TroyD
08-06-2002, 11:07 AM
Well, I finally got the Fisher CA-800 'the fish' yesterday evening. I got it from Russ as a swap for a Yammie C-40 preamp. If you ever buy something from Russ, it's always packed to with stand a nuclear blast.
Anyway, cosmetically, this thing is just like brand new. The big bonus is the analog V/U meters, BDT LOVES him some V/U's I tell ya.......Anyway, after admiring it for a few minutes, I set about setting it up for demo. I used the AMC cd8b for a source ( I also bagged a Fish tuner for 2.50 on ebay but haven't hooked it up yet) and the Boston Acoustics A40's. I used Signal Cables for IC's and standard AR 16awg wire. My only bitch is the spring clips in the back, but what do you expect.
People will scoff about anything that Fisher makes being crap (except maybe thier tube gear) but I'll tell you, this thing is a FIND. 100wpc into 8ohms .09%THD so it has power to spare. So how does it sound? In a word, SMOOTH. A great match for the BA's which I have reviewed previously. If you are looking for incredibe detail or a bright sound, this is not the amp for you. If you are looking for a very smooth, very fun to listen to amp, this is it. Mated with the BA's, I noted no glaring defects. No harshness, no brightness....just very laid back and smooth. Listening to Chris Rea's 'Texas'..man, all I could thing is 'that's how it's supposed to sound'. Billy Paul's 'Mrs. Jones'....same thing.
I didn't hook them up to the DQ's as I noted at Casa Gates that it didn't particularly like big drops in impedence, nor would I ever use it with the DQ's anyway. The Polks, same deal. Just to keep you updated on the batting order:
The fish/A40's (fish tuner and Techincs POS 5 disc changer) will go in the office rig
The Dave /Realistic TM-175 tuner/Tosh CD player will go into the garage rig with my big ol' Pioneer CS-88's
The Marantz 2215 will move from the garage rig into the magic closet after a good cleaning. I may mate it up later with the Polk R2's in a location to be named later
Just keeping y'all informed on the gear status.
BDT
Anyway, cosmetically, this thing is just like brand new. The big bonus is the analog V/U meters, BDT LOVES him some V/U's I tell ya.......Anyway, after admiring it for a few minutes, I set about setting it up for demo. I used the AMC cd8b for a source ( I also bagged a Fish tuner for 2.50 on ebay but haven't hooked it up yet) and the Boston Acoustics A40's. I used Signal Cables for IC's and standard AR 16awg wire. My only bitch is the spring clips in the back, but what do you expect.
People will scoff about anything that Fisher makes being crap (except maybe thier tube gear) but I'll tell you, this thing is a FIND. 100wpc into 8ohms .09%THD so it has power to spare. So how does it sound? In a word, SMOOTH. A great match for the BA's which I have reviewed previously. If you are looking for incredibe detail or a bright sound, this is not the amp for you. If you are looking for a very smooth, very fun to listen to amp, this is it. Mated with the BA's, I noted no glaring defects. No harshness, no brightness....just very laid back and smooth. Listening to Chris Rea's 'Texas'..man, all I could thing is 'that's how it's supposed to sound'. Billy Paul's 'Mrs. Jones'....same thing.
I didn't hook them up to the DQ's as I noted at Casa Gates that it didn't particularly like big drops in impedence, nor would I ever use it with the DQ's anyway. The Polks, same deal. Just to keep you updated on the batting order:
The fish/A40's (fish tuner and Techincs POS 5 disc changer) will go in the office rig
The Dave /Realistic TM-175 tuner/Tosh CD player will go into the garage rig with my big ol' Pioneer CS-88's
The Marantz 2215 will move from the garage rig into the magic closet after a good cleaning. I may mate it up later with the Polk R2's in a location to be named later
Just keeping y'all informed on the gear status.
BDT