hey mojojojo it's playing (fairchild 248)

[radioactive]

after sittng on the shelf for a few months with a apparent issue i finall got off my butt today and took a look at the fairchild 248.after seeing you amp nicely finished and my poor fairchild sitting on the shelf i decided something had to be done about it :yes: .iknew that the one preamp worked so i knew that the problem shouldnt be too hard to track down.i started with the simplest thing first which was to swap out the 2 cables in the back that go to the master volume control and function switch.well guess what one of the cables had a wire that came loose inside the plug.after a quick soldering job i plugged it in and bingo both preamps now work.if i knew the problem was going to be that simple i would have fixed it months ago.it's now hooked up with it's siblings and i cant tell you how good it sounds.i really dont know what im going to do with the mcintosh's now perhaps put them in mothballs in a cedar chest who knows.heres a picture mojo enjoy.
chris

 

[CarlV]

Man do those look so entirely cool together! I would really love to hear them.

if i knew the problem was going to be that simple i would have fixed it months ago

:lmao:

Carl

 

[audiodyssey]

No kidding, now that looks really good. I'm not familiar with Fairchid, can you fill me in?(Vintage, origin, etc.) What's the tube comp for the set? I bet even my girl would go for those. She's very unimpressed so far and I've had a literal ton of equipment filter thru here in the last year. My Quicksilver 8417's sound the best, but they look like schoolyard bullies on steroids in comparison ...not at all like what you see here. HOW DOES IT ALL SOUND !?

 

[radioactive]

hi audiodyssey,
thanks for the kind comments.
the fairchild recording and camera co go back to the 1930's.they were mainly involved with making gear for the broadcast industry similar to altec.they first got into the consumer hi-fi market during the mid 1950's first with the 255 (25w) monobloc amp using 6l6's for output tubes and the 240 preamplifier.also included was the 412 turntable.they then went on to make the 255a(30watt)using el34's , the 260(50w)using 6l6gc's,and 275 (65w)using kt88's.the new preamp was the 245 if you bought them seperate or the 248 which is (2)245's ganged together with the optional master volume control and function switch as can be seen im my photograph.the other turntable for the consumer was the 440 (which i also have one of )it's sad to say that although the gear was of great quality and bulit like a tank they didnt stay in the consumer market for lon.by the early 60's they were gone from it except for a expander /compressor that they put out during the 60's.

the tube comp for the amp is a pr of 6l6gc,dual 5v4 rectifiers,a 6ab4,and a 12au7.
each preamp uses (2) ef86, (1)ecc83 and (1)6x4
as far as sound goes i just got the preamp up and working today so i havnt had really much time to really evaluate it but so far im impressed with it.the amps on the other hand have been in the system for quite awhile since i have to recap my mcintosh mc30's but havnt got around to yet .it's a close call between the mc30's and the fairchild but i think the fairchilds have the bass dept won .this also could be due to the fact that the mc30's need recapping so it would be probally an unfair comparisson.i will say though that of all the systems i have or owned that i think i've found one that i can leave hooked up for more than a month .it's definately a keeper in my book and looks good too
by the way welcome to ak.
chris

 

[heekma]

Hey, hey, hey!!

Now THAT is a sa-weet lookin' set-up! If it sounds half as good as it looks it'll be awful hard to improve on the sound. It just oozes a 1950s elegance, I can almost "hear" it singing "Come fly with me, let's float down to Peru..."

I, like a lot of folks, am not all that familiar with Fairchild equipment-especially since it comes up for sale so infrequently. I've seen-and worked on-the innards of a few Scotts and also had the pleasure of closely inspecting some fantastic Mac and Marantz tube gear.

I got to see that pre-amp up close and IMHO the Fairchild equipment is on a whole different level build-quality wise. Some of the best tube ham radio/military gear I've seen is the only equipment that is built to the same standards.

Great to know it was just a minor fix and things are up and running. That set-up has got to be the envy of every Fairchild enthusiast and the pinnacle of classic tube audio. :yes:

Sweet set-up Chris. Sit back and enjoy the sound!

Best,
mojo

 

[radioactive]

Great to know it was just a minor fix and things are up and running. That set-up has got to be the envy of every Fairchild enthusiast and the pinnacle of classic tube audio.

im glad too that it was a simple fix.i still have to clean some of the controls but as far as everything else goes its working perfectly.i would like to eventually change those awful "good all" coupling caps inside which are known to be a disaster waiting to happen but for the meantime im going to take your advice and sit back and enjoy.the setup is definately the highlight of my sytem right up there with the mcintosh mx110 and the mc30's and could probally holds its own with the marantz and h/k gear as well.
i will also say that all this probally wouldnt have come to be hadnt it been for your help and posting on this board.thanks again,
chris

 

[radioactive]

audiodyssey,
heres a link to a review on the fairchild 260 if you want to learn more about the amp.fairchild 260