Fisher RS-881A Amp Repair Fail? Has its days come to an end?

[Bassblaster]

As has been recorded here many times, most believe that the last US made Fisher SS gear was quite good for the times. My avitar is the signal strength/Autoscan meter of a TX500, which is an awesome receiver for 1970. When Avery sold out to Emerson and production moved overseas, the build quality didn't drop off too much initally. The early Japanese Fishers and Studio Standard models were pretty comparable to most of the competition.

It was when Sanyo bought them out in 1975 that everything changed. I sold Fisher in the late seventies, early eighties, and it was our entry level stuff. Build quality varied from atrocious to iffy and it wasn't even in the same ballpark as Fisher gear a decade earlier. Even the powerful CA-800 was brittle compared to gear a little more expensive. But they were powerful and cheap, so they sold. Their smaller amps and receivers had switchgear that felt like it was lifted out of a Yugo. It was cheap, and you got what you paid for.

Since you sold that kind of gear, do you remember what that gear cost when now? its a thought the rolls across my head every here and then.

 

[petehall347]

your antenna might well throw the tuning out a little .. i would try a different one first .

 

[Bassblaster]

your antenna might well throw the tuning out a little .. i would try a different one first .

i dont have any other antennas. ive been using the "single wire to your ceiling" trick for years and this is the first time ive seen a station run .1 off
Yes i know i should get a proper antenna....you dont happen to know of any good models do you?

 

[petehall347]

you can make your own easy enough with a couple lengths of wire and some wood . there are plenty of diagrams on the net .

 

[ggregg]

Since you sold that kind of gear, do you remember what that gear cost when now? its a thought the rolls across my head every here and then.

Most everything was sold in a rack system. Sanyo Fisher did not require a full dealership in order to sell the rack systems, part of the reason why so many retailers took then on. It worked out good for them. They became the largest seller of rack systems for a number of years. The rack system with the 800 in it was 799 I believe. Turntable, speakers, double cassette, tuner, turntable, and the amp. The only single pieces we were carrying, at the time, were some cheap $100 pr. speakers, which were garbage, and a turntable, don't remember the number, but it was CEC built I think, and not half bad. Believe it was around 139 w/o cart.

The rack systems started at 399, for a 30 wpc amp, tuner, double cassette, turntable, speakers, and rack. The only piece with a power supply was the amp and the turntable. Everything else plugged into the amp for power. Your piece looks similar to the amp in the 499 or 599 rack but of course, that was decades ago. I do remember a lot of the amps coming in with blown output fuses. It was so common that we would check them at the counter before writing them up for service and replace right then if necessary. So obviously many of these were being run pretty hard.

People who bought single pieces of gear were willing to pay the price to get Yamaha or Luxman, the next two lines up the ladder, that we sold. We also sold a pile of B&O turntables.

 

[Bassblaster]

Most everything was sold in a rack system. Sanyo Fisher did not require a full dealership in order to sell the rack systems, part of the reason why so many retailers took then on. It worked out good for them. They became the largest seller of rack systems for a number of years. The rack system with the 800 in it was 799 I believe. Turntable, speakers, double cassette, tuner, turntable, and the amp. The only single pieces we were carrying, at the time, were some cheap $100 pr. speakers, which were garbage, and a turntable, don't remember the number, but it was CEC built I think, and not half bad. Believe it was around 139 w/o cart.

The rack systems started at 399, for a 30 wpc amp, tuner, double cassette, turntable, speakers, and rack. The only piece with a power supply was the amp and the turntable. Everything else plugged into the amp for power. Your piece looks similar to the amp in the 499 or 599 rack but of course, that was decades ago. I do remember a lot of the amps coming in with blown output fuses. It was so common that we would check them at the counter before writing them up for service and replace right then if necessary. So obviously many of these were being run pretty hard.

People who bought single pieces of gear were willing to pay the price to get Yamaha or Luxman, the next two lines up the ladder, that we sold. We also sold a pile of B&O turntables.

So many details, me like. the RS-881A i have now was sold as a 5 piece set. you had your Receiver, Dual tape deck, turntable and speakers. i have the receiver (obviously) and speakers. Tape deck model CR-W881A, Turntable model MT-881A if you ever to run across those let me know. i would like to get this set "complete" as you could say.
EDIT: Should add the speakers lol. they are Model STV-751. Well it might be SVT, i dont remember which order the letters go. i replaced the mids, tweets and crossovers in them. i kept the original woofer because white cone.

 

[ggregg]

To each his own.

 

[Bassblaster]

View attachment 765716 With 35 pages I figured this thread was about something from 50 years ago. Then I open and see it is about a rack system receiver from the 80s. Heeeeccccckkkk yeah!!! Here is my rack system Fisher RS-914 (120 W) that I am currently using bc it is my only receiver that has a timer. Since I like to fall asleep to my stereo, I use this to power some Advent Heritage. I have not read much of this thread but I hope you got it fixed. Maybe we are the only two AKers running Fisher receivers from rack systems. Cheers! Love the 5 knob EQ, the power lever meters, that it's made in Korea , look, power standby button, and general awesomeness! I google imaged your unit and it looks sweet (and powerful) as well. If it's not yet fixed, good luck!

its is working 95%. only kicker left is the FM tuner is .1 off. but i dont think im going to do anything about it. it adds character lol. i can't even begin to think of all the testing and replacing parts i've done. im most likely going to make a new post about this units restoration in the next 2 weeks or so. For power its packing 50W RMS per channel from an STK4191II. not a slouch, but there are bigger out there. for your system i like that big volume knob. my unit was part of a rack but only a 3 piece set. Receiver, Dual tape deck and Turntable. im trying to find those 2 other pieces but having no luck. we might be the few people running SS Fisher gear on here, seems Fisher is not well loved here on AK at least the SS gear

 

[Bassblaster]

I just read a bit more, lots of great folk giving you a helping hand. And major work and perseverance on your part. Congrats on getting her running. I'm keeping an eye out for a matching CD player. Good luck completing your set, and happy listening. Cheers, nice looking unit!

Thanks man! im sure Elnaldo and pete were getting pretty tired of this this at some points because i know i was. for your CD player check with sites like Ebay first. might get lucky and find one cheap.

 

[Bassblaster]

Well back to this thread, if anyones still here and wants to know. the RS-881A is still going, as im smashing my face on my keyboard right now i have it going next to me. still have not replaced the STK pack so the right channel is still ass. i think its actually getting weaker. kinda just waiting for it to go and send 50V of DC into my speakers. i already have a Pioneer that was spitting out 30V which made my 120W tower speaker's woofer bottom out, hard

 

[elnaldo]

I'd install a fuse between the + speaker output and your speaker. 2A will be fine for home listening levels, and will protect your speakers in case of a fail.

 

[Bassblaster]

Since i got my new camera today thought i would post some nice, high res pics of this unit since there is just about nothing on it online

 

[Bassblaster]

I Got it a tape deck! its not the proper CR-W881A because that one is about impossible to find. but i got a good deal on a CR-W56 instead. it doesnt work of course but just another project

 

[elnaldo]

Do you need a working cassette deck? I hope it's an easy fixjust , roller and belts.

 

[Bassblaster]

Do you need a working cassette deck? I hope it's an easy fixjust , roller and belts.

more than that...i was testing voltages and i slipped with the lead and fried a transistor. now the entire unit is dead. only me. but i do know it needs belts because BEFORE i slipped the first deck's belt is slipping and the 2nd deck has no belt at all. i have reason to believe someone else was inside this poking around.