Fisher Custom Electra X - E492-CF

[firedome]

To get back to Dave's Fisher post...

I sold a lot of my best Fisher stuff to Al "The Fisher Doc" Pugliese of Staten Island NYC. He's said that Avery Fisher realized by around '67-68 that the Japanese were going to eat their lunch, starting with Sony and TVs initially. The cost of converting the entire Fisher line to SS in the mid '60s was so draining to the small-scale company that it made it inevitable. Also his interests lay more with the development of Lincoln Center at that time, and Japanese scale and engineering in electronics manufacturing was affecting all of the small US firms like HHScott (sold to Emerson), Marantz (sold initially to SuperScope, then D&M), even McIntosh (sold to Clarion, then D&M, then an Italian hi-end Co, finally a Mgmt buyout returning it to US control). Harman-Kardon remained US owned longest, but Harman International was finally sold to Samsung :-(( a few years ago. Many other legacy makers are now defunct, for various reasons...

[Bill]

I think it is so sad to see all the great American electronic companies gone.  Back in it's hay day America produced some awesome HIFI's and Stereo's.  Some of it was cheap, some of it was excellent, but the interesting thing, it lasted.  Whether cheap or expensive it can still be repaired today, listened to, and enjoyed.  Not so much for the stuff built today. 

Bill

[chazglenn3]

This thread has renewed my desire to get my 1965 Fisher Ambassador up and running. I just don't have the time or space to get into it right now ☹️

[TC Chris]

All of it HAD to be bought very cheaply back then since "mad money" was always scarce for a teacher with 3 kids, but that made the challenge all the more fun.

OK, hope this doesn't count a political, but my theory is that there are two crucial professions in a democracy:  teachers and journalists.  The rest of us may be useful or helpful but the teachers and journalists are necessary.

Chris Campbell

[TC Chris]

The cost of converting the entire Fisher line to SS in the mid '60s was so draining to the small-scale company that it made it inevitable. Also his interests lay more with the development of Lincoln Center at that time, and Japanese scale and engineering in electronics manufacturing was affecting all of the small US firms like HHScott (sold to Emerson), Marantz (sold initially to SuperScope, then D&M), even McIntosh (sold to Clarion, then D&M, then an Italian hi-end Co, finally a Mgmt buyout returning it to US control). Harman-Kardon remained US owned longest, but Harman International was finally sold to Samsung :-(( a few years ago. Many other legacy makers are now defunct, for various reasons...

One reason we remember the smaller companies fondly is that they tended to focus on a quality product, whereas once they were sold the new buyers tried to leverage the existing reputation into increased sales volume.  That has happened often.  On the other hand, many of the Japanese companies had excellent engineering and produced high-quality products.  Others did not, of course.  My lamentations include the loss of Heath, a company that combined good engineering with low prices.  I recall taking my AA-22 amp to a McIntosh Clinic--remember those?--and finding that it was one of very few non-Mac amps that met its advertised specs.  Most specifications seemed to come from the advertising dept. in those days but Heath put the engineers in charge.

I've subscribed to Stereophile magazine for many years as a way of keeping up with new stuff.  There are many smaller boutique manufacturers now, mostly charging prices that offend me because my notion of what one should pay is based on 40 years ago.  But when you compare Fisher, Marantz, H.H. Scott, and McIntosh prices then, with an inflation factor, with current prices for similar quality gear now, the new stuff is not outrageous.  Well, some of it is, but P.T. Barnum found his niche on the same theory.

Chris Campbell

[Bill]

Something like these Chris?

https://wrensilva.com/collections/stereo-consoles

Bill

[TC Chris]

I was thinking of turntables priced at $50K, amps at $30K, etc.  Seems to me my Heath AA-22 was $99.

Chris Campbell

[Motorola Minion]

I have to admit the kit forms of High Fidelity equipment keep impressing me as time goes on. Once at a flea market I found a Heath FM-3 tuner (gold box the size of a pound cake) and open Heath stereo amp that used PP 6BQ5 IIRC, brushed aluminum panel and sharp looking. Of course it was traded or sold back when kit forms were not yet recognized for their rugged dependability AND good specs.

Being in the Eastern US, it was not hard to find several Dynakits - possibly factory built Pre-amps both SS PAT-4 and Tube PAS-3. An SCA-80 integrated amp, Stereo 120 SS amp and the Dynaco QSA-300 (Quad - 75 watts each).

While I replaced some large speaker-coupling caps in amps over the years, they sounded great via both ADS and Polk speakers. The Dynaco SCA-80 and ST 120 is a Hafler-style circuit that is acclaimed but also can stand some improvements suggested on AK to prevent a meltdown. I never had trouble there, but always ready to make those mods in case.

I traded away my Stereo 70, which used PP EL34s. Not as powerful as the ST 120, but when run side by side with it, sounded different and many ways switching between the two pairs of speakers. The lower damping factor characteristic for the tube amp made it a better fit on the heavier ADS speakers, which compensated well.