Fisher Consoles 1959-1965

Here is my 1960 Fisher Premiere:

Premiere1.jpg


The Fisher 600 (TA-600), front:

PremiereFaceplate.jpg


Back:

TA-600.jpg

Telefunkens.jpg

1960FisherPremiere.jpg
 
Your Fisher console is absolutely gorgeous. Did you get it in that condition or did you restore it yourself.

Regards,
Sal Brisindi
 
1964 Fisher Ambassador V

Here's a few shots of my '64 Ambassador V - from what I gather in the above thread, this is an example of the 'Italian Provincial' cabinet in 'distressed walnut'. Picked it up as a fixer on Craigslist last year. She sure cleaned up nice!

ambassador1.jpg


ambassador2.jpg


And the amplifier device layout:
ambassador3.jpg
 
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Here's a few shots of my '63 Ambassador V - from what I gather in the above thread, this is an example of the 'Italian Provincial' cabinet in 'distressed walnut'. Picked it up as a fixer on Craigslist last year. She sure cleaned up nice!
Somebody sure took good care of the old Ambassador. How does that Garrard type "A" sound? Did it come with a period cartridge? I just picked up a type "A" with an Empire 108 but I've yet to play with it.

I'm wondering if, like cars, the console model year started sometime the previous year. I found your console in the 1964 catalog - Italian Provincial in Distressed Walnut - but for some reason the ad men have dressed it up with Asian knick-knacks, paintings and a brown shag: -Hey, I just noticed that yours is on a brown shag, too!

1964Ambassador.jpg
 
Your Fisher console is absolutely gorgeous. Did you get it in that condition or did you restore it yourself.
It was extremely well taken care of (including servicing) by the Zwicke family - note the brass plaque above the receiver in the above pictures. I have paperwork from a trip to the shop in 1983 but I suspect it went back sometime in the early 90's as well - there is a very new sticker on the back from a local electronics repair shop. In addition the son was an electrical engineer and apparently did some work himself as well - I have some of his notes on troubleshooting. I just got real lucky - thank you Craigslist!
 
I have nothing to add except to say that all of the examples I have seen are first rate! As one who is just starting out on a Fisher journey (FM-100B) and also grew up with a console stereo (ours was always a Magnavox) these Fishers are so much nicer! :D

I tried to talk my wife into a Console for the family room which was shot down but if I can find a nice Fisher Console and she doesn't like my stereo rack in the living room.......:banana:

Keep sending those pics in guys so I know what models to search for!
:D
Yank
 
Bigyank, I had to sacrifice one of my big bookcases to get the console on the main level of our house but I've never looked back. It's at the foot of a stairwell between the living room and the kitchen/dining room and does an excellent job of filling the house with music.

Duffinator, please post your brochure. I, for one, would love to see Fisher's 55s.

Elduce, what model and year is your console? Very nice and very clean tuner/amp. How's it sound?

Hi Jack Lord. (We met at James')
 
I'd like to see the '55 catalog - I have an amp from a Fisher 51 and wonder about the vintage...
 
I pulled the owner's manual to double-check, and sure enough, she's an Ambassador VI, not an Ambassador V. Early-onset Alzheimer's sure sucks. :dunno:
I don't listen to records on it much, simply because the sheer mass of the tonearm scares me - I've balanced it to the best of my ability, but I still wonder if it's damaging my records. The few I have listened to sound pretty good, though. Usually (and I know this is probably sacreligious), I just connect my iPod to the aux inputs and relax. :music:

Somebody sure took good care of the old Ambassador. How does that Garrard type "A" sound? Did it come with a period cartridge? I just picked up a type "A" with an Empire 108 but I've yet to play with it.

I'm wondering if, like cars, the console model year started sometime the previous year. I found your console in the 1964 catalog - Italian Provincial in Distressed Walnut - but for some reason the ad men have dressed it up with Asian knick-knacks, paintings and a brown shag: -Hey, I just noticed that yours is on a brown shag, too!
 
TheRed1: The console I believe is from 56 or 57 don't know really,not much info on them.The unit has a series 60 chassis and consumes 125 watts,so about 30 watts or close to it.A garrard 121 record changer, It's a pretty beast.The tuner is excellent It's mono but the best FM I heard in a long time.Sounds sweet,very warm.It came with the user book. Small box big sound.
47b7d806b3127cce8673fb0d8ca700000026108AYtWzJo1buT
 
Quintet of Modern Consoles:

There seem to be quite a few fans of "Modern" style consoles, so here are five from 1961 to keep the thread going:

The Executive VI

1961ExecutiveVI.jpg


The Coronet II

1961CoronetII.jpg


The Custom Electra IV

1961CustomElectraIV.jpg


The Philharmonic

1961Philharmonic.jpg


Not quite a console, not quite one of the separates: The Custom Module

1961CustomModule.jpg
 
I have a 1962 Ambassador IV with the 660A tube amplifier. The amp has 3 pots. One for output tube bias adjustment and 2 speaker balance adjustments. Can anyone provide instructions on how to adjust these pots?

Thanks
 
Hi Pich, Welcome to AK. I am prepared to be very jealous if your Ambassador is a 'Modern'. Whatever the style, I'd love to see some pictures.

As to your questions, you might get more responses if you were to start your own thread on the subject. My very limited understanding of those adjustments comes from a phone conversation I had with Craig (NOSValves) about my Fisher 400 receiver. He indicated that I was fortunate that my receiver apparently hadn't been monkeyed with and still had the factory settings on its adjustment pots - it made his job easier.

I don't know if you noticed or not but there is a tube layout diagram for the 660A earlier in this thread. Are the "speaker balance" adjustments you mentioned the Ch A & B AC Bal pots shown in Fig. 6? If so, I believe these adjust the phasing between the "push" and the "pull" cycles of the amp to minimize distortion. The service manual for my 400 calls this the "phase inverter adjustment" and it requires a 16-ohm load on the speaker terminals and an IM Distortion Analyzer. You might be able to do a rough estimate visually with an O-scope or maybe even by ear if you had trained ears. But either way it's WAY beyond my competence level.

To do the bias adjustment you'll want a schematic and a multimeter. Some Fisher amps require the addition of a resistor, I believe between the cathode and ground, to enable you to measure the bias voltage and obtain the correct current draw for your output tubes. I'm not familiar with the 660A and, having never done this myself; I am not qualified to advise you on the particulars. Hopefully others here will chime in with better information than I.

It might be helpful if you were to explain your reasons for attempting these adjustments. There may be other issues you would want to address before making these adjustments.
 
WOW!!! I've really been enjoying this thread!! Some of you guys really know your Fishers!! That's awesome.

I was hoping perhaps one of you kind gentlemen could give me a little info on the amp in the photo. Specifically, I was curious about how many real world watts per channel this amp would put out. I read on one of the spec sheet that it said 75 watts; is that combining the two channels?

More importantly, I guess I'd like to know if this amp is worth taking to my tech and having it gone through and putting into daily use.

Any info you could give me would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. Chris
 

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Pilotputz,

I think I've got one of those - or rather I had it and then gave it to a friend. I'm going over to her house on Friday for my birthday dinner and will check the model number which is obscured by wires in the pictures I took. This is a very good sounding console IMO. The difference between this tube/transistor hybrid and the all-tube consoles I've heard is subtle. The tube consoles have a bit more bass punch, but the hybrids still have plenty of warmth. Though I believe that in the case of Fisher consoles, in particular; much of this is due to the big old 10, 12 or 15 inch Jensen woofers. This one's in a 1965 Custom Electra VIII: (The companion tuner in this console is fantastic, BTW.)

660.jpg

660A.jpg

CustomElectraVIII.jpg

Features.jpg

1965Electra.jpg
 
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