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Fisher Allegro/X-190 troubleshooting

AK577

AK577

Active Member
I picked up an all original Fisher Allegro, it appears to be the 1966 version with the model 50 turntable.

I brought it up slow on the variac, no buzzing or smoke…but it’s only playing on the left channel. I swapped the output tubes around with no change and also verified no signal at the right output speaker terminals on the chassis. This is the same for tuner input and also auxiliary input.

I should have swapped the 12ax7s around but I was nervous reaching that far in, I’m not terribly experienced with tube gear.

I pulled the amp out and have it on the bench…any suggestions where to start first? Can this amp be powered on the bench without needing the tuner and turntable hooked up? They plugged into the chassis.

Thanks!
 

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UPDATE

I cleaned all switches, pots, and RCAs. I touched up a couple of solder joints that looked loose…. Tried it out knowing that it made no difference but was pleasantly surprised! Both channels working, I played it for about 5 minutes and noticed some distortion and saw an output tube glowing a little too bright so I shut it down.

Assuming it’s leaky capacitors so I’ll replace them for sure. What would a good replacement be? I used something called “orange drop”(?) in my kenwood but I don’t remember the brand. Any recommendations would be great!

Of course I’ll replace the filter caps too.
 
Honestly any polypropylene film cap will do the job just fine. Illinois MPW, Vishay 716P, and there are a few others that I can't recall just now that are all fine. The 716P are likely the orange drops you used on your other amp.
 
gadget73 said:
Honestly any polypropylene film cap will do the job just fine. Illinois MPW, Vishay 716P, and there are a few others that I can't recall just now that are all fine. The 716P are likely the orange drops you used on your other amp.
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I have those ordered! I’m pretty excited. Is there anything else that causes red plating? Will the new caps likely fix the issue..?
 
Power supply problems, especially in the fixed bias supply (if it has one) will do it. This really ought to have the electrolytic caps changed as well. Some of Fisher's ELL80 amps did have fixed bias but I don't know this one specifically. I have the guts of a Fisher Philharmonic receiver which is ELL80, and quite likely very similar to this plus a tuner. That one is fixed bias.

Looks like two can caps and I can't tell if there is another hiding in there.
 
gadget73 said:
Power supply problems, especially in the fixed bias supply (if it has one) will do it. This really ought to have the electrolytic caps changed as well. Some of Fisher's ELL80 amps did have fixed bias but I don't know this one specifically. I have the guts of a Fisher Philharmonic receiver which is ELL80, and quite likely very similar to this plus a tuner. That one is fixed bias.

Looks like two can caps and I can't tell if there is another hiding in there.
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I ordered the electrolytics as well! After seeing a can capacitor pop one time, I don’t trust them at all. Parts will be in tomorrow. :D
 
update:

Parts came in today, I replaced the coupling caps and tried it out...Fixed! Everything is now stable, sounds great. I will of course replace the can caps as well, actually in the process of it doing it now. This is the first time i'm running into a little trouble trying to fit the new caps underneath. I may need to install them into the can itself which i've never done... We'll see how it goes.

Also managed to get the Garrard model 50 turntable to work!
 
Allbaldo said:
Just curious how you’re enjoying your Allegro. I just picked up the same one for cheap in pretty rough shape.
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I love it! I have it set up in my smaller reading room, and I picked up a bunch of classic records that aren’t in pristine condition so I wouldn’t feel guilty about using the changer.

I’ll load several records on it, it’ll cycle through them flawlessly. Pretty sweet actually. On Friday nights, a local station plays the oldies and it’ll pick it up very clear. I’ve really enjoyed it lol.
 
AK577 said:
I love it! I have it set up in my smaller reading room, and I picked up a bunch of classic records that aren’t in pristine condition so I wouldn’t feel guilty about using the changer.

I’ll load several records on it, it’ll cycle through them flawlessly. Pretty sweet actually. On Friday nights, a local station plays the oldies and it’ll pick it up very clear. I’ve really enjoyed it lol.
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That’s excellent! How do the speakers seem to you? The cabinetry is really trashed on mine, and was very cheap to begin with, so I’ve been thinking I’d keep the amp, tuner, and turntable and jettison the rest, but if the speakers are OK, maybe they’re worth hanging onto.
 
Allbaldo said:
That’s excellent! How do the speakers seem to you? The cabinetry is really trashed on mine, and was very cheap to begin with, so I’ve been thinking I’d keep the amp, tuner, and turntable and jettison the rest, but if the speakers are OK, maybe they’re worth hanging onto.
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The amp and tuner are a lot better than the speakers lol. They are the standard fisher speaker of the time, nothing special. I was going to gut mine and use only the amp and tuner, but the cabinet is in excellent condition…couldn’t do it.
 
Speakers in most consoles are a weak point. Sometimes you can make improvements, sometimes the solution is to remove them and slide a better pair into the cabinet
 
AK577 said:
The amp and tuner are a lot better than the speakers lol. They are the standard fisher speaker of the time, nothing special. I was going to gut mine and use only the amp and tuner, but the cabinet is in excellent condition…couldn’t do it.
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I figured this might be the case! Thanks for the info! I’ve passed mine to a carpenter friend who’ll see if he thinks anything can be done with the cabinet, but I’ll probably end up boxing the amp and tuner. Time will tell.
 
I'd probably have a look at the crossover before going quite that far. Sometimes its decent, sometimes its garbage. At a minimum it probably wants new caps if you haven't done that already.

or just add in a speaker switch. Leave the console alone, park better speakers next to it and flip a switch on the back panel to change over.
 
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