Dad's old Fisher HiFi system

[Cybrvanr]

I was over at my parents house this evening, and enjoyed a little time together that we have enjoyed since I came into this world...listening to music together. We would turn the lights down, and have nothing but the glow of the equipment illuminating the room, or sometimes the fireplace if it was cold. When I was young, I used to fall asleep with him on the floor of the den downstairs in the basement where we have it installed watching the big tape reels spin, and the needles of the meters bounce to the beat of the music. Dad would frequently record music from his record albums or tape reels to cassette so that he could play them in the car. That was when the system was the most animated... with all sorts of spinning stuff, lights blinking, and meters moving. If Mom wanted to watch TV we would don the headphones for our listening. The big full-ear headphones of the seventies he had were bigger than my head, but they sure sounded good!

My father's system is an old Fisher HiFi stereo system that his father gave him as a graduation present when he graduated. At the time of purchase in 1964, the system was equipped with the model 400 receiver, a Garrard model 50 turntable, and the Fisher XP-5 speakers. Not long after that, he added an Ampex open reel deck, and in the 70's, a Sony cassette deck. In the eighties, he upgraded the turntable to a Technics, and gave me the old Garrard. I promptly overhauled that, as a 12 year old kid, and it's been connected to my stereo for the past 17 years or so.

I just brought the receiver and the tape reel deck, which are vacuum tube unitz, back from my house after giving them an overhaul. The receiver needed new capacitors in the power supply, and a few fresh tubes were needed in both units. It's now back to it's classic beautiful sound again, so it was definitley fitting we had to enjoy it! he got out some of his old tape reels and threaded them up, turned out the lights and sat back and listened to some of our favorite classic rock tunes. Rarely do kids listen to the same music as their parents...I guess I'm the exception!

At the instant the click of the power switch of the power switch, I was a child again as I watched the tubes start glowing in the back of the amplifier. Then, the "stereo beam" tuning indicator comes to light and the little bar goes in and out as the tuner warms up. Dad threads up an old tape reel, and twists the knob. With the familiar click, tick tick noise of the heads enganging, the reels started moving, and the warm bass of the music started streaming out of the big speakers up on the wall. I then walked back away from the system, grabbed a pillow and layed back on the floor. I watched the meters bounce for a little while, and then closed my eyes for a while and just enjoyed sound of the music like it was the first time I had heard it, even though I had listened to the tunes thousands of times before. Dad, in his recliner right beside didn't say much to me, but "Thanks for tweaking everything up for me!" I knew he was very happy I had gotten his system back going, but he wasn't going to be doing much talking, because he wanted to listen, and enjoy the sound just as much as me. He has memories attached to this stereo just as much as I do!

 

[tolivac]

Very interesting and good story.glad you still have and use the components of that Fisher Hi-fi.Thats probably why I liked analog radio station equipment-you could listen to the "music or program" the station was playing and watch the reels spin,TT's turn,meters bouncing up and down-and lastly the tubes in the AM transmitter glowing.You could see the "beat" of the music to the flashing of the mercury vapor in the old style rectifier tubes.like old time Hi-Fi gear-station gear was so "animated" as well. Now transmitters and program gear are just boring boxes with LED lights on them.No moving parts or glowing tubes,or moving meters.Glad you now can do some SERIOUS Music listening. Headphones are great for that especially when driven by a tubed amplifier.Headphones just don't sound as "alive" when driven by most SS amps.I used to have a tubed amp just for operating my Stax electrostatic phones-but since I am into "home theater" so much-just haven't used it.Maybe I should dust it and the "phones off!!It was also interesting to listen to some of the movie soundtracks thru the phones-the actors and movie sounds --you were IN it.

 

[petek]

Wow what a nice story. And to be so knowledgable about tube tech for a guy who was taking his first poop in his Pampers about the time I graduated HS. LOL

 

[tomturbomatic]

Beautiful story. Thanks.

A friend had a maniacally designed, sweet-sounding system he put together in the late 60s -early 70s and he had these beautifully lighted switches in square and rectangular shapes that glowed in various colors when activated, but were just a frosty white with the function is small black letters when not powered. He arranged a switch for his single play turntable so that when the arm ran into the center ring, the turntable would stop. He had dial phones in the house with 5 buttons on them and there was this big panel on his basement stairs where the buttons did their thing. From any room where there was one of these phones, he could turn the system on or off, set it so that when a record ended, the tuner or tape deck would take over and a few other things were possible, but I don't remember them. There was a German cabinet maker in Atlanta who had built a beautiful cabinet for all of this and the Fisher tuner and amp were hung down through the platform under the cover where the turntable and the switches were. The big R-t-R tape deck was elsewhere. Later he motorized the volume control so that the volume could be adjusted with a remote. The motor had to have a brake on it to keep it from coasting to a stop with music either way too loud or inaudible as a result. We think nothing of making these adjustments with everything electronic today, but just like the old appliances where everything was a mechanical switch, so was his old component system.

As far as watching the meters and lights, I remember doing a lot of that when I went out with friends. The electronics in the glass-enclosed DJ's booth were better than anything out in the clubs. I also enjoyed watching the DJs set up the records and switch from turntable to turntable.

It's funny, all through my childhood, I wanted a turntable with a changer, but by the time I had one, I knew better than to stack records, which is part of the reason so much of my vinyl collection still looks great. Now, neither my front-loading Sony nor the BeoGram holds more than one record at a time.

 

[kenwashesmonday]

The Fisher 400 is a nice little receiver. It has an excelent tuner and a nice sounding amp. I have one here, but it's down the basement since my other half bought a modern cold sounding $1500.00 piece of s**t for the living room (without my knowledge!). Perhaps it's time to dig it out and have a A/B test (that'll show him!)

There is a guy in Staten Island NY known as The Fisher Doctor. He offers servicing kits for the different models. Those knob brights that always fall off are also available again.

Ken D.