gssound
New Member
Not sure if this matters to you, but Michael Fremer considers this if not "the best" then at least one of the five best tuners ever made.
Fremer’s opinion is very important to me. I’m a big vinyl guy, too.
Not sure if this matters to you, but Michael Fremer considers this if not "the best" then at least one of the five best tuners ever made.
Back in the day Michael Fremer purchased one at a garage sale, he sent it to Richard Modafferi for service and updating, he also listed Richard's email address in the article.
Some yrs later I snagged a couple of Mac pieces and was given the MR78 with the understanding it was already sent to McIntosh and returned as unrepairable.
Two different shops stated they could repair it but later returned it as unrepairable. I remembered I had the old magazine so had it in hand when the second shop was trying to return it.
I showed the article to Gary (the service tech/shop owner) and asked if he would send it there. Gary said "you could just send it yourself", my response "you've spent time working on it, send it in and when it's fixed add whatever you think is fair for your time".
Gary sent the tuner to Richard, it was completely fixed and the Modafferi modification was also included, making it most likely "the best" tuner ever made. All for the huge sum of $450, what glorious sound I've never heard from FM before or since.
In case you're wondering, Richard Modafferi was one of the chief designers of the MR78.
I thought the typical RM refurb was closer to a grand.
I thought something went "POOF" and smoke came out?
You don't have to spend $1000 getting it up to spec, I wouldn't spend that either to be honest, it is, stock standard one of the best tuners there is, no need to spend thousands on something that is already the best around.
But do stop powering it up, smoke is usually a sign that something has catastrophically failed, powering it up may cause more damage to occur...
Get it in to a tech and repaired.
Oh, my mistake, sorry, I see now.It didn't exactly poof; didn't see smoke. Just a burny smell; to me, more of a dusty burn, rather than a catastrophic electrical failure, but what do I know? That's why I took it apart and dusted it out.
No more powering it up until I bring it to my tech, promise!