Nick_G
Well-Known Member
Well, I am still speculating because for me it is more of a contest of reception sensitivity. That is I am more prone to prefer the more sensitive tuner to one that actually may sound better with a proper antenna.
Keeping that in mind, the Roksan Caspian beats ALL other tuners I have tried. (I have not had a Sony HD). A quick look at it would sell someone. It really does look and feel like solid and expensive like the Sonneteer Orton I matched it with.
So let's just review the Denon TU 800 vs other similar tuners. It sounds very good, and I initially put it in the class with the Rotel and Kenwood. Since I get better reception in the workshop, a separate bld on the same property, I tried the Denon there to see if I could get the reception meter to go over the 3 of 7 total where it sits. Playing with the antennas I could get short bursts of 4 or 5 but then drop back to 3. Funny, it does exactly the same in the shop, but it still sounds very good. I was working and listening to River Walk Jazz, DeeDee Bridgewater, World Cafe etc on the Dyn A-25 speakers. So even with 3 on the meter it sounds as good as any other of my tuners. It is a keeper and will stay right there with that big azz 170 w HK Integrated amp. By comparison, the Magnum Dynalab 101 has great reception, up with the Rotel 990, it sounds much thinner by comparison.
I am guessing that given a proper ariel, it will tie, or at least close with the Rotel 990 bx at the top of the class.
That is very interesting. I did think the Roksan might be tops though as it was 5 times the list price of the Denon when new! I find that the signal level meter will read higher in Super Narrow but that is not surprising. Does the Roksan have as good sensitivity and selectivity of the Denon?
If the Denon really does sound as good as the 990BX, then I think that's another reason for Doug to get one
Regards,
Nick
PS: I found a PDF of the Caspian's user manual but no selectivity specs...
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