X-1000 Master Control Amplifier with FM-1000 tuner illustrated above. N-50,000-5

If you are ready for the best you are ready for the Fisher.

Creating this page has been a challenge. Fisher was a very successful producer of High Fidelity audio products focused on consumers at the high end of the market for about 30 years. During those years, technologies and market trends changed dramatically, and the Fisher product line was frequently refreshed in response to these forces, resulting in several hundred distinct products.

Many people are familiar with the iconic Fisher 500-C, and deservedly so. It is Fishers most famous product. It is powerful, looks good, sounds great (when healthy), and tends to work for a long time if not fiddled with. It’s 8 year production run, and the fact that fully functional untouched originals regularly come onto the market in 2017 testifies to this.

But the 500-C is the tip of the proverbial ice berg.

I remember the first time I encountered a tube Fisher receiver that wasn’t a 500-C -check it out, this 500-C has AM! From there it was all surprises. The 500-C is one of nine models in Fishers family of Stereo Receivers, spanning 3 distinct generations. For 15 years the individual systems that make up the 500-C, from hi-lo filters, to Phono preamplifiers, to tone control units, were developed, existed as individual components, and then were combined onto various common chassis. The 500-C shares catalog pages with as many as two dozen other contemporary tube components for any given year. And then there are the accessories, consoles, kits, speakers, and emerging Solid State offerings.

Fisher made just too many products to fit a model identification guide all on one page without causing load time issues. Below are jumping off points for identification lists by component type. I hope the format below helps you better understand what Fisher accomplished.

Have something you don’t find here? Drop us a line!

Receivers

A receiver is a single component with Tuner, Preamplifier and Amplifier on a common chassis. This group includes all Fisher receivers: Mono, Stereo and Quadraphonic; Vacuum Tube, Hybrid and Solid State.

Master Control Amplifiers

Master Control Amplifier is Fisher’s term for the Integrated Amplifier. It is an Amplifier and Preamplifier combined on a single chassis. This group includes Mono and Stereo; Vacuum Tube and Solid State Master Control Amplifiers.

Power Amplifiers

Preamplifier Variants

This includes Mono and Stereo Preamplifiers and Preamplifier Tuners. In the time-period this website is concerned with, Fisher only made Vacuum Tube versions of these.

Tuners

A Tuners sole purpose is to receive a radio broadcast. This group includes all Fisher Tuners: Mono and Stereo; Vacuum Tube and Solid State. See Preamplifier Variants section if you don’t see what you’re looking for here.

StrataKits

StrataKit is Fishers line of build-it-your-self components. This was a popular practice in the 1950’s and 60’s, with HeathKit probably the most well-known maker of kits.

Consoles

Where Home Audio becomes Furniture. If you are going to have half a dozen components in a cabinet, it might as well match your decor. Fisher made many different models!

Speakers

Literature

Home Music Centers

Home Music Centers were the next logical step from Consoles. In a Home Music Center, the Master Control Amplifier or Receiver is on a common chassis with the Record Player and/or 8-Track or Cassette player, and as the idea matured, sold with a bespoke Speaker System.

Turntables

Headphones

Reel-to-Reel, 8-Track and Cassette Player/Recorders