 is 45years old. id like to see it last 46.


A good stereo system is like a good bottle of whiskey to be shared with good friends at home.

Not with a bunch of bums in a bar.

 

[hakemon]

It's an 800, not a 500..

There are some people at this party that DO care about the sound.. The pool area is for the "idiots" while inside there's a pool table where the more civilized party goers are going to be.. That's near where the other speaker will be.

 

[sgmlaw]

I never tell someone how to enjoy their instrument (other than an occasional aside about compressed digital, which I can't resist despising). Your friends may all be very careful and appreciative audio and music lovers.

Still, alcohol can do funny things to the very best of us. I was thinking of mentioning about keeping people from the gear as the night wears on, but it's your home and your stuff, and who am I to tell you how to live?

I'm sure you've got everything covered. Have fun.