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In Reply to: RE: Fisher 500 posted by mike555 on October 11, 2015 at 10:08:14
The "averaged out" selling price on E-Bay is around $250 for a Fisher 500 mono tube receiver. Most sold in the $200 range and a couple went for $400 for some reason. Maybe bidder wars.
Some were untested or in so,so condition so the $175 isn't a rip off for a great looking example but your still looking at the possibility that is will need work
you have to pay for on top of the purchase price.
Follow Ups:
I convinced the owner to power it up. Everything works, she claims, except the tuner dial does not change the frequency or move the station indicator. Sounds promising.
Another item to consider is the output tubes currently installed. Early 500s were designed for and shipped with a pair of Mullard EL37s. Later versions used Tungsol 5881s. Service replacements for either were almost always 6L6GCs. A used/good pair of EL37s is worth most of $175 by themselves. As such, "knowledgable" sellers almost always strip out EL37s for personal use or separate sale.
Bingo. That's apparently what made a couple of 500's go for $400 on E-Bay. I checked the pics and they both had the EL37's.
But boy,it's a leap of faith that they are any good and selling them for a good price is iffy unless you have one of those great tube testers that tests the tubes under real operating voltages.
Apparently the 500 output section is pretty easy on the finals. Back in the good old days I purchased three 500s on that auction site for cheap. All 6 EL37s were in tip top shape. Doesn't hurt that the EL37 was very well designed and constructed. While a true pentode they were promoted as high-end upgrades for 6L6 apps.
Edits: 10/11/15 10/11/15
This seller is not knowledgeable.
"Powers up" just means that. Does not mean working great. Hook up a
speaker and a wire antenna and play with it for 10 min. Can you go in
and turn the tuner by hand?. Probably broke or loose dial string there
or even a loose knob. Take a flashlight with you and inspect the guts.
Any unit that old will need to be addressed by a tech to replace aging electrolyic caps and any paper caps, using a unit of that vintage in an unrestored state is extremely risky, even if it seems to be working fine. many capacitors just dont last 50 years. Just normal maintenence for this old stuff. For that price, you can afford to do some work on it. Far cheaper to get it serviced BEFORE you fry the transformers or output tubes from failing caps.
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