hwatkins Posted January 11, 2004 Share Posted January 11, 2004 First of all - Thanks Josh for your meticulous packing and care for the unit. All arrived as promised and in working order as described. Here goes: I have fired the Fisher 400 up in several configurations and am pleased to report decent results. The best sound - B&O 1700 Beogram, Phono Low input with 1980 Klipsch Heresy - this is a very clean, Low wattage config. As with any Heresy it is a bit bass shy (I tried to use an old Infinity BU-2 to supplement from the center out on the 400 - for anyone else trying this I can only say 'Don't' - way too bad a sub). Has a bit of the mellowness I may grow to appreciate, but clearly dynamic. Second best - same config with the 2 Pi studios. No problem here with bass. Just not the same feel on mids and highs as the Heresy. Surprising third best - Using an HK AVR20 as a pre (laugh all you want), an old Sony CD player with the 2 Pi - not sure technically why, but this was a very smooth sound and seem to bring out the best in the 2 Pi. The Heresy did well here, but the bass on the 2 Pi seemed outstanding and any shrillness in the Piezo vanished. As to the tuner - Darn surprising (as many have said before) sensitivity to low signal strength. A very good unit that seems to have some sort of bass compensation that I have yet to decipher - in all configs I needed to reduce the bass output on the tone control - when done it was very nice, just a bit of an irritation. As a whole, better than any of my SS tuners. Other stuff - Loudness control - worthless for me - a general increase of db that doesn't seem to focus enough on just LF at lower volume. FM filter - too much HF knock down to use as a rule. Stereo beam - darned amazingly accurate and has a pure, 60's coolness. Tone controls - These do not seem to be wide range, so it is very easy to make subtle changes (which I prefer). Looks - with walnut case just flat out pretty. My favorite part (to date) is the phono input. As a matter of fact all inputs seem to perform very well, but I haven't heard the 1700 sound this well for some time. This was over about 8 hours of listening: Patrick Moraz Jean Luc Ponty St. Louis Symphony Philadelphia Philharmonic Dave Matthews Stevie Ray Pink Floyd and, of course, Jimmy Buffet (I had to have a beer during this session) More later... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheltie dave Posted January 11, 2004 Share Posted January 11, 2004 Henry, we can hear the great sounds coming through the ether It's pretty cool to check something out that 98% of the stereo stores are passing off as totally old hat and horrible sounding. Then you get one and wham! wow! you are drawn into a secret cabal of ritualistic tungsten worshipers. Do you turn on the Fisher five or ten minutes before you sit down to listen, or just turn it on and start pacing waiting for it to warm up a wee bit? One of my friends is bringing over a bottle of single malt and some home brews, so we can raise a toast while Jimmy sings a beer-soaked "Come Monday." That will warm things up. I'm hoping Alan can make it up with a custom Scott case from St. Genevieve so you can see the LK72 in its glory. I just need to find some countersunk 1/2" bolts and nuts so Liam can't tear the case open Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hwatkins Posted January 11, 2004 Author Share Posted January 11, 2004 Hard to say on the warm up - after several failed attempts at setting up an easy to change config I hit on a solution and the reciever was on for 10 plus hours, so waiting for it to get to optimum performance wasn't much of a factor. I imagine I will leave it on for the day whenever I fire it up. Well - daughter is heading back to college today, so I'll be packing, saying farewells and working on lights for my workshop/garage. Thank goodness she is past the Liam stage of unintentional destruction - all of her devestating actions seem to be preplanned.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted January 11, 2004 Share Posted January 11, 2004 Yup Fisher made some top notch gear ! They sure did screw up there Loudness on about all there gear. In fact Scott is the only company that did this with descent results. Glad your loving it. I have probably said in this forum a 100 times Fisher made some great gear ! Craig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fisherdude Posted January 12, 2004 Share Posted January 12, 2004 My current primary setup is a Fisher 500C and a pair of Klipsch KG-4's and I absolutely love it! I've been working my way through some thrift store speakers and other assorted junkers over the past year before I bought the KG-4's. What a difference! They bring out the best in the Fisher. In my den (very small room) I've got a Fisher 400 hooked up to a pair of Paragigm Mini-Monitors. Astonishing bass from a small two-way...down to 40 Hz. I've had people in to listen, and they're swiveling their heads around asking "where's the sub???"! Enjoy your 400. I agree: terrific phono stage and FM reception. Clay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshnich Posted January 12, 2004 Share Posted January 12, 2004 Henry, Im so glad you like the unit. I am amazed at the quality and sound of the vintage gear. There is warmth to old Fisher, Scott , and Mac gear that is unlike anything I hear today - maybe its becaude my ears are 50 years old, or maybe it because its the gear that I wanted when I couldnt afford it- who knows! I still have a fisher 400 exactly like the one I sold you that i use in the bedroom. I rotate it with a NOSVALVES 299a. I run them through a pair of warfedale w-70s with a thorens TD165 . A very cool sounding and looking vintage system. Exactly like i would have bought if I could have afforded it it back in the day. josh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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