Ah. Yeah the Fisher is a generic 1980s, probably Taiwanese-sourced deck, with possibly a ceramic cartridge. Don't really want to be using that for very long -- and if you do, replace the stylus as a first step I'd say.
The amp is a fairly late (1998?) surround one (rest of it from the same period) -- not as good as Kenwood's heyday but still good solid kit. And those speakers are very good -- keep hold of those, the floorstanders alone are worth the £75 you paid for everything.
I would forget about running two sets of speakers and set the amp to stereo output only, otherwise you'll lose a lot of information if it's set to one of the surround settings.
Decent gear KEF, but I would place it more top-range than mid-range, certainly the older stuff was.
I think now though it's probably gone down market, more for AV systems than HiFi.
You may be right, but then I consider my Rogers speakers to be similarly mid-range and they were in the same price bracket. Maybe I'm being a little snobby here.
Anything pre-Sanyo would have to be REALLY old.
Yeah I didn't realise the merger was in the '70s! They did seem to continue to put out some decent kit well into the 1980s though.
You may be right, but then I consider my Rogers speakers to be similarly mid-range and they were in the same price bracket. Maybe I'm being a little snobby here.
Didn't Rogers (along with many others) often use KEF drivers?.
But the ones in question are modern AV speakers, so probably not that great.
Yeah I didn't realise the merger was in the '70s! They did seem to continue to put out some decent kit well into the 1980s though.
1975 according to Wikipedia
We sold quite a lot of Fisher stuff, it wasn't bad at all - not as good as Kenwood/Trio though.
Didn't Rogers (along with many others) often use KEF drivers?.
The ones I have use the LS2As which were Rogers-made, but I think you may be right about some of the others.
They do have a very nice sound though and I have no intention of letting go of them
But the ones in question are modern AV speakers, so probably not that great.
Pretty sure the Q55s are OK. My AV kit has some slightly earlier Cresta 2/3 speakers which, while not as good as the Rogers, are hardly poor quality. Good enough for what they're being used for.
Ah. Yeah the Fisher is a generic 1980s, probably Taiwanese-sourced deck, with possibly a ceramic cartridge. Don't really want to be using that for very long -- and if you do, replace the stylus as a first step I'd say.
The amp is a fairly late (1998?) surround one (rest of it from the same period) -- not as good as Kenwood's heyday but still good solid kit. And those speakers are very good -- keep hold of those, the floorstanders alone are worth the £75 you paid for everything.
I would forget about running two sets of speakers and set the amp to stereo output only, otherwise you'll lose a lot of information if it's set to one of the surround settings.
I'm not running them as surround, the amp gives the option for A and B output. So for A, I have the floor speakers as left and right and for B, I have the surround as left and right speakers also. So they're sat on top of the floor speakers on stereo mode.
I should replace the stylus then? How do I know which one to get for this? And has to be fairly cheap, one again :P
Shall I just replace that then? Or get a new cartridge or something.
Does it show that I really have no idea?
Hopefully learning fast from all of you though.
Don't think that deck will take a new cart (looks like a proprietary job). Just replace it yes -- they should just slide off if you pull forward and down.
Only you'll know if it's worth it though -- apart from the return mechanism not working is the rest of it OK (any rumbling or instability in the speed? If so you'd need at very least a belt as well, and at that point it's probably not worth putting money into this deck).
Don't think that deck will take a new cart (looks like a proprietary job). Just replace it yes -- they should just slide off if you pull forward and down.
What difference will it make getting a new one? There is a screw by the cartridge, so it looks like it comes out.
These particular speakers were the LS55s, which were a floorstanding speaker with two LS2A drivers (IIRC they were basically a redesigned, floorstanding version of the LS5s). They were made fairly late on (around 1996) and I bought this set in 1997 or 8 when the company folded, for £200 (the RRP was something like £650).
Looking at that Wiki site it seems you were right -- the consumer version of the speakers (which mine are examples of) did seem to use KEF drivers -- presumably with just a label on them saying Rogers
Well you live and learn. It's probably why I was drawn to the KEFs I have -- fundamentally similar engineering.
Don't think that deck will take a new cart (looks like a proprietary job). Just replace it yes -- they should just slide off if you pull forward and down.
Looking at it it seems it might be a P mount cartridge. There are a few available but not many and the only decent one I've found is an Ortofon OM10, which cost almost as much as he paid for the entire system :eek::D
Looking at it it seems it might be a P mount cartridge. There are a few available but not many and the only decent one I've found is an Ortofon OM10, which cost almost as much as he paid for the entire system :eek::D
Does look remarkably similar to some of the other cartridges on that page.
But as you say probably more value in keeping the existing unit and upgrading the entire turntable as and when funds permit.
Certainly won't do any harm changing the stylus for a new one though. Never know what abuse the one on there has been through (eg how may times it's played the disk platter and not a record )
Looking at that Wiki site it seems you were right -- the consumer version of the speakers (which mine are examples of) did seem to use KEF drivers -- presumably with just a label on them saying Rogers
Originally they had KEF labels on the drivers, I've always assumed that Rogers started making their own drivers in later years - although I suppose it is possible that they just badged KEF units?.
KEF were a major supplier of drivers to both speaker manufacturers, and to hobbyists - almost all DIY speaker designs seemed to use KEF drivers.
The B110 used by Rogers was a small 'bass' unit, used as a mid-range in larger designs. The B200 was an 8 inch for better bass, and there was a strange flat coned elliptical bass unit the B139, as well as a passive radiator the same size. There was also another tweeter as well as the T27, but I can't remember it's number?.
I had a pair of Castle Acoustic Richmond speakers at one time, they were quite good - very nicely finished cabinets.
I'm not sure to be honest Nigel -- they're certainly labelled up as being Rogers drivers, but we all know that labels aren't the be-all and end-all.
Speakers aren't only a function of the drivers anyway -- all I know is that these appear to be very well designed. Not pretty by any means, but they sound great.
I'm not sure to be honest Nigel -- they're certainly labelled up as being Rogers drivers, but we all know that labels aren't the be-all and end-all.
Speakers aren't only a function of the drivers anyway -- all I know is that these appear to be very well designed. Not pretty by any means, but they sound great.
They did, no matter who actually manufactured the drivers - which doesn't really matter anyway.
B&W were one of the top speaker manufacturers, and some of their early speakers used EMI 13x8 units - still sounded great though.
Comments
Decent gear KEF, but I would place it more top-range than mid-range, certainly the older stuff was.
I think now though it's probably gone down market, more for AV systems than HiFi.
Anything pre-Sanyo would have to be REALLY old.
I would imagine the fault would be pretty trivial to fix, a simple mechanical problem.
I've still got a KA-660, now that's a great amp
The amp is a fairly late (1998?) surround one (rest of it from the same period) -- not as good as Kenwood's heyday but still good solid kit. And those speakers are very good -- keep hold of those, the floorstanders alone are worth the £75 you paid for everything.
I would forget about running two sets of speakers and set the amp to stereo output only, otherwise you'll lose a lot of information if it's set to one of the surround settings.
You may be right, but then I consider my Rogers speakers to be similarly mid-range and they were in the same price bracket. Maybe I'm being a little snobby here.
Yeah I didn't realise the merger was in the '70s!
Didn't Rogers (along with many others) often use KEF drivers?.
But the ones in question are modern AV speakers, so probably not that great.
1975 according to Wikipedia
We sold quite a lot of Fisher stuff, it wasn't bad at all - not as good as Kenwood/Trio though.
The ones I have use the LS2As which were Rogers-made, but I think you may be right about some of the others.
They do have a very nice sound though and I have no intention of letting go of them
Pretty sure the Q55s are OK. My AV kit has some slightly earlier Cresta 2/3 speakers which, while not as good as the Rogers, are hardly poor quality. Good enough for what they're being used for.
I'm not running them as surround, the amp gives the option for A and B output. So for A, I have the floor speakers as left and right and for B, I have the surround as left and right speakers also. So they're sat on top of the floor speakers on stereo mode.
I should replace the stylus then? How do I know which one to get for this? And has to be fairly cheap, one again :P
Price looks about right.
Shall I just replace that then? Or get a new cartridge or something.
Does it show that I really have no idea?
Hopefully learning fast from all of you though.
Don't think that deck will take a new cart (looks like a proprietary job). Just replace it yes -- they should just slide off if you pull forward and down.
Only you'll know if it's worth it though -- apart from the return mechanism not working is the rest of it OK (any rumbling or instability in the speed? If so you'd need at very least a belt as well, and at that point it's probably not worth putting money into this deck).
The LS2A's were the 'BBC' monitors, basically small reasonably priced bookshelf speakers.
As far as I'm aware the earlier versions used KEF drivers, with Rogers starting making their own later on?.
If I remember correctly? (and it's going back a LONG time) it was something like a B110 bass unit, and a T27 tweeter.
You could certainly make your own VERY similar speakers using those drivers, it was a very common set up for bookshelf designs.
Just did a quick google on Rogers - here's what Wiki says:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogers_International
What difference will it make getting a new one? There is a screw by the cartridge, so it looks like it comes out.
These particular speakers were the LS55s, which were a floorstanding speaker with two LS2A drivers (IIRC they were basically a redesigned, floorstanding version of the LS5s). They were made fairly late on (around 1996) and I bought this set in 1997 or 8 when the company folded, for £200 (the RRP was something like £650).
It might improve the sound, but getting a replacement cart at this stage is likely to be non-trivial.
Ok, I'll get a new stylus then, only £10 on ebay.
Very late days for Rogers.
Well you live and learn. It's probably why I was drawn to the KEFs I have -- fundamentally similar engineering.
http://www.superfi.co.uk/p-3765-ortofon-om10-moving-magnet-cartridge-p-mount.aspx
Indeed -- emphasis on 'might be' as well. Certainly not worth replacing even if a replacement can be found -- not a good enough deck to justify it.
If it had been an LP12 or something -- absolutely, get as good a cartridge on there as you can afford (assuming the current one wasn't brilliant).
http://www.lpgear.com/product/FISHERMG66D.html
Does look remarkably similar to some of the other cartridges on that page.
But as you say probably more value in keeping the existing unit and upgrading the entire turntable as and when funds permit.
Certainly won't do any harm changing the stylus for a new one though. Never know what abuse the one on there has been through (eg how may times it's played the disk platter and not a record
For further info...
http://www.vinylengine.com/turntable_forum/viewtopic.php?t=27845
Originally they had KEF labels on the drivers, I've always assumed that Rogers started making their own drivers in later years - although I suppose it is possible that they just badged KEF units?.
KEF were a major supplier of drivers to both speaker manufacturers, and to hobbyists - almost all DIY speaker designs seemed to use KEF drivers.
The B110 used by Rogers was a small 'bass' unit, used as a mid-range in larger designs. The B200 was an 8 inch for better bass, and there was a strange flat coned elliptical bass unit the B139, as well as a passive radiator the same size. There was also another tweeter as well as the T27, but I can't remember it's number?.
I had a pair of Castle Acoustic Richmond speakers at one time, they were quite good - very nicely finished cabinets.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Audio-Technica-AT-3482-P-T4P-Cartridge-replacement-for-Technics-EPC-P-34-/200700313190?pt=Turntable_Parts_Accessories&hash=item2ebaabbe66
Speakers aren't only a function of the drivers anyway -- all I know is that these appear to be very well designed. Not pretty by any means, but they sound great.
They did, no matter who actually manufactured the drivers - which doesn't really matter anyway.
B&W were one of the top speaker manufacturers, and some of their early speakers used EMI 13x8 units - still sounded great though.