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The Fisher Stereophonic Sound Spectacular

Charivari

Charivari

Fighting Naïve Realism
Being bummed after missing out on a pair of $60 Tannoys and seeing others around here getting great deals, I decided to go yard sale hunting and see if my recent luck has changed. I ended up hitting an estate sale out in a little branch of this valley that has always reminded me of the "Hidden Valley Ranch" salad dressing label and found for sale there a pair of "speaker tables."

Turns out, they're "The Fisher Stereophonic" according to the front and together they act sort of like a console without the console. The label was torn from the back some long time past, though there is a repair shop's sticker on it indicating this was checked out back in '83. Please refer to the pictures to get an idea of what I picked up.

One unit contains a Garrard RC 121 Mk II turntable. It appears to be some manner of stacking table since it came with what appears to be a pair of changing arms and some device that mounts to the spindle to aid in the change. The amp has no markings on it aside from "11607A" and a smeared ink stamp that has "270" below it. I can't tell what type of tubes that are in it as all the labels are rubbed off. In the front there are a pair of speakers the same as in the other unit.

The other unit is just a speaker that does still have it's label on it, which reads "The Fisher / Model 140 / Speaker System." There are two drivers in it are marked with "LS 703 115 / 220940."

Anyone know what I found? Any good? At least they look decent enough, aside from the scratches.

Thanks,
- JP
 
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And pics of the amp unit after I pulled it out. The phono stage is a completely separate unit, using two tubes, which is a nice thing. No markings on it, though.

I've no variac, so I might just put this back together and plug it in. I do have an industrial grade light dimmer, any idea if that would work at all?

- JP
 
Lots of hum, barely any signal passing through when volume is cranked way up. Turntable doesn't want to play, it just sputters and jerks then puts its tone arm away. To test, I must manually turn the record (a very bad one just for testing purposes like this). Random bursts of very loud signal through the right speaker that last a fraction of a second, then nothing but hum again.

Thought I scored, now it looks like I brought home a lemon. Anyone want it?

- JP
 
a VARIAC is not absolutely needed. I've never had one, and I've fixed my share of vintage tube equipment. A light bulb in series with the AC line will do. 25 to 100 watts. If the bulb glows bright you have a short somewhere...

Nice equipment, BTW.

Good luck!

crooner
 
Check this

Nice article on how to build and use a "Dim Bulb Tester" or Poor Man's Variac.

BTW, it cracks me up how many people use VARIACs to power up solid-state pieces. Absolutely not needed.

I'm editing this post since it appears you have already powered up the unit. The light bulb tester needs to be used before doing this.
 
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What brands and numbers are the tubes? I can't tell from the pics.
Sometimes there's some goodies in there, like my console with Amperex Bugle Boy 6BQ5s and Fisher branded Telefunken 12AX7s
 
Thanks for the info Crooner, but yeah, I became impatient. Besides, I figure that a Variac largely just lets components that are going to die, last just a little longer before they die anyways.

Andyman,

The markings on all the tubes are almost completely gone, the repairman back in '83 must not have bothered to be the least bit careful. From what I can tell, though, most of them are 'Amperex.' Though, there is a Mullard beside the power transformer, an ?EC80? -- just a guess on the number, trying to read what's left of the markings.

I wish I knew more about tube equipment, but I was just a listener back when I played with this stuff more.

- JP
 
Wow, those are fantastic! Looks like something from the remake of "War of the Worlds". No, really they appear to be great examples of industrial design from the sixties, and you can be certain if they are made functional, they will be up to the Avery Fisher standard of excellence. You want to have a speaker of that size just that far from the floor, and with those, it's certain. The logo presentation on the grill is reminiscent of Marshall, and quite striking. I'm guessing that those are circa early sixties?, and will be a very valuable item if you can handle any negative WAF for a while. Kudos. :) -sf
 
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The system I have seen before but remember nothing about it but it is from the early early stereo days. Fisher made a line of consoles that has in them small 6bq5 based amps that like the Dyna ST35 are really very good. This looks like it could be the granddy of the more common, but rare, later version. Worth digging inot and changing the caps and gettign going. The changer is probably VM and you may want to look in on the VM group on Yahoo for help there. It is a piece of historica more than anything you'd spin vinyl on. Worth restoring for that alone. I would like to suggest that rather than gutting it, you may want to search for a new owner if you do not want to do a restoration or keep it for its historic value. It is small enought that it can be crated and should not be expense to ship as would 1 of its big brothers.
 
crooner said:
Check this

Nice article on how to build and use a "Dim Bulb Tester" or Poor Man's Variac.

BTW, it cracks me up how many people use VARIACs to power up solid-state pieces. Absolutely not needed.

I'm editing this post since it appears you have already powered up the unit. The light bulb tester needs to be used before doing this.
Click to expand...


Great link you just saved me a ton of time explaining how this will work. I quit telling people and just saying buy a variac! But really my time is worth more IMHO at a $100 for a brand new variac if I was going to mess with vintage gear I would just buy a variac.

Craig
 
It's understandable Craig since you're the pro and do this on a day to day basis. Me? I only occasionally need to soft start something like a Hallicrafters Sky Buddy or a recently found Dynaco amp. In such a case, the light bulb trick works just fine...
 
Brian said:
The system I have seen before but remember nothing about it but it is from the early early stereo days. Fisher made a line of consoles that has in them small 6bq5 based amps that like the Dyna ST35 are really very good. This looks like it could be the granddy of the more common, but rare, later version. Worth digging inot and changing the caps and gettign going. The changer is probably VM and you may want to look in on the VM group on Yahoo for help there. It is a piece of historica more than anything you'd spin vinyl on. Worth restoring for that alone. I would like to suggest that rather than gutting it, you may want to search for a new owner if you do not want to do a restoration or keep it for its historic value. It is small enought that it can be crated and should not be expense to ship as would 1 of its big brothers.
Click to expand...
Who said anything about ripping it apart for a few goodies and trashing the rest? At the most, I had hopes of using the amplifier portion separately, but original, and fixing up the rest so if I decided to let it go, it'd go as a unit. If anything, this is a defect of mine in that I have trouble throwing away something old that I think repairable. Hence why I've a mostly working Westinghouse H-168 console in my bedroom doing nothing but taking up space. Come to think of it, if this was a full-sized console, I most certainly would not have dragged it home simply for the space issue.

Now, were you saying that this was more common or rare? So, you don't remember the model number either, eh? Ah well, there probably isn't much information on it on the net anyways.

What do you mean by the tt being VM? It says Garrard right on it, or does VM stand not for a brand but something else?

Crooner, so that is a Hallicrafters S-19R in your system pics? I've wondered about whether it was the S-19 or a S-22.

- JP
 
Ok, I posted about this Fisher at "the other place" that despite the attitudes to be found there still has an excellent knowledge base.

Jimmydee said:
The unit(s) are called the "Promenade" and were available in 1958-1960.
It was the cheapest console system Fisher made at the time. It was $229.50 in 1959. The next up was the Electra III at $389.50.

The 140 "companion" speaker was priced at $59.50.

Fisher didn't publish much in the way of techinical specs on their consoles...they were marketed towards the well off person who wasn't into "hi-fi"...whereas the component catalogs abounded with techincal specs.

Power was listed at 20 watts...which is probably IHFM...so 6-8WPC RMS is probably what it is...

Fisher used a dual pentode tube (I cannot for the life of me remember the number at the moment) in a few of the low cost console amps. People mistake these amps all the time for SE designs since there is only one output tube per channel...forgetting that the tubes are dual pentodes hence push pull...
Click to expand...
So, no huge find to offset the missing out on some good deals, but a bit interesting none-the-less. I've always been one to root for the underdog, so BOTL is fine by me.

- JP
 
JP, your post did not say your were going to strip it out but it also did not say what your are going to do with it. I have seen so many threads about consoles being stripped and the amps used that I was throwing in my comment that rather than doing the same since it is small in comparison to the average console it may be saleable in the whole to someone who is into consoles. 1 days some are going to wake up and realize that consoles are an entire niche and have value.

As for the suggestion the changer is VM, excuse me I missed on teh 1st read that you mentioned is is an Garrard.
 
No problem, I probably should've mentioned it, though, to be honest, I wasn't quite firm on whether I would keep it together or not. I suppose I was relying on others to simply apply my stance on ripping speakers apart to consoles. Some of these old timers are very well built with beautiful veneers; they really should be saved rather than gutted for some half-assed diy project with the cabinets tossed to the burn pile. 'Course, this doesn't apply to the vinyl veneered, plastic trimmed solid-state 8-track compatible Magnavox consoles and like audio kitsch.

I wasn't sure about the VM thing, it seemed perfectly reasonable that it might be a group name of Garrard and like turntable enthusiasts. Thanks for clearing that up. I've read mixed things on this brand and the more famous models, such as the Zero100. Dunno how much effort this particular example deserves, but I'll give it a go. I fear that it may require too much as the platter doesn't want to turn on its own and then haltingly, may be bent, and the coating (glued-on platter mat?) is rather cracked. Plus, that arm is a massive beast with no counter-weight, so surely it can only be harmful to any vinyl. Oh yeah, the speed switch is also stuck in the 78 position and doesn't want to crank down to any of the other 3 speeds.

Do you know if there's also a Garrard group somewhere that might know how to breathe life back into this?

- JP

PS: Anyone in Washington state or North Oregon want a Westinghouse H-168 console? It's from 1948 and one of the very first to do FM.
 
VM was a US manufacturer that produced a wide range of equipment for other companies as well as marketing its own. It actually for some years was the largest audio manufacturer in the US. 1 of the last products was the BIC line of turntables that the company brought out after losing the Garrard franchise in the US.

The RC121 was if memory serves me the first stereo changer grom Garrard. There are several groups for changers and tables but do not know if any specifically for Garrard. May want to as on the turntable board. Generally the entire mechanism needs to be decreased since the grease breaks down and hardens and then relubed. There is a rubber wheel (called a puck) that goes between the motor and turntable for the drive. The rubber on these after years generally becomes pasty and can actually freeze up the operation. I think there is a company that can resurface the puck. I am not into the changers so can not offer much more.
 
Garrard's first Stereo changers were the RC 88 and RC 121, both began as mono changers but were good enough for Stereo rewired for Stereo in 1958. Owners of mono versions of either changer could have their dealers install a Stereo kit, or could install that themselves. The RC 120/RC 121 was the less expensive Garrard changer, often used in better radio phonograph systems and by audiophiles on a budget. Those last two changers were succeeded by the AutoSlim mechanism, and the AT6 replaced them in the early 1960's.
 
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