Tube tuners, who likes them?

[mhardy6647]

I have heard very very few solid state tuners with the flesh-and-blood midrange presence and (dare I say?) accuracy of even the modest little Sherwoods I touted above.
This Kenwood KA-9900 ain't bad (and it is better in the bass exension and definition), but it is still a little dry sounding.
Still, it is the best sounding ss tuner at my house.

DSC_9935 by Mark Hardy, on Flickr

The sometimes vaunted Sansui TU-717 ain't even in the running -- not in terms of sound quality. At least the one I have has that artificial sheen I associate with ss tuners.

I'll admit, I haven't heard a TU-X1 (or even a TU-9900, at least for many, many years), though.

 

[eickmewg]

Count me in with a cool little Dynaco FM3. It gives my Rotel RT-990BX (which is a wonderful tuner !) a run for its money.

 

[39cross]

The sometimes vaunted Sansui TU-717 ain't even in the running -- not in terms of sound quality. At least the one I have has that artificial sheen I associate with ss tuners.

Perhaps yours is not up to snuff, I hope you have a chance to hear mine someday. Perhaps it would change your mind, as I've found it to sound quite good matched up against some high level competition.

Currently I'm listening to a Scott 310D, it is really a remarkable tuner. I'm also listening to a Sherwood S8000-IV, which has the equivalent to the S3000-V as the tuner section. Very nice. But I'm also switching into the mix a Sony ST-5950 and a Pioneer TX-9500II. I think objectively they are better tuners. But there is something magical about the tube tubes. I like all of them. Luckily tuners are relatively inexpensive except for the rare ultra top end units, so it doesn't take much to build a collection (for better or worse!).

 

[arts]

If you go ''by the numbers'' virtually any SS tuner (even the cheesiest,low budget models) can toast a tube tuner in every spec. Even the highest quality,most revered tube examples can't equal these guys. Sad, but true...

But that is where the game ends,and that ongoing battle of spec's vs sonic's comes into play. And just how the hell do we explain this?
I don't know,but I sincerely hope that someone eventually figures this out during my lifetime,because as a well equipped,instruments & metrics oriented kind of guy,I have often preferred the lesser measuring equipment over the ''superstars'' ! Go figure,because inferior performance in sensitivity,selectivity,capture ratio,signal to noise ratio,distortion,separation etc etc does not really strike me as a recipe for success

 

[Raynald]

Hard to be sure but I would agree that when compared to very good SS analog tuners such as a Mits DA-F20 or Luxman T-110 what I like about the FM200B is probably additive. Nothing wrong with that and there are a couple of nice SS tuners that do something somewhat similar such as the Kenwood KT-8007 or H/K Citation 15.

 

[musichal]

I should avoid threads like this. [Inner Chant: I have enough. I have enough. I have enough...]

 

[toxcrusadr]

I've got an Ampex out of a console that I picked up to make a matched set with the preamp and 6973 monoblocks. Admittedly I've never finished restoring it, but it's a beauty. Totally separate AM and FM tuning sections, dual tuning eyes, 17 tubes. I think it's virtually all ceramic caps, maybe a couple paper wax plus the power supply electrolytics. Really need to get that thing working.

 

[arts]

I should avoid threads like this. [Inner Chant: I have enough. I have enough. I have enough...]

Don't waste your time,I've been chanting for years,it doesn't work And after a while,without realizing,you start doing it out loud, and everybody thinks you're a nutjob
Then the Hare Krishna's start showing up......things really start going downhill from there......trust me,it's just not a plan....cause there's never enough....ever.....sigh.....

 

[darkblue94]

I just have this little thing, i like it very much.

 

[radioactive]

I just have this little thing, i like it very much.View attachment 824711

I have one of those also

 

[maxhifi]

Here's the one that inspired the thread, playing some reggae tonight - not the kind of music I would buy but am enjoying it, which is sort of the point of a tuner.

 

[arts]

View attachment 824741 Here's the one that inspired the thread, playing some reggae tonight - not the kind of music I would buy but am enjoying it, which is sort of the point of a tuner.

Max-judging by the tube lineup,I was thinking that this was a hot-chassis unit,but the heater voltages just don't add up. Huh? I'm really curious how they worked this!
In my neck of the woods,the 17EW8 is one of the hardest tubes to source locally.Seems like it was the tube of choice for all of the manufacturers of AM-FM AC/DC radios.

 

[maxhifi]

Max-judging by the tube lineup,I was thinking that this was a hot-chassis unit,but the heater voltages just don't add up. Huh? I'm really curious how they worked this!
In my neck of the woods,the 17EW8 is one of the hardest tubes to source locally.Seems like it was the tube of choice for all of the manufacturers of AM-FM AC/DC radios.

It has a power transformer, with a half wave selenium rectifier. I'm not sure how the heaters are wired but I suspect series with an odd value voltage on the filament winding.

The front end tube lineup is typical of Japanese table radios of the time but with an extra IF stage.

Original electrolytic filter can still good.

I wouldn't connect a hot chassis anything to my stereo, too much risk of electric shock and equipment damage.

 

[arts]

Yep,couldn't agree more! Connecting a hot chassis to anything (especially people) is never a good plan.

I have seen some oddball designs (hi-fi & musical instrument) that ran the heaters,isolated from the chassis, on line voltage,but used a transformer for HV. I even recall one model that ran the 120v series-string heater AND the HV from a common 120v secondary winding.

 

[maxhifi]

Yep,couldn't agree more! Connecting a hot chassis to anything (especially people) is never a good plan.

I have seen some oddball designs (hi-fi & musical instrument) that ran the heaters,isolated from the chassis, on line voltage,but used a transformer for HV. I even recall one model that ran the 120v series-string heater AND the HV from a common 120v secondary winding.

If it weren't such a pain to free the chassis from the enclosure I would have a look

I am sure there's a filament winding though, I traced out the line voltage wiring when it was opened u and all it connected to was the transformer primary. The pilot lamp is all alone on a dedicated 6.3V winding.

This is basically the essence of a tube FM tuner, no features at all, just what's required for it to work. The 3D nature of the point to point wiring made changing the few paper caps and electrolytic in the detector a major pain. It's rock solid stable, no drift at all, and AFC keeps it locked in

 

[musichal]

Don't waste your time,I've been chanting for years,it doesn't work And after a while,without realizing,you start doing it out loud, and everybody thinks you're a nutjob
Then the Hare Krishna's start showing up......things really start going downhill from there......trust me,it's just not a plan....cause there's never enough....ever.....sigh.....

Well, this thread cost me. Bought a Sherwood S-3000 from tubeampking, who probably thinks I'm a nutjob anyway after my clumsy, fumbling PayPal dysfunction. Not to mention my schizoid post in his BT ad. Ships Monday. Okay, now I have enough.

 

[maxhifi]

Well, this thread cost me. Bought a Sherwood S-3000 from tubeampking, who probably thinks I'm a nutjob anyway after my clumsy, fumbling PayPal dysfunction. Not to mention my schizoid post in his BT ad. Ships Monday. Okay, now I have enough.

Happy to help! let me help the justification process a bit - if you're a record guy like me this purchase just added many hours of life to your stylus.

 

[arts]

Well, this thread cost me. Bought a Sherwood S-3000 from tubeampking, who probably thinks I'm a nutjob anyway after my clumsy, fumbling PayPal dysfunction. Not to mention my schizoid post in his BT ad. Ships Monday. Okay, now I have enough.

Thanks mate,after the day I've had,a good laugh was appreciated!

Oddly enough,in all of the years I've been in this game,I have never worked on a Sherwood tuner. Listened to a couple that clearly needed work,and was still impressed with the sound quality,if not the RF performance.Seems that they can really deliver the goods if ''breathed on'' a bit

Hopefully,you will have recovered enough from your recent ''episode'' to work on it,haha!

 

[dyche01]

My basement/shop system is an old Stromberg-Carlson sr-402 tuner running through an S-C ar-415 amplifier and into a homemade Jensen coaxial speaker. It is my favorite tuner/amp combo of all time.

 

[DOBIEGUY]

Hey Musichal
I saw that tuner and for the beer money asked I thought I needed it. My two Scotts and three 'The Fisher',all work great.
I composed an Email with an intention to buy.
There was some kind of divine intervention that asked 'How many friggin' tube tuners do you need?'
I bit down hard and passed on the Sherwood. Good luck to you.
Jimmy