Normally, I do not apply power to an old radio, or to a piece of vintage stereo gear. There are just too many question marks involved. Capacitors (paper and electrolytic) go bad after several decades. Tubes, if not tested first, may be bad and cause issues. Previous “repairs” may have been done sloppily and can also cause issues.

This Fisher 800-B had been advertised as “working”. I know from years of experience in antique radio that too many times, when a seller says a radio, tuner, or receiver works, it means the following: I plugged it in and turned it on. All of the bulbs (tubes) lit up so it must work. They usually do not mention whether or not the magic smoke was released.

Sometimes, though, it is tempting to take a chance and see.

“…you gotta ask yourself a question. ‘Do I feel lucky?’ Well, do you, punk?”

– Clint Eastwood, Dirty Harry, 1971

I had removed the front panel of this 800-B and, very carefully, cleaned and polished it with Mothers Mag & Aluminum Polish. While the front panel was off, I removed the glass dial scale – very carefully – and cleaned it in my usual manner by spraying glass cleaner on a soft rag and then carefully wiping off the outside of the glass. For the inside, I breathe on the glass, one section at a time, and then carefully wipe the breath from the glass with a dry soft rag. You do not want to get the printed artwork on the back side of the glass wet; if you do, you will likely wipe it off with the dust and dirt. My method has not failed me yet (knocking wood).

While everything was open, I went ahead and replaced the original festoon dial lamps with new bright while LED lamps before reinstalling the dial glass, front panel, and all knobs. I have some reproduction brass knob caps on their way here to replace the two incorrect knob brights on the two tuning knobs.

So, after thinking it over, I decided to go ahead and try out this 800-B. I brought out my old Realistic Minimus-7 speakers which I keep around just for testing purposes. I connected them to the 800-B, connected a wire to the FM “Distant” screw terminal to serve as a temporary FM antenna, and plugged the 800-B into my Variac.

I turned the Variac on with its voltage set at zero, pressed the added, wired-in pushbutton power switch, and then slowly advanced the Variac’s knob, coming to a stop at 110 volts.

Did it work? You be the judge…

(insert YouTube video here)

For some reason, the last two YouTube videos I have shot have had hum in them. There was no hum when I listened to the 800-B. Indeed, it sounded surprising well through those cheap Minimus-7s. I can only imagine what it will sound like when connected to Bozak speakers.

So, there you have it. It is really nice when you know a seller has been honest with you. And it is great to hear and see that 800-B in action. I love how those new bright white LEDs illuminate that symmetrical dial.