[kentamcolin]

I just picked up my completed 400-X from Paul at Bizzy Bee on Tuesday. Of course I plugged it in and started listening after everything warmed up for about 10 seconds, and of course it sounded pretty rough. So I went out to play frisby with my dog and came back 15 minutes later.

Awesome!

I haven't had much time with this unit yet, but to say it blows away the vintage Yamaha SS receiver I was using in the interum is an understatement. The sound through my Sennheiser HD600's is not that different from the MG Head/OTL with the Raytheon tube, it just has more of everything. Presentation is more forward, bass has more impact, treble and mids more detail. For speakers I'm only using a pair of Kef C20's bookshelfs I purchased 20 years ago. I simply can't believe how good a cheap set of speakers can sound with good sources. I'm not an experienced audio reviewer by any means, but I listen to music a lot. This morning I was listening to Karrin Allyson "In Blue" while reading the morning news. I kept looking up at the speaker in amazement at midrange detail I never heard before. Things like hearing the musicians breath as it passes over the reed on a wind instrument. I must say I am thrilled so far with the 400-X. It's not cheap, but for under a grand to have such an awesome amp/headphone amp, phono stage and tuner all wrapped into one, I think it's a bargain.

The only problem I experienced is with the volume pot. I'm losing one channel at very low levels, and there is not the best control over CD playback volume due to the gain. Paul said he has different pots to try that should solve this and offered to switch it out while I wait the next time I'm in. Great service indeed. The unit is however dead silent in the background even with headphones.

I'll be bringing this one to the Chicago meet for all of you to check out.

 

[mkmelt]

Yes, I discovered the amazing sound of a Fisher 400 receiver when listening through headphones quite by chance last year. I purchased a Fisher Doc kit restored Fisher 400 receiver as my first introduction to tube audio. I had not thought about its potential as a headphone amplifer, but once I tried it, I was hooked.

I use Sennheiser HD-600 headphones with my Fisher, but have had a chance to try a number of other phones including Sony R-10 and even AKG K1000 headphones. The Fisher performed very admirably with all the headphones I have tried.

A Fisher 400 may not be the world's best amplifer, headphone or otherwise, but with the right 12AX7/5751 tubes, it will give any, and I mean any headphone amplifier including those costing more than $2K a run for the money. Not bad for a 40 year old piece of audio gear that can still be purchased stock in working condition for around $200 and fully restored for a total investment of under $500.

 

[Dan H]

Yep, Paul is great! Glad your in the old Fisher camp.
If you go back to his shop please listen to one of his homemade 400's. I'm curious how it sounds.
Paul did my FM100B last year, outstanding tuner now!