Fisher PH-460

The Fisher PH460K is a clean-looking 3-piece boombox from 1981. Suggested retail price was $450, and dealer cost was $289. Its build quality is definitely above-average, with most of it feeling solid and well-designed. There are soft felt feet on the bottom, which is a nice touch. There is an LED meter which measures input levels when recording, and output levels when using the Tuner or Line In.

The speakers can be released by the black lever on the bottom, which disengages the lock. They are proudly labeled "2-Way Speaker System By 3-Layer Structure Enclosure". Yes they are indeed 2-way speakers, with 16cm woofers with cloth surrounds, and 5cm tweeters. But I don't know what they mean by 3-Layer Structure Enclosure. Maybe it's referring to the 3 different materials inside the speaker. The outer shell is plastic, and then there's a thin wood "picture frame" behind the rear cover (but its only purpose is to hold the screws). There is also a foam pad for acoustic dampening. But it seems silly to mention these 3 "layers" like as if they're unique or innovative. Anyway, this Fisher sounds very good for a boombox. It's very smooth and precise, with detailed treble and excellent separation. Bass is there too, but it doesn't go very low, and it has a boxy drone that exists in Fisher's other big 3-piece boomboxes as well.

This model sometimes has an issue where the connection joints from the power supply go bad and must be re-soldered. Also, like other Fisher logic decks from the early 80s, you should avoid pressing Record if the deck hasn't been rebelted yet, because the deck might freeze up and require service. So avoid pressing that key if you can. This deck is not very easy to service. By the way, the service manual can be purchased HERE.