The best tuner ever
- Thread starter javelin79
- Start date
Raynald
Addicted Member
I just bought a Yamaha T-85, it is a really nice unit. Red LED, no vfd, which I like. Went over the design, it has one BP capacitor in the signal path/ch from the FM detector to the o/p. that one ecap/ch could be removed if one was to offset trim or servo the last opamp stage. Not too many tuners can make a claim of only one ecap in the sig path! Some people seem to care about the quality of the caps, not me really.
Sound wise, I'd say it was crisp, detailed, full ranged, great stereo imaging. Stereo decoder is a great. the CSL is a bit weird, bit once you program in your settings for each memory, it is fine.
Imagine a digital tuner with no search, one of a kind
I can see lots of places one could use newer component, but I really wonder if I would notice a difference. Like changing the NJM2068S opamps to say a NJM2114L, I doubt it.
Glad you are enjoying it. That was my second T-85, both were superb tuners. Among the best I have tried out of several dozen different models.
KLH9
A Double Pair Sounds OK
Great old thread back from the dead...
Choice depends on what you need in a tuner.
Good separation in a congested urban area to filter out close stations
The ability to pull in stations at the max range of FM will be something else.
I've not found a single turner for all purposes.
Choice depends on what you need in a tuner.
Good separation in a congested urban area to filter out close stations
The ability to pull in stations at the max range of FM will be something else.
I've not found a single turner for all purposes.
Nick_G
Well-Known Member
It certainly is a superb tuner. I have one as well and I know it needs an alignment as peak signal strength is slightly above centre frequency. Perhaps the discriminator has drifted a bit over the years. It also results in rough audio in Narrow mode on some stations. However, on a good BBC broadcast at local strength in Wide it can sound stunning. No doubt it would be even better after a service & alignment.
My main gripe with it is the slow tuning up & down the band compared to my other tuners.
twiiii
Lunatic Member
In the days of tubes, I would say the Marantz 10B was a unanimous choice. In the 70's and 80's, I would say either the Mcintosh MR 78 if there were transmission issues, a MR 74 if you have clear channels and the MR 80. I have owned them all and more. In the tube days a Scott 310E was a great tuner, till the Marantz came along. If I wanted HD radio, I would probably choose a MR-88, but I am sure the Japanese have some great units. I have heard Accuphase in the past and was very impressed. For AM I'll pick some of my old Hallicrafters or Collins units. But I know the Japanese have taken over that market, to. I had my MR-80 rebuilt 5 years ago and its fantastic. But I imagine when I have my MR-78 rebuilt in the near future it will sound better than the 80. It doesn't now. As I own ly listen to FM a few hours a month it no big deal.
If I owned a Sequerra I would be spending all my time fiddling with the spectrum analyzer and not even listening to the music.
I've had both and liked neither.
The very high S/N ratio of the J75 polished the life out of the sound. Most Tuners that aim for exceptional SNR specs do this.
The XDR sounded like the digital machine it was. Great reception and specs but sounded like early Redbook DACs
While I can't claim to have listened to all the kilobuck top-of-the-top unobtainium tuners, of the tuners within my budget (or luck) the best SS tuner I've owned was the Sony ST-5000FW.
The best tube tuner was the Scott 310E.
I've got a Mac MR77 coming from Mike that I have high expectations for.
My current Sony ST-SA5ES is an excellent unit and I should be satisfied with it.
But satisfaction is not part of this hobby!
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musichal
poet emeritus
My Sony XDR-F1HD gets pride of placement on the main system in my sig. Listening to it now. Sound quality nothing to sneeze at - AKer moewillis did do some minor upgrades to it for me. I can't swear I've ever heard better. "The digital machine that it is" reveals someone's bias. Oh, I agree that it isn't sexy vintage, but it is a damn fine tuner that outperforms many lesser analog models, and rivals some of the best, imo. With RF performance pretty much unassailable, detractors go subjective about SQ. Fair enough, but I don't hear the shortcomings they report.
One can mod it to force analog when both signals are available - stock, it defaults to HD. OTOH, vintage tuners can't hear HD at all, where sometimes better programming is available. The HD channels I get sound better than network tuning, so the digital machine that it is must be pretty good.
I have owned a plethora of NAD tuners that sounded good - still have an old 4130, a McIntosh MR-78 was probably my best, sold long ago to buy shoes for the babies. Several Kenwoods. An old audio buddy had a TU-X1 I played with a lot back in the day - what a beast! Used a Nak ST-7 for awhile. Been around some pretty decent tuners.
One can mod it to force analog when both signals are available - stock, it defaults to HD. OTOH, vintage tuners can't hear HD at all, where sometimes better programming is available. The HD channels I get sound better than network tuning, so the digital machine that it is must be pretty good.
I have owned a plethora of NAD tuners that sounded good - still have an old 4130, a McIntosh MR-78 was probably my best, sold long ago to buy shoes for the babies. Several Kenwoods. An old audio buddy had a TU-X1 I played with a lot back in the day - what a beast! Used a Nak ST-7 for awhile. Been around some pretty decent tuners.
I have a Pioneer TX-9500 (not the II) and for classical/NPR, it's pretty nice.
That's a plus, because about every other station around here is that bro-country shit.
My Sansui TU-D99X (matching tuner for my AU-G99X) is also solid.
I bought one of those highly recommended FM antennas over a year ago. Still haven't hooked it up. Like I said, bro-country.
That's a plus, because about every other station around here is that bro-country shit.
My Sansui TU-D99X (matching tuner for my AU-G99X) is also solid.
I bought one of those highly recommended FM antennas over a year ago. Still haven't hooked it up. Like I said, bro-country.
While scoped, the Day Sequerra Studio doesn't have the complex panelizer circuitry.
As sound is subjective, how would you provide "evidence" about "the magic" of your favorite tuners?
Yes, it's just my personal opinion taken among my current 14 tuners. Nevertheless the couple of Sansui we mentioned before, is widely rated among tuner-addicted people
as some of the top sounding machines ever made. And not just by FmTunerInfo. On the web you can read a small majority of comments stating TU9900 being a bit better than TU919. I have been driven to these two champions by comments on the web and, at the end, I am quite delighted of their performance.
as some of the top sounding machines ever made. And not just by FmTunerInfo. On the web you can read a small majority of comments stating TU9900 being a bit better than TU919. I have been driven to these two champions by comments on the web and, at the end, I am quite delighted of their performance.
hemiram
Active Member
I had a JVC car stereo about 2008 or so, I can't think of the model number, it was next to the top of the line, and I didn't have it long, but the FM quality on it was amazing. I had a fairly decent system in my truck at the time, and it just sounded so nice. CD playback was even better, but I can't think of anything where the FM sounded as good that didn't cost a ton of money. Sadly, it was super sensitive to any power fluctuation and would lock and need a hard reset about once a month, losing the dozens of settings: presets, EQ, speaker levels, etc. There was no way to back them up so I had to put them all in manually. By the time I yanked it out, I had all the settings memorized and could do it in about 15 minutes. I replaced it with what the guy at the car stereo store said was the most reliable unit he sold, a mid range Panasonic that sounded OK, but was pretty sad compared to the JVC. But it never lost a single setting. I sold the JVC on ebay for a huge loss.
What, no love for this bad boy?!
Yes, I did use it as a tuner. Derived the audio from the detector stage using the "diode load" mod. Some of the finest-sounding AM and shortwave I've ever heard, especially with the bandwidth control set to 16kHz.
-Adam
Yes, I did use it as a tuner. Derived the audio from the detector stage using the "diode load" mod. Some of the finest-sounding AM and shortwave I've ever heard, especially with the bandwidth control set to 16kHz.
-Adam
Wanted a diversity version with the 390 IF module, but that never happened and I've divested of the inventory of this set.What, no love for this bad boy?!
Yes, I did use it as a tuner. Derived the audio from the detector stage using the "diode load" mod. Some of the finest-sounding AM and shortwave I've ever heard, especially with the bandwidth control set to 16kHz.
-Adam
Still have the Hammarlund BC-1004C Super Pro.
hemiram
Active Member
What, no love for this bad boy?!
Yes, I did use it as a tuner. Derived the audio from the detector stage using the "diode load" mod. Some of the finest-sounding AM and shortwave I've ever heard, especially with the bandwidth control set to 16kHz.
-Adam
If I want to hear what AM can sound like, I fire up my Hammarlund HQ-100a *Modified to insane levels" hooked up to one of those old metal Optimus speakers (the bigger one) and it sounds so great compared to most of the other AM capable radios I have heard and own. It's just amazing for the $50 I paid for it.
