1961 Barzilay Fisher resurrection

Omegaman

Omegaman

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EDIT: 2014 - Sold for $1100

This one's for Joe and Mac and all the guys we left on the beach


About 2.5 lightyears ago I got this console

Here is the original thread

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=325706&highlight=Barzilay

$200 dollars in paint stripper, steel wool and rolls of paper towels plus 150 man hours of labor, here are the results so far
I used the Borg technique to strip the finish clean, assimilating each section, then move on

I used Watco Danish oil, thats all

The cabinet shows no sign of wear underneath the paint
I would say the console was painted when the unit was new

I restored the Fisher X-100. A new power supply and a complete service by Audio Wizard

The tuner is still in the shop

The Garrard works perfectly as does the Sony tube reel to reel

I did a general disassemble lube reassemble on the tape deck

Its all mounted on custom made roll-around's so it moves with "Feather touch finger light control"

The grills:
They are made from the walnut and show different shades in different light. It bugs me because it looks like I didn't get all the paint off, but I really went after the grills . I had them off and I used a power sander on the face of the grills.

but the color is natural

I'll probably stain the grills consistent when I put new drivers in the cabinets or maybe even paint em

Turned out nice and sounds excellent

1_Original Black finish.jpg montage_1.jpg montage_2.jpg 18_Together_Again.jpg 22_wow.jpg

Nine feet of Walnut


next project...
 
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The key word here is "tasteful"

Here is a picture with the top off and the doors open
19_Emblem.jpg
 
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Barzilay most certainly turned out some beautiful cabinetry back in the early 60s and beyond. I was close several times to buying one of their cabinets but never did due to having my equipment all rack mounted and built into a non used closet. I couldn't bring myself to taking it all out and mounting it in any cabinet at the time but I still drooled over any Barzilay cabinet I came across. Wish I had just bought one and used it to store china and stuff in instead so I could have one now. Beautiful refinishing job!!! That is one gorgeous cabinet you have there and you can surely be proud of what you've accomplished.......................:thmbsp: :thmbsp:
 
You stripped the inside too? Holey crap... that is a lot of work. Seriously incredible. WELL DONE!!!! Folks, if you've ever had your head inside a box full of solvent... cleaning the inside of these things, even outdoors will make your head pound. Kudos to Omegaman!
 
Heres the Fisher

Heres the X-100 before and after

Before with external power transformer
DSC00760.jpg

After replacment

DSC00793.jpg

The outputs are Perferred 7189's from the tube store

The tuner has been in the shop FOR TWO YEARS
DSC06333.jpg
 
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The Sony tube reel to reel

Here is the Sony tape deck built like the tank we all know about

DSC00866.jpg

It is odd that the tape deck has a tag C.J. KRESS on it. I do not know who this Kress person is

Check out the two Telefunken 12AX7 smooth plate tubes in the Sony

I guess the Japanese knew the truth
Those are going to be "upgraded" to JJ's real quick

DSC00872.jpg

This deck was rarely used
 
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What a restoration project, it turned out beautiful! :tresbon:

I like reading stories like this! :thmbsp:

Thank you for posting and sharing. :yes:
 
Beautiful

That is one very nice system. I love the natural look. Very nice job indeed.
 
Omegaman said:
Nine feet of Walnut
attachment.php
Click to expand...

Nice Pyrex collection too!!
 
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