('64-'67)  33 WPC   $1440 (restored, upgraded)

In excellent exterior cosmetic condition, fully serviced and fully tested, this Fisher 500C stereo receiver comes with an absolutely gorgeous, custom-built "Bubinga Waterfall" veneer case.  The receiver was disassembled for intensive bench servicing and testing.

On the inside, the majority of the tubes for phono, tone control, tuner stage and phase inverter stages are new replacements with the correct values.  There are only three of the original Fisher tubes that are still within spec. 

The four new output stage tubes are the highly recommended Tung-Sol 7591A.   
(Also included are four new JJ7591S tubes as great backups if ever necessary.   The rest of the new tubes are a mix of Mullard, GE, Sylvania, Hoffman and Bogen.)

The faceplate is near mint.  All the original knobs and switches are also pristine.  All the lamps have been upgraded to LEDs. 

NOTE: Back in 1964, Avery Fisher, founder and president of the Fisher Radio Corporation, wrote a short note for the 500-C Stereophonic FM Multiplex Receiver owner's manual. In that note he said, "a door has opened for you, and your family, for virtually unlimited years of musical enjoyment."

NOTE: it is with fond remembrance that the Fisher 500C was my very first stereo receiver, purchased back in 1967 while I was working at Pacific Stereo in Walnut Creek CA.  With our employee discount, I believe the cost was about $320.  Since I was making $1.40 per hour plus commission in '67, that cost me about 4 weeks wages.  Regardless, it was a glorious time back then to be involved in the HiFi business  ~Albie / Cherry Vintage Audio

Back story (courtesy of the Classic Receivers website):
The Fisher 500-C is a classic tube receiver and is always in high demand from collectors and audio enthusiasts. Introduced in 1964 it is estimated that over 100,000 units were sold, so it was obviously very popular with the audio buying public. In fact, in terms of sound, it still holds its own with today’s high-tech audio equipment. Its original retail price was around $369.00. Its tube design delivers 33 watts per channel and features a multiplex FM tuner. The 500-C’s big brother the Fisher 800C is similar, but it also has an AM tuner.

The original Fisher 500 was introduced in 1957. The first model only had an AM tuner and was in mono, not stereo. Then came the 500-B which was stereo, produced 65 total watts, and had a tuning eye. The subsequent 500-C is also a stereo receiver but with a 75 watt amplifier (33 wpc), an FM stereo tuner, an audio control center (preamp), and a headphone jack. The 500-C transformers are also somewhat larger than the 500-B’s.  The 500-C’s face plate is a lighter champagne color as opposed to the 500-B’s more gold face plate.

The 500-C has automatic switching between stereo and mono FM reception. If the broadcast is in mono, the 500-C adjusts itself to play the sound through a single channel, and if the broadcast is in stereo, it switches to stereo playback. The Stereo Beacon light lets you know which mode it’s in.

The direct predecessor of the 500-C was the 500-B which was roughly similar to the 500-C yet incorporated a magic eye tuning tube, which Fisher called a Stereo Beam, for a signal strength indicator as opposed to the 500-C’s numbered signal strength indicator. Here is the 500-B’s stereo beam indicator:

Specs:
Output power 33 watts per channel
THD: 0.7% 
Frequency response: 25Hz–25kHz
Dimensions: 18.5" W by 7.25" H by 15" D (including wood case).
Weight: 43 lbs (including wood case)
Original MSRP: $369 in 1974 ($2450 in 2024 with inflation)

Comment:
"The debut of Avery Fisher's combo amplifier-receiver in the early '60s signaled the dawn of the home stereo revolution. It initially came in two flavors: the basic 500B and the slightly pricier 500C (as described above), which added a headphone jack. Both injected recordings with a hitherto unheard liveliness, using a magic mix of vacuum tubes and capacitors to transform electrical signals into incredibly sweet music. When the first consumers to plunk down $370 heard Bob Dylan singing like he was a few feet away, many were convinced that nothing less would ever satisfy their ears. More than 50 years later, audiophiles still deify the two Fisher models. Revered by online communities, there's a cottage industry devoted to keeping these two legendary stereo 500 receivers in working order. Some look at the stately metal-and-wood bodies and see a relic. The rest of us see the antidote to the sterility of the digital age."
~Michael Calore (Wired)

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(1983)  130 WPC   $500   (pristine)

In excellent cosmetic condition and fully operational, this Carver MX-130 was known as "The Receiver".  Curiously, there isn't one single model number anywhere on the outside of these units; not sure why they did that?  Was it an oversight or were they being cute? 

It has been thoroughly bench serviced and tested.  The MX-130 has a very powerful amplifier section with a minimum output of 130 watts per channel into 8 ohms.  Online tests rated the MX-130 to pump out close to 200 watts per channel into 4 ohms.  Upon its release in 1983 it listed for $699.

The unit has beautiful solid walnut side panels and an industrial "steampunk" faceplate design; truly a unique style unlike much of the competition during the advent of the digital renaissance in the early 80's.

From Carver's spec sheet:
The MX-130 AM/FM-stereo receiver is designed to have noise-free stereo FM and adequate power for digital discs. Features include:
~PLL fully digital synthesized AM/FM stereo tuner section
~Carver's *magnetic field power amplifier
~asymmetrical charge -coupled FM detector
~phono input / video/digital audio input / auxiliary input / 2 tape inputs / 6 station presets / mono switch / bass, midrange and treble controls
~balance control / switches for tone defeat / speaker selection / tape monitoring and dubbing / FM muting and AM noise filter
~loudness contour. 

Bob Carver always had a way with advertising but there was never any doubt that his engineering was exceptional. He set out to prove a concept and did. The tag line "Magnetic Field Power" came from the HiFi magazine's tests back in the day...

*For those interested in the simplest explanation of Magnetic Field Power:Carver amps use a "mag coil" for the input power control. Normally three tiered supplies for the output section. Some class G, some H. It's a very light efficient amplifier that will deliver devastating amounts of power.

For the technically inclined, here's the "Magnetic Field Power" explained: (partly hype, partly real)The only thing related to a magnetic field is the use of a **TRIAC plus additional circuitry to modulate the primary of the power transformer to limit power/secondary voltage. Most Carvers run 'Class G' (rail switching) circuitry in their output stage. They run low/med/high Vcc rails with the 'Class A' drivers running on the highest rails and the additional output devices connected to the higher rails by fast recovery diodes. The entire output stage is controlled by a single op-amp through global feedback. This gives the benefit of lower idle power thus the need for smaller heatsinks, along with high peak-power. The best example of this is their famous little cube amp rated at 200 WPC with virtually no heatsink.

**TRIAC (triode for alternating current) is a generic trademark for a three terminal electronic component that conducts current in either direction when triggered. Its formal name is bidirectional triode thyristor or bilateral triode thyristor

About Carver...
Robert W. (Bob) Carver is an American designer of audio equipment based in the Pacific Northwest.

Educated as a physicist and engineer, he found an interest in audio equipment at a young age. He applied his talent to produce numerous innovative high fidelity designs since the 70's.  He is known for designing the Phase Linear 700, at 350 watts per channel the most powerful consumer audio amp available in 1972. He went on to found the Carver Corporation in 1979, Sunfire in 1994, and the Bob Carver LLC in 2011 which was sold to Jade Design in June, 2013.  However, in December 2013, Bob Carver and Jade Design parted ways.

Carver caused a stir in the industry in the mid-1980s when he challenged two high-end audio magazines to give him any audio amplifier at any price, and he’d duplicate its sound in one of his lower cost (and usually much more powerful) designs. Two magazines accepted the challenge.  First, The Audio Critic chose a Mark Levinson ML-2 which Bob acoustically copied (transfer function duplication) and sold as his M1.5t amplifier (the “t” stood for transfer function modified).  Then, in 1985, Stereophile magazine challenged Bob to copy a Conrad-Johnson Premier Four (the make and model was not named then, but revealed later) amplifier at their offices in New Mexico within 48 hours. The Conrad Johnson amplifiers were one of the most highly regarded amplifiers of the day, costing in excess of $6,000 a pair.

Of note that in both cases, the challenging amplifier could only be treated as a "black box" and could not even have its lid removed. Nevertheless, Carver, using null difference testing, (null difference testing consists of driving two different amps with identical signal sources and exact levels, but out of phase by exactly 180 degrees. If the amplifiers were 100% identical, no sound would be heard. If sound was heard, the audio amps had different properties). Bob Carver used "distortion pots" to introduce amplifier characteristics, fine-tuned to null-out any sound differences. His "motel-room" modified amplifier sound was so similar, Stereophile Magazine editors could not tell the difference between his amplifier and one costing more than $6,000. This amplifier was marketed as the M1.0t for about $400.00. Bob Carver may have single-handedly debunked any number of theories about sound quality by using physics, blind and double-blind testing and unbiased measurements (such as "gold-plated speaker wires sound better than copper wires", etc.). Carver successfully copied the sound of the target amplifier and won the challenge. 

Of course there's a lot more to the history but the magazine challenges opened the door to him being able to "carve" his name in the audiophile community around the world.

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integrated amp / stereo tuner ('79-'81)  60 WPC    $400/set

In excellent cosmetic and operating condition, both the Harman Kardon HK-505 integrated amp and the matching HK-500 stereo tuner have been completely serviced.  Every input, output and switch functions perfectly.  The factory metal cases have been sanded and coated with a beautiful metallic flat soft iron finish.

Harman Kardon’s top of the line amplifier in 1979 (one they were justifiably proud of), the HK-505 is a well designed masterpiece that still looks and operates as it did when first released.  Critics raved about this amplifier and its sonic performance back then, and still continue to do so some four and a half decades later, review after review. 

The design starts with a twin power supply (a separate output winding on the huge power transformer for each channel) and separate DC rectifying / filtering components for each, monitored by the twin LEDs under the power switch. The main amplifier modules feature T03 package output devices on huge extruded heatsinks and high quality construction.

All of the switches and controls are high quality units as well. In keeping with Harman’s long term design philosophy that “even the frequencies you can’t hear form part of music” the 505 has a “DC to daylight” frequency response of <3Hz through to 140kHz. The phono stage is just as superb as the rest of the amplifier, equal to some phono amps in units costing much more. Mechanical construction is as solid as the electronic design, a 27 lb tank.

The 505 has two separately switchable speaker zones, and can drive down to a 4 ohm total impedance.  It also has preamp out / main amp in looping, a turntable input (with switchable capacitance loading), three line level (aux) inputs, plus two tape loops (which of course can also be used for any aux devices). Dubbing routing is included for the tape loops. A Hi cut and subsonic filter are fitted, and the tone controls (which can be bypassed) have selectable frequency bands, 150Hz, 500Hz, 2.5kHz and 6kHz.

Essentially, the HK-505 (along with its matching HK-500 stereo tuner) is a very well designed and executed mid-to-high end amplifier, and not an easy model to find!

About Harman Kardon...
Harman Kardon's first audio products were more high style than high-tech, with easily removable faceplates available in a variety of designer colors as their principal selling point. But it wasn't long before Sidney Harman hired Stu Hegeman as HK's head designer and, the products they are most famous for,  the Award Series and Citation line of kits and factory assembled separates was born.
In the late 70's the "new" handsome components were designed, built and tested with the understandings that went far beyond conventional ideas about distortion and the factors that make one component sound better than another.  HK considered the integrated series such as the HK-503 (above) to be the most musically accurate components ever devised.  That's quite a statement!

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