Fisher KX-100

Here's a case where the name causes immediate confusion: the Fisher KX-100 was a stereo cassette deck. The record on this deck is thin, and almost everything known about it comes from database listings rather than period reviews or service literature. What the sources agree on: it was a single-well, auto-reverse deck with two motors and direct drive, and it handled all four major tape formulations of its era — normal, CrO₂, FeCr, and metal. Dolby B and Dolby C noise reduction were both on board.

The spec sheets conflict on a few points. Head count is reported as both three and one depending on the source, and frequency response is listed as either 20Hz–20kHz or 30Hz–17kHz. Given the auto-reverse transport and the era, three heads seems unlikely — most auto-reverse decks of this class used a single combination head — but without a service manual or an original brochure, I won't pick a side. Signal-to-noise is given as 60dB in most sources, and wow and flutter at 0.05%. Output is listed as 0.2V line level, with a separate 2mV figure that may refer to microphone input sensitivity.

No production years, original price, or market positioning have survived in the archive. No reviews from the period have turned up either — the only contemporary mention of a "KX-100" in the trade press is a 1962 ad for a Fisher StrataKit control-amplifier of the same name, which is an entirely different product. That earlier KX-100 was a $129.50 build-it-yourself preamp-amplifier rated at 50 watts, as High Fidelity (August 1962, p.13) noted.

Known specs in brief: