Spacexpander: overview, image, sample

Post by **interruptor** » Tue Jun 24, 2003 2:39 pm

<IMG SRC="http://www.interruptor.ch/cgi-bin/discu ... 03/518.jpg" ALT="Spacexpander"> - tube driven spring reverb manufactured in the sixties by the US HiFi-Company "Fisher" (Also well known for their Radio Receivers). - 2 separate units: spring cabinet and tube pre/post-amplifier - separate potentiometer for control of reverb amount and bypass function (used as remote control) - Was used in Hammond organs, home Stereo sets, radio stations and even for car Hifi systems - current supply: 110V AC only - mono (one reverb channel) - high noise level (by today's standards) This is presumably the reverb unit that was used at KingTubby's studio: King Tubby's friend and follower King Jammy (then "Prince Jammy") mentioned in an <A HREF="http://niceup.com/writers/steve_barrow/ ... terview</A> that they used a modified fisher reverb: "... The reverb unit that we used to use there, it was a Fisher reverb, an' we change it up to become a King Tubby and Fisher! (laughs). ..." Since Fisher produced no other reverbs I assume that this IS the unit they used. So far I tried out 5 different spring reverbs myself and none comes closer to Tubby's reverb sound than this one. Check these two samples and compare yourself: 1. a low frequency "pop" going through the spring reverb at King Tubby's (sampled from the very start of scientist's album "Scientific Dub" on Clocktower Records) <A HREF="http://www.interruptor.ch/audio/scienti ... wav">click here (44khz/16 bit, 155kbyte)</A> 2. A bass drum sample sent through a fisher spacexpander, the high spring is muted with a piece of lace, sampled directly from the spacexpander output, no eq, no compression <A HREF="http://www.interruptor.ch/audio/spacexp ... wav">click here (44khz/16 bit, 121kbyte)</A>

john · Post by **john** » Thu Jun 26, 2003 3:27 pm

If you retube it with NOS tubes...it sounds even "better" and by saying this I don't mean "cleaner"..you'll pick up some fidelity/headroom, but not at the expense of the sound. I agree with D..this is the best reverb for dub. You can also use it as a "tube warmer" if you turn the reverb down...that works pretty well too.

Post by **interruptor** » Thu Jun 26, 2003 4:31 pm

John: How does one find out which tubes to get? Where do you get yours? This <A HREF="http://www.audiotubes.com/nos.htm">article about New Old Stock (=NOS) tubes</A> indicates that one should be careful.

audioforge · Post by **audioforge** » Wed Jul 09, 2003 10:20 pm

Daniel. i don t know if you speak french or german but if you understand french this page is for you. choice of actual tubes with their tonal sound spec. for amps and reverb. <A HREF="http://optimisetonampli.chez.tiscali.fr/lampe.htm" TARGET="_top">http://optimisetonampli.chez.tiscali.fr/lampe.htm</A> let me know if you want french nos tubes adress audioforge

Neil C · Post by **Neil C** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 6:34 pm

There's an auction on ebay at the moment of a pristine Spacexpander (starting at $1000). I won't post the link because it won't work after 6 months.
Anyway it has good photos so I'm posting them to show what a 'new' Spacexpander looks like.