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I am now the owner of this Fisher KM-60 vacuum tube stereo tuner. Thanks to the joys of vacuum tube technology, it won't get fried by EMP like modern transistor electronics in the event of nuclear war. So assuming I survive and we still have electricity, I can still pick up FM radio broadcasts in the post nuclear world.

In more realistic terms, I now have a stereo system that's immune to power spikes & surges from lightning strikes, brownouts, and other power grid issues. It also looks cool, glows in the dark, and helps heat the room during the winter.

And, according to stereo experts, has better sound quality, and has a proper phon-input. Well, at least it should have a proper phono input. Does it?

A real antique. My father once put together a tube-based Heathkit home stereo set. Cheaper than the consoles then commercially available and, being an engineer, he liked the challenge of building a hobby kit. Beautiful sound, from what I recall of it. I should see if the damn thing still works some time.

aerius wrote:*snip*

...that's the water chip my vault needs to survive! (hefts gatling laser).

No phono input on this one, it's a dedicated FM radio tuner which needs to be plugged into a amp itself to get sound out of it. And the amp I have is also a tube amp.

In terms of sound and pulling in radio stations, this baby completely kills modern receivers. I'm getting crystal clear receptions from stations in New York state which I can barely pick up on my previous receiver. Running through my tube amp and headphones the sound is is gorgeous, especially the CBC classical and jazz stations. There's just a life to the music which makes it so much more enjoyable.

you know i have always though that pre-80's stereo systems are superior to the shoody pieces of shit that are made today. 70's systems were dedicated to creating the most powerful sound you can buy. Shelf Systems of the 70's were actually great. Shelf Systems get their bad rap because in the 1980s, the systems were inferior, the construction was shoody and the sound is like shit ( well i took one apart and discovered it only used amplification circuit despite having an "Equalizer" and bass boost in the front )

aerius wrote:No phono input on this one, it's a dedicated FM radio tuner which needs to be plugged into a amp itself to get sound out of it. And the amp I have is also a tube amp.

In terms of sound and pulling in radio stations, this baby completely kills modern receivers. I'm getting crystal clear receptions from stations in New York state which I can barely pick up on my previous receiver. Running through my tube amp and headphones the sound is is gorgeous, especially the CBC classical and jazz stations. There's just a life to the music which makes it so much more enjoyable.

Yep. I remember listening to my boss bitch about how tube radios are so much better than transistor radios for clearing out static. I haven't really had a chance to listen to one... or maybe I have. I'm not sure if my brother's amp/tuner is tube or transistor, but it's old enough and heavy enough to be one or the other.

Either way, it's a good buy.

I had the misfortune of picking this thing up from the mailroom. The box said "stereo tuner" and it wasn't that big so I thought it would weigh maybe ten pounds at most. It was at least twice that, and for a while I was thinking it must've been weighted down with lead, it was that heavy. Then I opened the box and saw the overbuilt industrial construction on it which reminded me of my parents' vintage chrome Sunbeam toaster. They really built things to last back in those days.

Dennis Toy wrote:you know i have always though that pre-80's stereo systems are superior to the shoody pieces of shit that are made today. 70's systems were dedicated to creating the most powerful sound you can buy. Shelf Systems of the 70's were actually great. Shelf Systems get their bad rap because in the 1980s, the systems were inferior, the construction was shoody and the sound is like shit ( well i took one apart and discovered it only used amplification circuit despite having an "Equalizer" and bass boost in the front )

Two words: integrated circuits. In the 1980's most stero manufacturers started to favor IC's over more expensive (and vastly superior) output transistors. That way they were able to sell shitloats of cheap recievers.

as for old vacuum tube recievers, my father has an old 50W x 2 Realistic FM Stereo in his basement. Circa 1966. The thing sounds awesome. It's a very rich, warm sound.

It looks exactly like the G.E.C.K outside it's briefcase

Patrick Degan wrote:A real antique. My father once put together a tube-based Heathkit home stereo set. Cheaper than the consoles then commercially available and, being an engineer, he liked the challenge of building a hobby kit. Beautiful sound, from what I recall of it. I should see if the damn thing still works some time.

Those Heathkit stereos are highly sought after items these days for vintage radio buffs, and they're said to have excellent sound quality & performance. Some of the power supply capacitors might need to be replaced depending on how old it is, but other than that it should be ready to go. My tuner is from the early 60's and it works like new, though I don't know how much it was used by the previous owners. Build quality on these things is impressive, and if treated well they'll last a lifetime and then some.

Two words: integrated circuits. In the 1980's most stero manufacturers started to favor IC's over more expensive (and vastly superior) output transistors. That way they were able to sell shitloats of cheap recievers.

actually, it wasn't the IC that were bad, Hell before 1983, IC stereos were actually good. It was after US pawned our manufacturing to low income countries like mexico and started using inferior materials, we got them pieces of shit shelf systems. 1980's component stereos were actually good.

What's not shown in the picture is the nice wooden cover which keeps it from looking like a gadget of evil from an early James Bond movie, and which also prevents people from burning and/or electrocuting themselves. I think it looks a million times better with the cover on but my BF disagrees. I think he just likes watching the tubes glow.

I just recently gave away an older stereo tuner to the goodwill. Its been sitting in my garage for years and I remember it was originally at my aunt's house in the late 70's. Would that be old enought to have been a vacuum tube unit? Even if it was, I'd probably have still taken it too goodwill.