Brian.Byrd001
Member
I bought a pair of XP-56s and I have to say, they sound really good. Very warm with some nice highs. The cabinets look great as well, and had some heft to them. Pretty good score for $9 at the GW.
why are the old fisher speakers worthless?
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Cylontymany
Super Member
I am the turkey that bought the XP75a of the bay and having them completely restored-cant wait to get them back! Looking for a set of XP85 now. There is an interesting pair on the bay right now but with no grills D16
Not to bump, but I have a pair of Fisher DS-177's that sound fairly okay. I'm guessing these were the absolute bottom line items for '80s Fisher (which seems to be saying something), judging by the lack of frilly chrome doodads and optimistic frequency chart badges. Certainly not the most audiophile-grade speakers in existence, and not exactly designed with care. The midrange and tweeter don't seem to be crossed over all that well, so there's a bit of midrange emphasis to the sound, and the 3" paper cone tweeter is frankly rather wimpy and muted as a result. That being said, they're good party speakers, and the 12" woofer is almost bred for house and trap music, to say nothing of period-appropriate hair metal and butt-rock. In a proper listening setup, they throw off an absolutely massive soundscape, but imaging is far from being razor-focused. For $10, color me happy.
Cylontymany
Super Member
For me the sweet spot for Fishers are my XP75s and XP85s they will always stay in rotation. 12" woofers the 85s have dual mids which is the sweet spot for me and they are 8ohm. Also would like to get some of the elusive STE-1200 and the like but these are European sold units but sure look like high quality and sound to me. There is a good sample on youtube STE-1200
zenith2134
Lunatic Member
At one point, I was running XP-9Cs with a Fisher 500C ... Very warm/rich and forgiving of upstream components. I then ran them with a Nakamichi TA-3 solid state unit and it was just a poor match.
Recently, I was at a record store and they had a set of '9Cs. I asked to test them and yep, the same as I remembered. Pretty rolled-off highs, but probably a fine speaker for those who prefer 'vintage sound' in spades.
I wouldn't call old Fisher speakers worthless; an audition of one model is hardly indicative of all of their performance.
Recently, I was at a record store and they had a set of '9Cs. I asked to test them and yep, the same as I remembered. Pretty rolled-off highs, but probably a fine speaker for those who prefer 'vintage sound' in spades.
I wouldn't call old Fisher speakers worthless; an audition of one model is hardly indicative of all of their performance.
I agree. Very happy with my XP-85As. Recapped and woofers replaced with a pair from Parts Express (better than the OEMs) and I really enjoy them. Like the vintage look of the molded grill covers as well. I was lucky to find a pair with pristine cabinets.
It's not easy to find lots of information on Fishers in the late 1970's but there are Dillard's ads that feature the XP-85 as far back as 1977 and up through 1979. That would place them well after the company was sold but at the tail end of when Avery Fisher was still a consultant. The Rolling Stone interview says that, at least in 1976, the speakers were still being made in Lewiston, PA. I think the XP-75/85s are probably the last gasp for Fisher speakers of any quality.
Still, when I mention them people generally scoff and ask if I mean the ones with the white cones (the 80's junk).
Sorry to wander off topic. Maybe I'm getting out of touch, but I grew up in the 70s, lived through the classic rock era, disco, hair bands, punk, new wave, heavy metal, alt rock, grunge, rap, hip-hop, dubstep, synth pop, etc. etc. but I don't know what butt-rock is. I must be gettin' old.
I don't either - but if we were really part of the 1970s we can't be expected to remember it allSorry to wander off topic. Maybe I'm getting out of touch, but I grew up in the 70s, lived through the classic rock era, disco, hair bands, punk, new wave, heavy metal, alt rock, grunge, rap, hip-hop, dubstep, synth pop, etc. etc. but I don't know what butt-rock is. I must be gettin' old.
Sorry to wander off topic. Maybe I'm getting out of touch, but I grew up in the 70s, lived through the classic rock era, disco, hair bands, punk, new wave, heavy metal, alt rock, grunge, rap, hip-hop, dubstep, synth pop, etc. etc. but I don't know what butt-rock is. I must be gettin' old.
Basically just any sort of generic mainstream hard rock, anything from hair metal to pop-punk. Just a newer name for the same old stuff. Think (90s) Aerosmith, Panic at the Disco, Pearl Jam, Bon Jovi, etc., the sorta stuff that you’d hear on a “Nothin’ but Rock” station. Alternatively, stuff that’s so utterly cheesy and obnoxious that it’s almost comical-Nickelback, Crush 40, Limp Bizkit, INXS, KISS, etc. Lots of cookie-cutter riffs, gritty/falsetto vocals, themes about girls/kicking ass/partying/manly stuff (but nothing too shocking for the radio), and having done at least one power ballad.
Djcoolray
Addicted Member
Most speakers that came with equipment just didn’t sound that great, there was so many different speaker manufacturers back in the day that sounded better. You bought a pair of JBL’s and gave what came with the equipment to your younger brother along with the equipment you were using prior to the purchase of new equipment. OEM speakers at times need to be improved like the HPM-100a improvement using the crossover from the HPM-100b.
I’ve occasionally thought about hot-rodding them and replacing the paper-cone tweeter with a nice silk dome, but it’d probably be better just to swap them out for a vintage box speaker of better quality. Almost had the chance on some Polk Monitor 10s in good condition for $15, which I’ll probably forever kick myself for letting them get away. A friend of mine who’s skilled with woodworking offered to make stands for these, so I’m honestly not sure if I’ll hang onto them or not.
Ric Harris
Active Member
So when did The Fisher stop producing there own speakers and become just Fisher's with Sanyo's, Foster and what have inside.
From Wikipedia:
"The company was originally formed in 1937by Avery Fisher in New York before being sold to the Emerson Electric Company for US$31 million in 1969. It was subsequently sold by Emerson Electric to Sanyo Electric of Japan in 1975, where it remained until 2010 when Sanyo was purchased by Panasonic. But the Fisher brand was phased out owing to the termination of Sanyo by Panasonic in 2012. Avery Fisher remained as a consultant for Emerson and Sanyo."
"The company was originally formed in 1937by Avery Fisher in New York before being sold to the Emerson Electric Company for US$31 million in 1969. It was subsequently sold by Emerson Electric to Sanyo Electric of Japan in 1975, where it remained until 2010 when Sanyo was purchased by Panasonic. But the Fisher brand was phased out owing to the termination of Sanyo by Panasonic in 2012. Avery Fisher remained as a consultant for Emerson and Sanyo."
James Hollis
New Member
Hello everyone, Im new to the site. Not sure how old this post is regarding Fisher Speakers not being worth anything? but wanted to say something about them. I have a pair of Fisher Speakers Model ST-830 15 inch White woofer 5 inch midrang and 3 inch tweeter. I bought these brand new back in the early 80"s they are currently hooked up to a Onkyo TX-RZ920 front channel and they rock my neighborhood with each driven at 135 watts. they sound as good now as they did when I bought them. The police have even told me on 2 separate occasions they could hear the music loud and drear when they pulled in to my development? I did not believe them so I gave it a test run and sure enough I could hear them loud and clear. Fisher was at one time a very well respected audio electronics manufacture. A LITTLE HISTORY:
The Fisher was the brand name for high-end, high quality Hi-Fi electronic equipment manufactured in New York by The Fisher Radio Corp. during the "golden age" of the vacuum tube, which was named after the company founder,
Fisher Electronics was a United States-based subsidiary company of
Japaneses Electronics conglomerate Sanyo specializing in the field of Hi-Fi electronics.
The company was originally formed in 1945 by Avery Fisher in New York before being sold to the Emerson radio company for US$31 million in 1969. Emerson subsequently sold Fisher to Sanyo Electric of Japan in 1975, where it remained until 2010 when Sanyo was purchased by Panasonic But the Fisher brand was phased out owing to the termination of Sanyo by Panasonic in 2012. Avery Fisher remained as a consultant for Emerson and Sanyo.
Fisher is generally known to be the first company to introduce separate audio components. Originally, Hi-Fi systems were integrated all into one chassis.
During this period, similar brands were H. H. Scott, Marantz, Harman Kardon, and Mclntosh. Some of the early 1960s models were also available as kits. Fisher tube equipment is considered quite collectible today.
Fisher was the first to introduce stereo receivers with four channels. These innovations were brief and occurred in the mid-1970s which some consider The Second Golden Age of High Fidelity. Like many new concepts of the time such as Beta Format and VHS, there were two competing four channel formats. One was CD-4 and the other was SQ. Neither was successful as the purist found separation from highly defined loudspeakers and low distortion receivers and amplifiers. At the time the concept of a sub-woofer was in its infancy. Now, it is common to see 5+1 systems which had their heritage in the "confrontation" of four-channel and stereo high fidelity coupled with a sub woofer.
Stevepick2
Member
I quite enjoy these Fisher speakers I picked up last night
fs 241
fs 241
That's not a small shelf at 47# each...
quiet
Addicted Member
Mantolaman
NC
Just picked up a set of STV-015s on the curb. Price was right, but after reading this thread, it looks like I didn't even get my moneys worth. ha Reckon I'll try them anyway just to confirm what everyone here is saying.
