Fisher 500

Name: Fisher 500
Brand: Fisher

First, a note on identity. The record holds no documentation for a plain "Fisher 500." What the sources cover is the 500 family - the 500C, 500B, and 500-T. Each is a tube AM/FM stereo receiver that Fisher produced in the early to mid-1960s. A unit marked simply "500" is almost certainly one of these variants, and which one matters a great deal.

The best-documented of the three is the 500C, built from 1960 to 1964. High Fidelity (May 1964, p.27) called it "an excellent instrument by any standards," and noted that you'd have to spend considerably more on separate components to match its performance. The tube complement is 12AX7, 12AU7, 12AT7, and 7591 output tubes, good for 20 watts per channel. It has a "brute force" choke-input power supply, a separate IF stage using 6AU6 tubes, and the four-button brass tone controls that were a Fisher signature of the era. Inputs cover phono, tape head, and aux. Speaker taps are at 4, 8, and 16 ohms. It was sold both as a tabletop receiver and inside consoles with Garrard-type changers.

The 500B, according to an AudioKarma owner, is based on the 500C circuit with the output stage running in medium-mu triode mode. He felt that tweak made it "smoother than any 500C I've heard," and preferable to most tube receivers he'd tried. Output is 30 watts per channel, again on 7591s. That's a single owner's opinion and not a measured review, but it's the only substantive word on the 500B out there.

The 500-T is the odd one out. It uses IC and hybrid circuits in its FM tuner section. A Quora owner reports excellent FM stereo, a surprisingly good phono preamp, and no complaints about the soundstage. He gripes about the lack of a dedicated phono ground post and about the wire-wrap speaker terminals, which are a pain to work with. It was pitched against Marantz and McIntosh receivers of the same period.

Known specs, by variant:

500C (1960–1964): 20W + 20W; tubes 12AX7, 12AU7, 12AT7, 7591; inputs phono/tape head/aux; 4/8/16 ohm speaker taps; choke-input power supply
500B: 30W per channel; 7591 output tubes; medium-mu triode output mode
500-T: 70W; 4 × 7591 and 2 × 12AX7; hybrid/IC FM tuner; wire-wrap speaker terminals

No original prices, dimensions, weights, or frequency response figures survive in any source for any variant. No production years are documented for the 500B or 500-T. Every owner source agrees on two things: after fifty-plus years, the capacitors will need replacement, and parts are getting genuinely hard to find. Budget for restoration if you're buying one. The 7591 output tubes are the ones to hoard.