Fisher XP10 Restoration

[Sammcamos]

I just picked up a pair of these Fisher XP10s in pretty good shape. I paid 40 for them, so I'm considering myself to have a bit of a budget to get them back up to snuff. I ordered a 50uf bipolar electrolytic for the mids because they were cheap, and polypropylene caps 5.1uf and 1uf for the tweeter. I'm wondering if I should replace the tweeter before I even try to hook them up, or at least have a replacement on standby.

My goal with making a new thread is to kind of create a general consensus on what should be done to restore these speakers, as almost every thread has different goals based on specific circumstances. I know there is some variation between each individual speaker and crossover as well. Some things I'd like to know is if anyone has had any success in repairing the Hecht tweeters, and what the "best" replacement is. Also, I've read that some individuals have had luck reversing the woofer coil in the crossover, which seems like a bad idea to me. And finally, how these speakers sound when they're done, based on other people's restored examples. I'd like to update this thread as I go as well.

 

[blademan13]

I just bought a nice pair of XP-10’s which had the dead tweeters replaced with some EV T-35 tweeters. I turn down the tweeter level but the highs are quite pleasant. When I find time to dig into these to recap I may elect to change out the tweeters and was thinking of trying a pair of Peerless tweeters used in the early Polk’s.

Overall I find the sound open and clear. Vocals are quite nice and they sound good with acoustic music, the large mid a bonus here? Bass doesn’t dig deep but can make your chest thump when called for. They seem quite efficient as I rarely drive them with >10 watt peaks using a restored Sony STR-V4.

One needs to remember that these speakers are approaching 60 years of age and the expectations for them need to be realistic. With that said, I still find them very enjoyable to listen to. They sounded much better than I expected them to and I remember being quite impressed that this level of sound was available that long ago.

 

[Sammcamos]

I just bought a nice pair of XP-10’s which had the dead tweeters replaced with some EV T-35 tweeters. I turn down the tweeter level but the highs are quite pleasant. When I find time to dig into these to recap I may elect to change out the tweeters and was thinking of trying a pair of Peerless tweeters used in the early Polk’s.

Overall I find the sound open and clear. Vocals are quite nice and they sound good with acoustic music, the large mid a bonus here? Bass doesn’t dig deep but can make your chest thump when called for. They seem quite efficient as I rarely drive them with >10 watt peaks using a restored Sony STR-V4.

One needs to remember that these speakers are approaching 60 years of age and the expectations for them need to be realistic. With that said, I still find them very enjoyable to listen to. They sounded much better than I expected them to and I remember being quite impressed that this level of sound was available that long ago.

I actually have a pair of SDA-2's sitting to part out, so I may try this myself when I can (and assuming dead tweeters. I'd want to make sure they have matching impedence.

I have decent expectations for these, as I find my motorola masterpiece console to sound pretty spectacular with its 15, 2 5's and one tweeter.

 

[fred soop]

..... in repairing the Hecht tweeters, and what the "best" replacement is. Also, I've read that some individuals have had luck reversing the woofer coil in the crossover, which seems like a bad idea to me. And finally, how these speakers sound when they're done, based on other people's restored examples. I'd like to update this thread as I go as well.

Depending on the specific crossover design, many speakers will have the midrange connected "backwards" because the midrange crossover typically has the output reversed 180 degrees compared to the woofer and tweeter drivers.

 

[Sammcamos]

After testing them, both tweeters spit out their coils as expected. I put the peerless tweeters from the Polks in. I think they're actually a pretty suitable replacement, I used the infamous silver coil ones, since I had them lying around. They fit better than a round plate tweeter, I put them in vertically and taped the edges with a aluminum flashing tape to reseal the boxes. Definitely more sensitive than what the originals would have ever been, but sound good with the adjustment pot turned fairly far down. I'll rebuild the crossover when the caps come in; but these are my observations right now:

They sound great. I haven't a/b'd them with my Focals or anything like that, but without a direct reference, they sound very good. I listened to a bit of classical, which was excellent, as well as rock. More modern pop was acceptable. I find them to dig deep, have great midrange, and very nice highs now. They image quite well, obviously not great, but better than I'd expect. Compared to what others say, I don't find them to be very efficient at all. I have them hooked up to my Pioneer SX-980 and at a respectable volume I was seeing ~40 watt peaks in the classical pieces, which I would never approach with any of my other speakers.

These particular ones are serial #514 from 1963, and have hand written numbers on all of the cones for what speaker they were meant to be put in, which is pretty neat. The odd foam insert on the one midrange had crumbled, but the other feels exactly like new which is also odd. I'm looking forward to redoing the crossover, but these seem to be pretty nice speakers. I do think unlike other speakers, it is actually a plus when someone has replaced the tweeter as opposed to having the originals.

 

[Sammcamos]

Having now A/B'd them against modern-ish speakers, a set of Focal Chorus 726, and a set of Axiom M80ti, they are certainly not as accurate, and have a bit of a mid scooped sound. They're still very pleasant and I listen to them a bit. I prefer them to the Axiom speakers, which I find too bright, but not as nice as the focals.

I ended up recapping them quite quickly, which greatly improved their sound as one would expect. It's definitely unnecessary to find a film capacitor to replace the 50uf. Interestingly enough, I hooked them up to my Fisher 500C, which drives them impressively well compared to the Pioneer, which I didn't expect.

Overall my impressions of them as a speaker is that they are better than what Fisher speakers deserve credit for, if they are properly restored and have modern tweeters.

 

[mitchalee]

Mitchell Lee​

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Recently purchased a pair of Fisher XP-10 loudspeakers for $200. They originally sold for $249.50 in 1963. 1963-69. New York, USA. Walnut. About 80 lbs. 24"wide, 29" tall, 15" deep. Console type wooden grill with 3 thick vertical bars. It got fairly good reviews at the time with AUDIO magazine writing, “the XP-10 is truly a step forward in smoothness, transient response and musical quality" and the general consensus was that it deserved to be the top of Fisher's classic line of loudspeakers.
On a personal note, the 80 lbs. is no joke.
Well, it smelled a bit skunkish. So I used lots of Lysol and Pennyroyal. I also covered the bottom with black rubber paint, added additional external cross-bracing to the base, and attached 4 large lockable wheels to each speaker. No more lifting these for me!
Finally looked inside today and ran a little Rolling Stones through them. The woofers and mids seem fine, though the mid pots are some fancy heavy duty design that will be hard to fix or replace. We shall see. If worst comes to worst I could just add a fixed resister in place of the pot. The tweeter pot looks cheap and common. Hope I am right because they both seem shot.
As a whole the crossover is fairly complex for the time with a small pile of caps and coils directly soldered to the connection plate. It takes banana plugs. 1963, wow!
I have read BS reviews that talked about replacing the foam. Are they kidding? Oh my God! There was no foam back then. Black paper cone and light doped paper or cloth surround. And yes, it sounds fine! I mean, it will need a few hours of gentle action to find its groove, but who doesn't after 20 years out of the saddle?
So tomorrow if there is time, I will take a closer figurative look at the drivers. Figurative because the mids are fully encased in their own little box and the tweets are behind a huge puff ball of cotton in a kind of false front! Yikes! But I've got wires to the leads, so we shall see how they test and what shape the caps are in . . .

 

[Sammcamos]

I found they needed to be recapped, but regardless the tweeters will be shot. The rubber degrades in them, and there are many better modern equivalents that even the designer suggested.

Also be careful, any of the powdery coatings inside are cadmium to prevent corrosion

 

[Sammcamos]

Sonically, I have found them fairly far from flat, but one of the more musical speakers I've heard. I remember reading a review somewhere, and that the reviewer's daughter who was a concert violinist found them to be the most accurate for classical music, as the ways in which these aren't flat are similar to the sound of an orchestra stage. As someone who has played in large and small orchestral settings, this is probably the most accurate way to describe them. They aren't particularly directional but they certainly fill a room, and anyone who says they don't do bass well is wrong.

I am considering replacing the polk tweeters I've put in, because they're apparently the worst tweeter polk made, and does have a crossover point much higher than the original, I used them because I didn't have to modify the cabinet at all, and I didn't want to spend anything on them until I saw how they really sounded. I think anything south of $300 for a working original pair is fair.

The recap was fairly easy, I got all my components from Antique Electronic supply because their website is easy to use if you don't need anything in large quantity. I just cleaned the pots with DeOxit, and they work perfectly well now.