The Fisher X-100 integrated amp.

[Rick J B]

Got this in finally this morning. I bought this from a guy in NC who had had Craig at NOS Valves rework it in June of 2011.

 

Its a nice looking little unit, in remarkable shape for something built in 1961.

 

 

 

She's very much alive and sounds sweet.

 

 

I've been playing this for a couple hours now through the living room system. Damn it sounds good!

 

I've got my Marantz cd player going through my Jolida DAC into The Fisher feeding the RF82-II's. At 3 on the volume knob its as loud as I need.

 

This thing has an interesting assortment of tubes too.

 

The output tubes are the only current production present, a matched quad of Sovtek EL84 Craig provided.

 

The rectifier is a Fisher branded Mullard GZ34.

 

 

There are two tubes in the front that I'm not sure their function. They're a pair of NOS 7247's by Ei in Yugoslavia (former obviously)

 

 

Now, the preamp tubes in this I believe to be original to the amp, and they're good ones.

 

 

 

 

All I'll say is that I'm very, very pleased with this little Fisher amp. Its going to stay in the front room for awhile.

 

Note to add: I had intended to post this last night but got side tracked.

[Kent T]

One of Avery Fisher's finest moments. It's in beautiful condition. They sound wonderful, liquid, lush, and sweet. Very musical. You'll love it. 

[Taz]

Got this in finally this morning. I bought this from a guy in NC who had had Craig at NOS Valves rework it in June of 2011.

 

Its a nice looking little unit, in remarkable shape for something built in 1961.

 

 

 

She's very much alive and sounds sweet.

 

 

I've been playing this for a couple hours now through the living room system. Damn it sounds good!

 

I've got my Marantz cd player going through my Jolida DAC into The Fisher feeding the RF82-II's. At 3 on the volume knob its as loud as I need.

 

This thing has an interesting assortment of tubes too.

 

The output tubes are the only current production present, a matched quad of Sovtek EL84 Craig provided.

 

The rectifier is a Fisher branded Mullard GZ34.

 

 

There are two tubes in the front that I'm not sure their function. They're a pair of NOS 7247's by Ei in Yugoslavia (former obviously)

 

 

Now, the preamp tubes in this I believe to be original to the amp, and they're good ones.

 

 

 

 

All I'll say is that I'm very, very pleased with this little Fisher amp. Its going to stay in the front room for awhile.

 

Note to add: I had intended to post this last night but got side tracked.

Fisher is often over looked by those as ignorant as I  

Once I let one go for $50,  in working condition  Then made effort to kick own Butt when I learned a little more.

What speakers are to be used with this jewel?

.

Edited September 28, 2014 by Taz

[swapface]

Yep, that's a beauty! Some big iron in there!

[Rick J B]

Taz, for now they're playing through a pair of RF82-II's. By this time next year it'll have a pair of La Scala's.

 

Kent, that is a perfect description of this amps sound.

 

Swapface, yep, this thing weighs a ton. I don't believe this is the original output transformer, but its not hurting anything either. 

 

I'm playing The Bends by Radiohead on vinyl right now, and the organ and vocal on Fake Plastic Trees is fantastic!

[Rick J B]

I thought I'd mention that I've had a chance now to play several records through this thing and it sounds wonderful. My biggest concern with it was that the phono section would be less than great, but worries, its quite good.

 

One odd thing, this amp has features I've never seen before, it has 3 different phono inputs, one for ceramic cartridges! It also has two knobs in the center at the top, these are called "low level" controls. I guess you use them to equal the output level of different sources, like say your reel to reel deck has a higher output signal than your turntable, I dunno, I need to look into it further and try stuff I guess. Another thing is the "mode selector" knob. It has choices of mono-phono, reverse, stereo, A or B.   

[Dr Morbius]

I've got my Marantz cd player going through my Jolida DAC into The Fisher feeding the RF82-II's…………………………………………………………………………….

 

What model Marantz CD player do you have?  I've got the Marantz CD6004 which has super nice Dac's built in so it connects directly to my Scott amp (also done by Craig at NOS).  That's why I wonder why your using a Jolida DAC.

[Rick J B]

I've got my Marantz cd player going through my Jolida DAC into The Fisher feeding the RF82-II's…………………………………………………………………………….

 

What model Marantz CD player do you have?  I've got the Marantz CD6004 which has super nice Dac's built in so it connects directly to my Scott amp (also done by Craig at NOS).  That's why I wonder why your using a Jolida DAC.

 

I've got the CD-5004, which by it self is good, I just like it a bit better through the Jolida, especially with the Siemans tubes in it.

 

A Scott integrated is on my short list, which Scott are you enjoying?

Edited September 29, 2014 by Rick J B

[mike stehr]

I've had good sound from my Marantz/Heart tube output CDP fed into my Scott LK-48B.

[Audible Nectar]

I am also a big advocate of tube buffered CD players with tube gears....I run an Ah! Njoe Tjoeb 4000 (modified Marantz) into my vintage Mac system and it's very good. It "vinyl-izes" those discs quite nicely, and makes the CD medium MUCH more viable in the overall. Philips/Holland 6922s bring the sweetness many of those CDs need.

 

Nice Fisher, BTW - good iron, good tubes, good rebuild, good looking, too - what's not to like?

[Rick J B]

I am also a big advocate of tube buffered CD players with tube gears....I run an Ah! Njoe Tjoeb 4000 (modified Marantz) into my vintage Mac system and it's very good. It "vinyl-izes" those discs quite nicely, and makes the CD medium MUCH more viable in the overall. Philips/Holland 6922s bring the sweetness many of those CDs need.

 

Nice Fisher, BTW - good iron, good tubes, good rebuild, good looking, too - what's not to like?

 

I sadly had to shelve my Njoe Tojeb here recently, its having issues and I need to find a tech to sort its problems out. After 11 years she needs some care.

[Rick J B]

I've had good sound from my Marantz/Heart tube output CDP fed into my Scott LK-48B.

 

Tell us more, Mike. It sounds like a nice system!

[Audible Nectar]

 

I am also a big advocate of tube buffered CD players with tube gears....I run an Ah! Njoe Tjoeb 4000 (modified Marantz) into my vintage Mac system and it's very good. It "vinyl-izes" those discs quite nicely, and makes the CD medium MUCH more viable in the overall. Philips/Holland 6922s bring the sweetness many of those CDs need.

 

Nice Fisher, BTW - good iron, good tubes, good rebuild, good looking, too - what's not to like?

 

I sadly had to shelve my Njoe Tojeb here recently, its having issues and I need to find a tech to sort its problems out. After 11 years she needs some care.

 

 

What kind of issues?

[Rick J B]

 

 

I am also a big advocate of tube buffered CD players with tube gears....I run an Ah! Njoe Tjoeb 4000 (modified Marantz) into my vintage Mac system and it's very good. It "vinyl-izes" those discs quite nicely, and makes the CD medium MUCH more viable in the overall. Philips/Holland 6922s bring the sweetness many of those CDs need.

 

Nice Fisher, BTW - good iron, good tubes, good rebuild, good looking, too - what's not to like?

 

I sadly had to shelve my Njoe Tojeb here recently, its having issues and I need to find a tech to sort its problems out. After 11 years she needs some care.

 

 

What kind of issues?

 

 

It has a couple. Every once in a while, like every other song, it'll cut out, no sound for just a split second. On top of that the left channel is getting weak for some reason, its only putting out around half the sound the right channel is. I dunno, but it needs help.

 

I need to contact Kevin and see where he recommends it being sent.

[Dr Morbius]

Rick, I have a Scott 299C (in storage for later) , a 299D which with a new Teac CD-H750 powers a new pair of oversized Cornscala's built by Justin Weber (sounds incredible, btw!) and a Scott 272 which with the aforementioned Marantz CD player powers a pair of regular Cornscala's - {if they could ever be called regular} which is in my basement. Justin's Cornscala's are not quite broken in yet as I've only had them a couple of months, but today I played my reference CD of, I feel, the most beautiful violin music ever written - Bernard Herrmann's "Scene D'amor" from the soundtrack "Vertigo" conducted by Joel McNeely. The dynamics and presence are unbelievable! (unless you listen to a Bose system, then you're just wasting your time)

[Rick J B]

Rick, I have a Scott 299C (in storage for later) , a 299D which with a new Teac CD-H750 powers a new pair of oversized Cornscala's built by Justin Weber (sounds incredible, btw!) and a Scott 272 which with the aforementioned Marantz CD player powers a pair of regular Cornscala's - {if they could ever be called regular} which is in my basement. Justin's Cornscala's are not quite broken in yet as I've only had them a couple of months, but today I played my reference CD of, I feel, the most beautiful violin music ever written - Bernard Herrmann's "Scene D'amor" from the soundtrack "Vertigo" conducted by Joel McNeely. The dynamics and presence are unbelievable! (unless you listen to a Bose system, then you're just wasting your time)

 

Very nice! Not sure yet which specific version, but its a 299 I've been thinking about getting. It looks to me like the Scott's are getting more and more popular, at least their price seems to be climbing.

 

I'll have to look for the recording you reference. With two violin players in the house I'm sure it'll be well received.

[Audible Nectar]

 

 

 

I am also a big advocate of tube buffered CD players with tube gears....I run an Ah! Njoe Tjoeb 4000 (modified Marantz) into my vintage Mac system and it's very good. It "vinyl-izes" those discs quite nicely, and makes the CD medium MUCH more viable in the overall. Philips/Holland 6922s bring the sweetness many of those CDs need.

 

Nice Fisher, BTW - good iron, good tubes, good rebuild, good looking, too - what's not to like?

 

I sadly had to shelve my Njoe Tojeb here recently, its having issues and I need to find a tech to sort its problems out. After 11 years she needs some care.

 

 

What kind of issues?

 

 

It has a couple. Every once in a while, like every other song, it'll cut out, no sound for just a split second. On top of that the left channel is getting weak for some reason, its only putting out around half the sound the right channel is. I dunno, but it needs help.

 

I need to contact Kevin and see where he recommends it being sent.

 

 

Would be worth a shot.

 

My machine had a similar issue with regard to the dropouts - turned out to be a tracking issue, which was resolved by swapping out the pickup module ($180), which can be done by the end user. Mine plays like new now. As for the weak channel, I have no clue what that's all about - calling Upscale would certainly be recommended in any case.

[mike stehr]

 

I've had good sound from my Marantz/Heart tube output CDP fed into my Scott LK-48B.

 

Tell us more, Mike. It sounds like a nice system!

 

 

https://community.klipsch.com/index.php?/topic/143840-rik-stoetheart-marantz-tube-output-cd-player/

 

I picked up the CDP from a forum member Daddy Dee. The thread explains things in more detail. Output tubes are JAN 7308s. (Sylvania?)

 

I bought the Scott LK-48B from CL for 200 bucks, with a pair of JC Penny junk speakers and a somewhat rare Sony tuner.

The Scott was assembled by the sellers uncle, who must have been a EE or something...the wiring/soldering/layout was really good. Came with the original tubes, walnut case and assembly manual.

 

I cleaned everything up, replaced the power supply cap cans, (except the bias multicap, it was fine) replaced the coupling caps with Russian military caps, replaced resistors here and there, along with using some metal films in the phono stage. Some coupling caps for tone/volume etc were replaced with orange drop (715P?).

 

The phono stage sounds great with the old Musicmaster idler drive turntable I have. Ended up swapping some speakers for another quad of 7189s, so I have enough to last for awhile. In my experiences, the integrated amplifier sounds best with the original Telefunken driver/phono/tone tubes.

 

I have pair of '83 oiled oak Cornwalls, with Crites woofers, Crites CT125 tweeters, K51V midhorn driver, with charged-coupled B2 networks.(DeanG provided the parts, I put it together) The B2 networks have a extra mod using a inductor with the midhorn.

 

I have a few single ended tube amps I throw in rotation as well.

 

Mike

[Rick J B]

Mike, very nice! Your Stereomaster is gorgeous!

[Dr Morbius]

Rick,  yes the 299 Scott is excellent (love those massive trannies!)  Let me know what you think of that piece by Bernard Herrmann if you get it. I'd like to know what you think. If you do like it, I have some more surprises for you.