Offered for sale is my excellent Fisher 400 FM stereo receiver, serial number 60029. I will go out on a limb and say that the condition of this 400 is as good or better than any other 400 I've seen offered for sale in the several years that have passed since I secured mine. Take a look at the posted pictures, as well as the others in my Photobucket album:
http://s850.photobucket.com/user/tlarwa/library/Fisher%20400?sort=3&evt=email_share_media&page=1 I believe these pictures speak for themselves, and accurately show the fantastic condition my 400 is in. I am not a professional photographer by any means, but tried to take enough views to show physical condition as well as the updated condition of the internal components.
Physically, the overall condition is exceptional. All lettering is intact, and the aluminum faceplate and glass are virtually defect free. The knobs are all original, and the gold discs are in place. The dial lights all work properly, as does the magic eye tuning tube. The chassis is exceptionally clean, with minimal pitting (actually, I'm not even sure the few existing dark spots are pitting, I think they are just discoloration). The included wood cabinet is also in excellent condition. There are a few flaws, but they are not visible unless you are looking for them at close range. The wood has been cleaned with Howard's Restor-A-Finish and 0000 steel wool, and then treated with Howard's Feed 'n Wax. It really does look good.
The 400 was rebuilt several years ago by the late Paul Grzybek of Tube Audio Design in Chicago, IL. Paul had a great reputation restoring Fisher components, and this one received his "Bizzy Bee" rebuild. I honestly can't tell you everything that was replaced or modified, but suffice it to say that it needs NOTHING, and is truly plug and play. The on/off/volume switch is perfectly functional. Because they have a reputation for failing (and they are "unobtainable") I don't use it to power on and off. Instead, I plug it into a switched outlet, and turn it on and off that way. I would recommend you do the same. The tubes are mostly original, labeled "The Fisher", with the exception of V3 (6BA6), which is a red labeled RCA. The output tubes are a matched quad of Electro Harmonix 7868's, which are about 2 years old. They sound wonderful. The tuner is in perfect alignment, and pulls in stations with ease. And the "magic eye" tube is really neat to watch as it locks in on a station! All inputs and outputs function properly, and the speaker output impedance is currently set to 8 ohms (for my Klipsch Forte II's). One word about the phono stage ... I have used it quite a bit with my second table, and personally feel it performs exceptionally. But, there is a thread in the AK Fisher forum that explains how to make it even better by replacing the 4 coupling caps with Sprague Vitamin Q' s and K40Y-9's (the thread can be found here
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showpost.php?p=7667884&postcount=13). I considered making found this mod, and even bought the required caps, but never got up enough nerve to do it. So I'm including the 4 capacitors in case you want to do it yourself. Lastly, I'm including 4 spade-to-banana speaker terminal adapters, which were also made by Paul G. They are well made, and invaluable if you like to use bananas. Even if you don't, they are a lot easier to work with than the small terminal screws on the receiver. You'll be glad you have them, trust me.
I'm not sure what else to say about this fine example. I'm confident you'll be hard pressed to find a better one on the used market. I'm very sad to have to offer it up for sale, but I'm moving to low-power SET amplification, and need to generate cash to fund a new amp purchase. Plus, I never listen to FM radio at home (I have horrible reception where I currently live), so I really don't need a receiver. But I will honestly miss this one!
Asking $900 + actual shipping charges. Sure, you can find a less expensive example, but the hidden costs will drive the price up eventually. Not so with this one ... plug it in and enjoy it for years to come.
Let me know if you have any questions, and I'll answer them to the best of my ability.
