The 500C
I currently own a Fisher 500C and 800C. I really like both these units, and feel that
they are about the best tube stereo receivers out there. I was very fortunate to get
both of these for a very reasonable price. They both have cabinets and work great.
The Fisher 500C and 800C are essentially the same with the exception that the 800C
includes AM along with FM in it's tuner section. Also the front end of the tuner in the
800C is slightly different due to it's AM/FM capability as opposed to FM only in the
500C. More people know about the 500C simply because there are more of them
out there. The 800C was very expensive, and many people were not willing to pay
the extra $40.00 for the addition of AM in a world where FM stereo was the receiver
of choice for audiophiles. Simulcasts were getting rare, and the 800C, unlike tuners like the Scott
333, was not equipped to deal with AM/FM simulcasts anyway. It's AM section has
selectable bandwidth, and incorporated a chassis mounted antenna. The reception of
the AM section is quite good as is that of the FM section.
500C's and 800C's employed a tuner section that was about the most sensitive
available at the time, and is actually more sensitive them most digital FM tuners made
today! I have "A Bed" the tuner sections of my 800C and 500C with newer solid
state units as well as Scott 330, 333 and 310 tuners and Dyna FM3's. The Fisher is the
clear winner with Scott running a close second. My solid state Perreaux and Optonica
(early 80's solid state quartz control tuners) were no more sensitive then the Fishers.
That says a lot since both the Perreaux and Optonica were considered "high end"
in the early 80's and could outperform most anything made then. I have also tested the
old 800C against a couple modern receivers from JVC, Yamaha and Realistic.
The 800C could pull in more stations. I'll admit that in some instances these new
tuners were better. especially with respect to inter channel muting. But for
overall fidelity and the ability to pull in distant stations. this 35 year old tube veteran
is clearly superior! And the amplifier sounds a hell of a lot better! (I love 7591's. best darn
tube they ever made for high fidelity amps in the 30 - 40 watt range!!!)
here's a collage of pictures of an 800C
Here is an example of an 800C. in the back view, you can see the ferrite rod AM antenna
above the antenna terminals. Also, you can see the AM scale with the FM scale on the
dial glass. These are the two largest cosmetic differences between the 500C and 800C.
Knob placement is the same for both. If you have either an 800C or 500C,
hang on to it! They are climbing in price. What you sell for $200.00 today
may end up costing you two to three times that in another year. I regularly
see 800C's sell for close to $300.00 on Ebay (an online auction house).
The 500/800C receivers will put out an honest 35 watts per channel from a pair
of 7591 output tubes in each channel. The transformers are HUGE in these receivers.
They have no trouble reproducing deep bass, and will drive most any speaker.
If you have been using lower powered tube amps employing triodes or small
beam power tubes like the 6BQ5, 6V6 etc. you will be astonished at the
power of a 500C or 800C. Usable tuner sensitivity for FM is around 1.9uv. at this level,
the tuner will recognize a stereo station and turn on the MPX via a relay. The tuner can benefit
from a bit of tweaking in the deemphasis circuit to bring both the FM MPX and FM mono
deemphasis down to roughly 70us. this can be accomplished by changing the values of
4 resistors. But, as is these receivers sound so nice that unless you are very skilled
in electrical repair I would stay out of the tuner! All bringing the deemphasis down to 70us
will net you is a little more high end. But, since FM tuners are limited to around 15KHz on the
high end, you are never going to get a flat 20 - 20kHz anyway. Plus most FM stations don't
put out much more then 12KHz on the high end anyway.
The signal path for the amplifier/preamp section uses only 12AX7's in the signal path and
ultimately sends the signal to push pull pairs of 7591's. The power supply is solid state so
you don't have to worry about replacing pairs of GZ34's. I think that this solid state
power supply rectification is one of the biggest reasons that the bottom end is
so tight in these receivers. The Scott 340B has tight bass like this too, and it too
uses a solid power supply.
Here is an advertisement for Fisher's receivers in 1963. Note the prices and especially the
price of the 800C!
More Fisher information
on the 500C