rigma Posted February 21, 2003 Share Posted February 21, 2003 Anyone have an opinion on the Fisher KX-200. My father has one which has not been used in 25 years and said I can have it if I want. I have Klipschorns. MB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted February 21, 2003 Share Posted February 21, 2003 Its not to bad a amp at all !! But if it has indeed been sitting unused for 20 years I wouldn't just fire it up !! It may or may not go up in smoke ! It would be a big gamble there are many parts in these old amps that have to be replaced and reformed on a variac by slowly applying power ! Applying direct wall voltage can prove lethal to various parts in the amp. But for free it sure sounds like you can afford to either rebuild it yourself or have it done ! Craig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rigma Posted February 21, 2003 Author Share Posted February 21, 2003 Craig, do you service Fisher or just Scott? Send me private email if you like. MB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted February 22, 2003 Share Posted February 22, 2003 I'll do Fisher integrated amps no problem. I just shy away from recievers unless the customer understands that I do not work on the tuner sections. The KX-200 should be no problem at all. Craig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artto Posted February 24, 2003 Share Posted February 24, 2003 Glad someone brought this up. Quite frankly, I liked the sound of the old Fisher tube stuff. I think it sounded way better than the EICO & Scott stuff thats constantly being pushed by certain people on this forum. Fisher used some unique tube complements too like the 8417 which Quicksilver Audio used in their early amps (early 80's). One of my best friends got rid of his Fisher around 1972. Traded it in on a Pioneer receiver. Things never sounded the same again. In fact it was that event which eventually led me back to tubes. Like Craig said......use a variac to restart those (or any amp for that matter which hasn't been used for a long time). Another thing you can do is the old light bulb trick. In fact, I'd suggest using this inconjunction with the variac. Take a regular incandescent light bulb socket & wire it SERIES, on one side of regular 2 wire lampcord. Use a 15-25 watt bulb. Plug this into the electic wall outlet & plug the amp into the series wired lamp. When the amp is turned on, the light will glow brightly. As the power supply caps re-form, the lamp will gradually reduce in brightness to a dim glow. This indicates that the caps have re-formed. As an extra bonus, the lamp also basically acts as a current limiter. Should anything on the amp blow, the lamp will burnout & stop the current flow. I use both a variac & the series wired lamp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted February 24, 2003 Share Posted February 24, 2003 Arto, Now that is double safety !! You can accomplish the same safety margin by replacing the fuse in the amp from its standard 2 1/2 to 3 amp slow blow with a 1 1/2 amp standard fuse for the first few adjustments on the variac. If it blows the fuse lower the voltage until it doesn't. Besides if it blows the fuse you better plan on new cans anyway because there to far gone for reforming. Fisher amps are nice pieces but like everything its all subjective ! Craig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artto Posted February 24, 2003 Share Posted February 24, 2003 Understood Craig. The light bulb thing is nice because it also acts as a indicator of when the caps have re-formed. Lots of guys just use the light bulb in series without a variac as a cheap way around. But you're right, an amp that hasn't been turned on for 25 years may not be able to be re-formed. The caps will probably need replacing anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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