Restify some old STV speakers?

[nfafan]

Hello all,

Fell into a stack of free, used-but-not-abused Fisher (Studio Standard stuff, from the Cali-era Fisher) goodies that I want to get running again, and given that all the included electronics - amp, tuner, dual cassette deck, 5-disc CD changer - are made in Japan, I can't help but think there is some level of quality inside that is worth making work correctly again. I was even given the Fisher-branded made in USA shelving with the glass door.

So far, tested the tuner and amp - works great, makes a nice light show too!

The goodies included two pairs of USA-made STV speakers; pair of STV-889A and a pair of STV-724 speakers in outstanding cosmetic condition. Huge monsters - no wonder some folks have called them monkey coffins. But they have house-shaking bass and some old-skool white-woofered charm.

The initial test in the kitchen with the included Fisher CA-869 amp and FM-869 tuner - didn't sound so hot; loud and strong but couldn't be sure but the tweeters worked all that well; they seemed weak or even non-functional.

Moved to carpeted gameroom and connected to the Onkyo AV system my son lent me - BIG difference in sound. Rocks the house but I can use the Onkyo to bring up the treble and tone down the bass - now it is nice at moderate to loud levels.

That said, their low-listening-volume, non-house-thumping behavior, could really use some help.

Anyone have any ideas for tweaking/tuning restoring/modifying these would be greatly appreciated! Maybe a turn-key crossover and recommended tweeter, seal the two front ports, add acoustic batting, whatever? Not looking to turn these into Advents or Dahlquists, just get them to where they are respected by visitors for being good speakers.

Really want to get this all-Fisher system cooking so I can feel proud about saving this all from a landfill.

Thanks all!

 

[Daddy Bone]

Did you ever get these Fisher goodies working well? Did you do any tweaks or mods? How about the speakers? Is any of it in service today?

 

[nfafan]

Did you ever get these Fisher goodies working well? Did you do any tweaks or mods? How about the speakers? Is any of it in service today?

Sold or traded both pairs of the speakers relatively easily, great shape so they moved fast once I decided to let them go. Guess there was no "all Fisher is junk" bias in my area.

I did add internal bracing and egg-crate foam to the walls of the one pair (one speaker at a time), but I had no A/B switch back then so could only try swiping the left/right controls on the Fisher recvr back and forth quickly to see if it made a difference, none immediately apparent.

The Made in Japan Fisher/Sanyo receiver is fine with me - I use it as my A/B testbed as it has a miniscule built-in EQ and "Loudness" button to test bass and treble comparisons, plus the old-school L/R balance controls that are easier to use than my modern AVRs support. IIRC, it is 100W/Ch and has a massive heatsink.

The turntable is ignored as I don't need it and wasn't going to spend to put it in service, the CD changer needs belts and the cassette deck needs belts for the one side. They are on the to-do as I like the way they daisy-chain to the receiver and are good enough for my uses.