fairchild prices on the rise

[radioactive]

hot dang im so glad to see this and know that my fairchild gear is finally apreciating in value as it should.it was not to long ago a person could have picked up a pr of those 260's for $1000 and now we're getting into mcintosh prices with this gear.fairchild 260

 

[packrat]

radioactive,
Lucky you! I've seen magazine ads from the 50's for these - might have even been articles in Audio Engineering about them. C-core transformers, both power and output I believe. W I D E bandwidth at full power - looked like an awsome amp that cost a load of $ back in the 50's. Be pretty hard to replicate that pair for under $2k with all new parts (with Luhndal C-core power and outputs for example).
A few years back you could choose between a pair of these or pair of Heath W6s, or Eico HF-60s, or Leak TL12.1, or numerous other vintage mono amps for under $1000 a pair, when Marantz 2s and 5s and Mac MC60s were doing double that. It looks like these 'lesser known' brands are finally catching up.

 

[radioactive]

thanks packrat.

I've seen magazine ads from the 50's for these - might have even been articles in Audio Engineering about them. C-core transformers, both power and output I believe

yes you are correct in that they use the c -core transformers.there was also a review in one of the magazines of the day that i posted here awhile back on the 260 see here fairchild 260 review its interesting to note that the 260 when introduced in 1955 listed for $149.50 which was $50 cheaper than a mc60 .i do beleive the fairchild 275 which came out later was closer to the price of the mc60 and put out 65w.

It looks like these 'lesser known' brands are finally catching up.

yes i do beleive so and im glad to see it .there are many other lesser known manufacturers out there also from the 50's and 60's that put out some decent products that you rarely see that sometimes go under the radar screen of most people but i imagine like the fairchild gear once they get noticed the prices will rise on those also.
chris

 

[heekma]

Hey Chris, if you don't mind my asking, what's the real-world value of that Fairchild pre-amp? It was impossible to research so my co-worker and I just assigned what seemed a reasonable price. Hope I'm not being too nosey; I'm just curious. And I'm NOT asking to pass the info to my old co-worker, it's just my own personal curiosity.

The one thing I did know for sure when looking at that piece was I was looking at something far beyond consumer quality-almost as if it was used in a professional recording capacity.

Best,
mojo

 

[Rockmonton]

a lot of fairchild stuff was in fact used in recording studios to my knowledge, some of their compressors and stuff are still very very highly sought after, similar to altec tube gear.

 

[radioactive]

i think rock nailed it pretty good .although fairchild gear is very unfamilar to some people us hi-fi types its definately well known in the recording and broadcast industry which most of it was designed for .they did enter the home hi fi market around 1955-1960 but didnt stick around too long in that market.therefore making some of their gear highly collectable.

 

[Randy Taylor]

I'am 54 years old and back in the early 60's when I was around 13 my uncle lent my father a mono hi -fi system that had a Fairchild Turntable with it. I couldn't beleive how great it sounded. It was a belt drive TT and I didn't hear a TT that sounded that good until about four years ago when I bought a Rega TT for myself. You don't read to much if anything on the audio forums about these TT's ( I guess they are to old) but they were a class act in there day,and every so often you will see one on Ebay and they will go for $100-$200. I would only get one I could pick-up, It would be a hard thing to ship and to not get damaged. I would love to have one myself some day and restore it, they were built like a tank. :thmbsp: