Skip to main content

The Buyable Past

March 2023
1min read

Classic Hi-Fi Components

After a 1946 Fortune magazine feature devoted 11 pages to a fledgling phenomenon called high fidelity, many music lovers were quick to purchase equipment made by Fisher, a little-known firm whose products were ranked “best … in price and performance.” Since most of the era’s prominent makers of radios and phonographs ignored distortion and neglected difficultto-capture treble frequencies and solid bass tones, their small, quality-conscious competitor prospered, so much so that its owner, Avery Fis

A McIntosh MC240 amplifier, from the last days of the tube era.
 
mcintosh laboratory2006_3_14

After a 1946 Fortune magazine feature devoted 11 pages to a fledgling phenomenon called high fidelity, many music lovers were quick to purchase equipment made by Fisher, a little-known firm whose products were ranked “best … in price and performance.” Since most of the era’s prominent makers of radios and phonographs ignored distortion and neglected difficultto-capture treble frequencies and solid bass tones, their small, quality-conscious competitor prospered, so much so that its owner, Avery Fisher, later gave New York City’s Lincoln Center enough money to have a concert hall named for him.

Fisher and such men as Frank McIntosh, Sidney Harman, and Saul Marantz, whose surnames still appear on the nameplates of new audio components, built hardware that reproduced music as accurately as possible, and 40 or 50 years later many of those products still perform impressively enough to attract audiophile collectors. The vacuum-tube circuitry that vintage electronics use is a significant lure. Some audiophiles say tubes sound more mellow than the solid-state circuits that have almost universally replaced them.

Collectors do listen to their classic audio components, and last year Stereophile magazine began publishing new reviews of old models. The first one spotlighted Fisher’s 500-C stereo receiver from 1964. Vintage hardware, the writer explained, is “ideal for second systems” and represents “a respite from the spiraling expenses of new gear,” which at the high end commonly sells for fourand five-figure prices.

You’ll find a host of vintage hi-fi models selling for less than $1,000 —including the Fisher 500-C, now $600 or less depending on condition—but the very best cross that mark. A 40-watt McIntosh MC240 stereo amplifier, which sold for $288 when introduced in 1960, could cost as much as $3,500 today. In top shape, a Marantz 10B, the most coveted vintage stereo tuner, might bring $3,000 without the original wood enclosure, which would probably add a couple of hundred dollars to its price. To put those figures in perspective, compare the 1964 Fisher, apparently introduced at $369; the Marantz, unveiled the same year at $600 without cabinet (a figure that seems to have increased before long); and a car that made its debut at the 1964 World’s Fair, the Ford Mustang, which had a base price of $2,368.

Resources

Numerous vintage audio components, along with literature and spare parts, are available at Audio Classics ( www.audioclassics.com / 607-766-3501), a Vestal, New York, firm that specializes in the category. Audiogon ( www.audiogon.com ) auctions off used hi-fi components online. Stereophile’s Fisher 500-C review appears on the publication’s Web site ( www.stereophile.com/historical/605fisher/index.html ).

—David Lander

We hope you enjoy our work.

Please support this 72-year tradition of trusted historical writing and the volunteers that sustain it with a donation to American Heritage.

Donate

Stories published from "June/July 2006"

Authored by: Benjamin Siegal

The never-ending quest for fake sugar.

Authored by: The Editors

Nevada’s Neon Colossus Winks Once Again

Authored by: The Editors

Classic Hi-Fi Components

Authored by: The Editors

The Triumph of Capote

Authored by: Tom Callahan

How Gettysburg Keeps Its Guns Ready For You

Authored by: Hugh Rawson

Cocktail

Authored by: Richard Brookhiser

Suppose they could go on "Meet The Press"...

Authored by: Benjamin Siegel

It came out of a Brooklyn hospital and in very few years changed not only what Americans drink but how they see themselves.

Authored by: Allen Barra

The creator of the immensely popular new Western discusses what makes it truly new.

Authored by: Allen Barra

The classic that seeped into "Deadwood"—and many other Westerns.

Featured Articles

Rarely has the full story been told about how a famed botanist, a pioneering female journalist, and First Lady Helen Taft battled reluctant bureaucrats to bring Japanese cherry trees to Washington. 

The world’s most prominent actress risked her career by standing up to one of Hollywood’s mega-studios, proving that behind the beauty was also a very savvy businesswoman. 

Often thought to have been a weak president, Carter was strong-willed in doing what he thought was right, regardless of expediency or the political fallout.

Why have thousands of U.S. banks failed over the years? The answers are in our history and politics.

In his Second Inaugural Address, Abraham Lincoln embodied leading in a time of polarization, political disagreement, and differing understandings of reality.