Tuners?

Originally posted by Don C
" I want to know more about this. . . Probally FM of the future. . . I think I will start looking into it"
The more I listen, the more I like it. I figured out that I was listening to the satellite radio through the TV set, when I fixed that by hooking the Dish Network 811 straight to the pre-amp, it started to sound better. It is still not quite CD quality, but it is OK.
No Commercials! And they seem to have a good selection, I can listen to several of the stations without getting annoyed. That never happens when I listen to regular radio. I probably would not pay for this, but since it is free with dish network, I am glad to have it.

I have my sattelite reciever hooked up directly to my preamp with good cable. Still I prefer my FM radio. I like to use the reciever through the stereo for movies or music programs/concerts on the tv.

No commercials, now there is one very good argument for sattelite radio, but I counter that with, FM is free. It gives me excercise to get up and tune in a different station.:D
 
A Few, Good Tuners

1. Primary tuner is McIntosh MR74, completely refurbished & rebuilt by McIntosh Labs. A truly superb sounding tuner, though I'm told the MR77 is slightly better sounding and is McIntosh's best-sounding SS tuner.

2. Have a Pioneer F-91 Elite that I used before I acquired the MR74. Good sounding, but not quite as good as the MR74 - It does not have that wonderful midrange the MR74 has. Bought it over whatever the top-of-the-line Magnum Dynalab tuner was at the time as it was much more sensitive and selective than the Magnum.

3. Have two Sony ST-S730ES tuners. Really good, in fact almost as good as the MR74 (but not quite). The FM Tuner Group says there is unit-to-unit variability with these, so I guess I got lucky with mine.

4. Have three Sony ST-J75 tuners. A real "sleeper" of a tuner, superb performance, and I paid $18, $24, and $36 respectively for the three I have. Don't think you can find a better performing and better sounding tuner for under $36. :cool:
 
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In order of manufacture:

My skull and a coat hanger
Kenwood KT-8007
Kenwood KT-9900
Kenwood Model 600T

Hi Trawlerman!
 
Hello there Timoteus. Long time no see :)

I got the bug for vintage tuners now. There's just no cure for it ya know. Once it bites it never lets go!
 
Where have you been hiding? Out at sea?

I think tuners are great fun. Sort of like a cross between ham radio and being an audiophile. You get to be a gearhead and still listen to music. Plus I have always liked the spontaneity of FM. There's nothing quite like a DJ stringing together the perfect set, you don't know where you're going but you get to go along for the ride. I'm not talking corporate radio of course.
 
Kenwood KT-8007 - My latest acquisition. What a classy looking tuner and a great performer to boot

Onkyo T-9 - nice sound and a real signal magnet

Onkyo T-4 - I like it even better than my T-9

Harman Kardon T-403 - not quite as good as my other tuners at grabbing a signal but it has a very nice sound and great looks

I think I'm going to try and pick up a Kenwood 7500 next. I've been following the DX info on the fmtunerinfo site and I'd like to see what kind of difference those mods will make.
 
I know it goes against the grain of the thread...but with the sorry state of commercial music today..my tuner hasn't seen service since ...oh ...about 1995....even the one in my receiver dosn't do service either....

My radio comes from the 'Musicmatch Jukebox Artist on demand'...I get to listen to what I want to listen to...and as for hearing new artists I have found more there than any radio station I have ever heard in the past....I will pay $5.95/mo.for that service...

But gettin back to the heart of the thread...I have had a Sansui TU-217 ..came with my first system...but like the idiot that I reely am...I sold it ...then to buy a 'Kenwood KT-51b'...just because the digital readout and quartz systhizied tuning was new then...little did I know...it was just a gimmik...and they got my almighty dollar...

The KT-51b is identical in every way to the Basic T-1..right down to the specs...go figure...
 
Hey Gary, I know what you mean by the sorry state of commercial radio. Get an MP3 output cable for your PC sound card and hook it up to your favorite system. Then pull down the live stream from KEXP.ORG out of Seattle. They've got a really eclectic mix and they are listener supported. In addition they keep the last 2 weeks of material archived so you can go through their library and find what suits you. (The Saturday morning reggae is outstanding). See what you think.
 
there is a station here in mid-michigan that is all request..cant remember the call letters...but its called "the Castle"...at 92.5FM...they are like thay too...but its a low power station and its kinda down by botrytis..in cheasning....

I get to listen to it once and a while at work....not too often though...the kids that work with me want to listen to that god-awful 'New Rock' garbage....so I get 'Ear Raped' on a daily basis...

I'll stick with my MP3s and the MMJB!!

If I wanted to get raped...it would be by her!!!.....
 
My collection in 3 systems, switch them around every few weeks for fun.

Sansui TU-717
Sansui TU-417
Sansui TU-217
Sansui TU-D99X
Sansui TU-S33
Yamaha T-1
Yamaha T-80
Technics ST-8080
Technics ST-8077
NAD 4020
Pioneer F-99X (very impressive sound)
Kenwood KT-880D
Hitachi FT-4000

Plus a few good receivers with decent FM section. Half of my analog tuners are little off alignment but still sound good.:)
 
Tunas I have, currently looking for good homes:

Technics 8080 DB
Proton 440
Kenwood KT 3500
Luxman T1

Handful of Knight, Sherwood, and Eico Tube tunas.

Recently sold, Sansui TU-717, Yammie T-1 and 950TX (?), Kenwood KT-7500 and 7300, Heathkit Solid State jobbie....

Cheers,
Russ
 
Tuners...I collect tuners! My collection

Kenwood KT 5300 (2)
Kenwood KT 5500 (2)
Kenwood KT 6500
Kenwood KT 7500
Kenwood L07-T
Kenwood KT 8005
Kenwood KT 6005
Kenwood KT 880D
Kenwood KT 75
Pioneer TX 6500 (2)
Pioneer TX 7100
Pioneer TX 9800
NAD 4330
SAE II T-7
MAC MR-78
Onkyo T-4030
Onkyo T-4090
Onkyo T-4150
Onkyo T-9090II
Onkyo T-9
Onkyo T-4
Onkyo T-8090
JVC JT-V11
JVC T-30
Lafayette T-3030
Technics TU-8600
Yamaha T-560
Yamaha T-700
Yamaha T-760
Yamaha T-1000
B&K TS 108
H/K 815
H/K Citation 18
 
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Currently listening to my Yamaha CT-1010. A really great tuner that is not only quite sensitive and selective, it also has excellent sound and looks.

Also have a high quality but boring Denon 750S, which simply works as it is supposed to and sounds good, but doesn't do anything for me. Recently bought a Denon TU-1500RD. Their current model. Is remote capable and displays the alpha-numeric info from the stations. It is actually the best sounding tuner I've owned. Including a couple of McIntosh's. But, I've gone vintage all the way....need a new model Denon tuner?

We are lucky around here in that we can get stations from Philadelphia and NYC regions.

Here are a couple of good websites for anyone interested in tuners.
http://www.fmtunerinfo.com/index.html
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FMtuners/
 
I have to admit it's a sickness. And even worse I hate to admit how many of these vintage tuners I currently have. Most sit in a tuner rack powered by a Kenwood 700M amp with a Kenwood 700C preamp, into AR-2AX speakers. I'll have to post a photo one of these days. Here goes:

McIntosh MR-80
Accuphase T-100 (two) (One mod'd by APS)
Kenwood 600T (mod'd by Stereo Surgeons)
Kenwood Kt-917 (2) (one mod'd by Stereo Surgeons)
Kenwood KT-8300
Marantz 150 (mod'd by Stereo Surgeons)
Sansui TU-9900
Sansui TU-919 (2)
Audiolab 8000T
Philips AH-6731 (Mod'd by AVLS)
Tandberg 3001A
Yamaha CT-7000 (mod'd by Stereo Surgeons)
Mistubishi DA-F20 (mod'd by Stereo Surgeons)
Meridian 504
Sansui TU-X1 (mod'd by Stereo Surgeons)
 
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If you are big into tuners try and get yourself an Olson RA-250 stereo receiver. It looks nothing fancy, does about 50wpc, but darn thing has the best FM tuner I ever used, and I have some 35 receivers, as well as countless tuners to choose from. Standalone or otherwise nothing touches the performance of this thing for quality distance FM reception. As you can see I live near Buffalo NY (actually the Olson is pretty close to the city area), I could get stations from as far away as Baltimore in stereo using standard indoor antennas. NYC, Vermont, West Virginia, Ohio, virtually every Toronto station, during the war in Iraq I remember going up and down the dial getting information from stations all over the northeast. Why it does so good I could not even begin to guess, it looks pretty simply on the inside, but for FM its performance is amazing. Actually its AM performance is pretty darn good too. If one added something other than the ferrite bar I wonder what it would be capable of.
 
Re: Re: DTV

Originally posted by Tullman
That is exactly what I meant. I have also had digital cable and it sounded the same on the music channels.

Compressed analog is one thing, but compressed digital is pretty much unlistenable.

Used to have digital cable. IIRC, there was a setting on the electronic menu of the digital cable box that switched compression on/off. Made a big improvement in the music channel sound quality. Still, we dumped cable completely and now pull in both TV & FM signals off a rotor rooftop antenna.
 
Tuners I've had & used:

Yamaha CT 810 - not bad, but not great. Warm sounding, decent sensitivity, good selectivity. Signal locking feature worked well, but was overall underwhelmed by the sound. Sold about a year and a halp ago.

Yamaha T-85 - I liked the sensitivity of this tuner ALOT. I could pull in distant stations in clean stereo with a run of the mill dipole. Warm sound, not a great soundstage on my system. Sold about 6 months ago.

Kenwood 6007 - Great little tuner, I miss it a bit. Great warm sound, good sensitivity, fair selectivity. Sold to a forum member.

Marantz 115 - aligned by PunkerX. I like this tuner alot. Not my most sensitive, but sounds great, good soundstage, nice highs and convincing lows. Currently pulling duty in my 2 channel system until I get my Pioneer back.

Pioneer TX-9500 - My specimen is certainly not mint, but one of the nicest sounding tuners I've ever owned, bar none. Huge soundstage, great mids, highs and substantial lows. A couple of issues with this that I think PunkerX is in the process of cleaning up.

FWIW - the tuner section of my Sansui 9090 is bloody awesome for a receiver.
 
Originally posted by whell
Tuners I've had & used:

Marantz 115 - aligned by PunkerX. I like this tuner alot. Not my most sensitive, but sounds great, good soundstage, nice highs and convincing lows. Currently pulling duty in my 2 channel system until I get my Pioneer back.

Pioneer TX-9500 - My specimen is certainly not mint, but one of the nicest sounding tuners I've ever owned, bar none. Huge soundstage, great mids, highs and substantial lows. A couple of issues with this that I think PunkerX is in the process of cleaning up.


Forgot you had that 115, the 9500 is done and sounding and performing great. That HK had a surprizingly good sounding tuner in it also.

X
 
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