oldmako Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 Allow me to expose my ignorance of all things tubular. After I bought my Klipsch a guy suggested that I look at Fisher 500C receivers. Outside of my TV, I havn't owned anyting with a tube in it in 30 years and know little about them. I do know that they: A) are $upposed to offer improved $ound qualitie$ when right, hum when / if not, C) co$t a fortune for a nice $tuff D) need maintenan$e to bring them up to $peed (and not torch the domo), When I see fotos' of some of the stuff you guys run, I am dumbfounded. I have been watching Fishers on ebay and they tend to sell in the $300-350 range. They run the gamut from beat, busted and filthy to nearly perfect and pristine. Is this a reasonable starter unit? The older Scott units seem to fetch a mess of bids as well and are in the same price range. To further blaspheme this site, most of my music is digital....I have a ton of stuff on an external drive. I have approx 200 clean LPs from my youth and a Denon TT. My pockets are very, very shallow (just like me and my taste in women). I'd like a reasonably powerful unit which would allow me to run both of my speaks in the A+B mode and shake the house. I seldom listen to FM, so just an amp would suffice. I typically use streaming FM stations and Pandora due to reception issues and humans interrupting the music. I hate my SONY HT unit and just want a nice vintage amp/receiver. The SS Marantz stuff sells pretty cheap as well. Should I go that route instead? All opinions welcome and my apologies for dumbing down the site with my ignernce. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWL Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 The SS Marantz stuff sells pretty cheap as well. Should I go that route instead? "Shallow pockets" and vintage receivers go hand in hand. [] My vintage Marantz and Harmon Kardon stuff blows away the modern crap I've purchased in the last few years.....for a fraction of the price. [Y] If cash is tight......you can't hardly go wrong with vintage ss Marantz, Sansui or Harmon Kardon. The price is right and music sounds awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennie Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 Or maybe a decent integrated amp from Sansui or Harmon Kardon or Denon or Marantz! I see some nice ones on my local craigslist from time to time for under $200. Dennie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daddy Dee Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 oldmako, you've gotten some good advice above, but I'll just add a couple of thoughts. The 500C is a very cool piece of gear in restored form. I've got a 500B and love the sound. Getting one of these sweethearts rebuilt would be $300 or more, depending on what needs to be done. Adding the price of the gear and the rebuild, if you hire it done, yields a fairly pricey piece of gear. There are some current manufacture tube units available in that price range. You may be able to find someone who has recently had one rebuilt and is now selling to try something else. This is a good way to end up with a decent unit, but without bearing all the expense of the rebuild yourself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg928gts Posted February 16, 2009 Share Posted February 16, 2009 http://forums.klipsch.com/forums/t/115727.aspx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russ69 Posted February 16, 2009 Share Posted February 16, 2009 It's hard to find perfection for $300. Tube gear is special, if you can find a good vintage receiver it would be a good start. Thanx, Russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommy499 Posted February 16, 2009 Share Posted February 16, 2009 I purchased a 500C on e-bay a couple of years ago. I paid $500.00, but it is in almost new cosmetic condition. The best one I have seen in a long time said the tech from Audio Classics. I have over $1000.00 total into to it,after the rebuild and with the cabinet. I currently have it running RF-7's, and I have had it hooked up to my Heresy II's . I love the sound from this unit. The FM section is fantastic. I suppose you can get alot of other tubr stuff for that kind of money, but this thing looks and sounds great!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kdcarroll Posted February 16, 2009 Share Posted February 16, 2009 You are getting great advice! I sold my Fisher 500C two months ago. It was a fantastic unit that had been updated very well. It sounded great in my room through Crites-updated Heresies. My reason for sale was I didn't want to make the investment of time that great tube gear takes, in addition to the cost. The power tubes for the Fisher are somewhat more difficult to obtain (there is a legend of Eastern visitors buying all the tubes in the '70's). The quality SS units today rival all but the best tube gear (not an invitation to flame, YMMV), and certainly can do so at much less investment of time (no bias adjustment, tube rolling or replacement, etc.). I will freely admit the best sound I have heard is from tubes; but it just wasn't for me. I actually listen for my job and my hobby; so I spend more time listening to music, and less time worrying about each component in the chain. Another angle - if the majority of your listening is digital from a server, you will gain little benefit from tubes (as said by others this evening); especially if your digital files are compressed at all. I would recommend buying a Harmon Kardon two-channel SS receiver and enjoying your music, rather than diving down the rabbit hole in search of "something else" - a search that never appears to end. The Fisher has a fantastic phono amp, a really great FM section, and some great warm tendencies. If they are rebuilt by experts (like NOS), then a bulk of the attitude can be preserved. Some units get stripped and gutted in a burnt Earth approach to "modernize" the unit, which leaves us none of the great old character, and all the headaches of "tubes done wrong". This of course is just one opinion. While looking for my Fisher, I did a great deal of research and discovered the "cult"of Fisher fans, some of whom had SEVERAL units in various states ("in case this one goes bad"). That many people can't be wrong! Good luck, and welcome to the insanity! Ken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldmako Posted February 17, 2009 Author Share Posted February 17, 2009 Many thanks forall the info gents. As luck would have it, I was at my brothers lastnight listening to his new (to him) $500 Chorus II's. I had previouslymentioned to him the I was looking for a new unit. He got a big smileand told me to go look in his shop. His old Pioneer SA9100 was justsitting there. He thought that he had tossed it years ago, but foundit this week when remodeling his basement for his new speakers. It'snow sitting at my house! Several of the pots and switches arescratchy, but both channels work and the volume is even and the soundis clean once set to a level. We removed the (mint) wood case and it'sspotless inside. There's a metal cover over the switches which we didnot remove. Tomorrow I'm going to pull that off and try using someaerosol electronics cleaner on them. If the results are poor, I'lltake it to a specialist to have it professionally cleaned andrestored. I've had excellent luck using this spray on an old Sansuithat my father owned, and I am keeping my fingers crossed. In themeantime I read several reviews of old Marantz units. What the heck, Imay buy one of them as well. You never know when you might need aspare! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batmans Robin Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 My pockets are very, very shallow (just like me and my taste in women). You like shallow women? Why? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldmako Posted February 17, 2009 Author Share Posted February 17, 2009 I'm the one who's shallow. At least that's what my lady friend opines! I like em lean and shapely, what can I say? As for the Pioneer 9100, it's now perfect and like new. One can of cleaner followed by a half a can of cleaner / lube and one hour of carpal tunnel inducing wrist movements had the desired effect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fenderbender Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 That pioneer is a great unit.....you mentioned an old sansui, I have a sansui old AU7900 integrated that will just run circles around most amps considering that I paid a whole $200 for it.... back to the tubes....I restored a vintage Sansui AU-111 tube amp that I had to put almost $1000 into to bring it back and good tubes, even though cosmetically it's a 9.5.......sounds great but I have a lot invested in it now.....you should expect to have close to a grand into any tube amp restore for the unit, parts, labor, tubes....... Nothing wrong with quality SS.......I prefer it in many ways.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.