What's the best tuner?

With what we can buy online or auction, what is the best tuner out there? Do we look to Sansui? Mcintosh, whats the consensus. I just got a 717 and its beautiful. It makes me wonder how much better it can get...

To be redundant - the TU-717 is an excellent tuner. To get better, especially if the 717 pulls in all the stations you listen to cleanly and you're happy with the sound, you'll have to spend a lot more to obtain marginally better performance. Be a bit like chasing your tail, which can be fun - just ask any dog. :thmbsp:
 
To be redundant - the TU-717 is an excellent tuner. To get better, especially if the 717 pulls in all the stations you listen to cleanly and you're happy with the sound, you'll have to spend a lot more to obtain marginally better performance. Be a bit like chasing your tail, which can be fun - just ask any dog. :thmbsp:

Its that margin of performance and the beauty of the gear that keeps us chaising the tail. You are downright right! I agree on the 717. I am getting the reception and presentation I was looking for. I cannot believe how many stations there are here in Rochester I must have over thirty on the dial now. And that doesn't include across the lake to Canada some sixty miles from here.

Still I am fascinated by some of the other Sansuis and will always watch for them. However once I enter the realm of the top line units the pricing nears the MR-77 and 78 both of which I wish I had here. My wife would have loved the sound and its all in her memory now.
 
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Best sounding SS McIntosh tuner, the MR 74. Next best, the MR 77. Best tube McIntosh tuner, the MR 71. I like the MR 65B and the MR 67 a lot in the sound department. The MR 78 stock is lacking in sound, but in super narrow is one of the all time DX classics. Reason why the MR 74 has better sound is each stage was designed by McIntosh's best designers. The MR 78 was entirely designed by Richard Modafferi who is a superb RF designer but not as good in the audio department.
i basically agree w/your mcintosh rankings; even richard modafferi has stated a properly set-up mr77 will sound better than an mr78. re: the tubed tunas, i used to own a refurb'd and modded to the gills mr65b, the tech who did the mods basically agreed w/your assessment of the tubed mac tunas, but said w/a proper refub & mods, they are all pretty equivalent. i chose the 65b cuz i liked its style the best, and it was the least expensive to buy unserviced.

all this said, i think the mac tunas are highly over-rated, and an extremely poor walue. nice sounding as my mr65b was, a sherwood s3000ll/lll/iv or v will surpass it in sound quality, and at least equal it in reception ability. my never-serviced mono s3000lll w/modern s/s mpx, my never serviced s2200-ll, and my refurb'd s3000v are all better than the mr65b i owned. in fact, i would say that a properly operating sherwood tuber will sound about as good as any tuna out there, at any price.

regarding the s/s macs, these are simply mediocre sounding tunas, period, imo. i had a mint refurb'd mr77 that easily ranked in the bottom five for sonics of any tuna i have owned over the past ten years. flat narrow soundstage, and only adequate detail, dynamics and extension. the mint but not-serviced mr74 was marginally better, but still near the bottom of my personal list. and, i have owned a lot of tuna - i still own ~50. (note to self - MUST THIN THE SCHOOL!!! :D )

best tuna for the money, imo, is, hands-down, a refurb'd and modded hk citation 18. excellent reception, the best blend switch on any tuna i have ever heard, and w/stations where that's not needed, it will rival any tuna out there for sound. including a modded refurb'd sansui tu-x1 - amhik. ;)

regarding the kenwoods, the kt8300 ranks a hair above the s/s macs - much better detail, imo, similar in all other aspects. but, modding these tunas changes the game completely. i had a modded kt7500 that was world class in all aspects except for ultimate quieting, where it lagged behind the better tunas.

there's a plethora of excellent sounding tunas out there - you can choose on appearance, ergonomics, price... outstanding tunas i own/have owned include revox b760, b261, modded sony st-a6b, modded kenwood l-07tll, accuphase t101/t100/modded t109, audiolab t8000, rotel rt2100/rht-10, (the 10 is out for mods now), creek cas3140, onix bwd-1 w/soap-2 ps, roksan caspian, sansui tu9900 (modded & stock), sansui tu517/717/719, heathkit aj1600 (modded & stock), mitsubishi da-f20 (modded & stock), philips ah185/673, yamaha t2, yamaha tx1000, pioneer f91, sony st730es, marantz 20, sumo charlie/aurora, aiwa at9700u, and a bunch i am sure i am missing, haha!

a few of those i mentioned are downright bargains for the sound offered, like the creek (super bargain), rotel rt2100, sansui tu517/717/719 (super bargain), stock heathkit, mitsubishi, philips ah185 (super bargain), sony, yamaha. by super bargain, i mean any tuna that, w/patience, can be had for ~$100 or less, sometimes quite a bit less. to these super bargains i would add the nad 4300, hitachi ft8000, scott 312d, sherwood s3300, jvc fx1100bk, nikko gamma 1.

some folks may wonder if i never heard the tandberg 300a/3001a; well, i owned two, one refurb'd w/minor p/s mods; and an ex-inlaw owns a 3001. yes, these are nice sounding tunas, w/good reception. but every single tuna i mentioned above as excellent sounding is at least as good as the tandbergs, and most are far less expensive. all are FAR more reliable. the tandbergs are one of the most unreliable tunas extant, imo. so, unless you are a tandberg fetishist, (as there are many mac fetishists!), i wouldn't bother with one. if you already have one, and it's working fine, cool - keep it. you can do better, but you still have a nice tuna. (can't say that about the s/s macs, tho - you folks owe it to yourselves to hear what a good sounding tuna can really sound like, w/a quality broadcast on a resolving rig.)

for you wintage freaks, there's a plethora of old tube mono tunas out there that aren't too expensive, (some are downright cheap), that will get you fantastic sound w/a quality modern mpx decoder. (if you can't find a decoder, contact bob fitzgerald from the yahoo tuna forum, and the tic. my experience has been that a good modern mpx will outperform any of the usual wintage suspects.) these nice sounding wintage mono tunas include models from pilot, realistic, eico, paco, leak, fisher, stromberg-carlson, to name a few.

the one tuna that i am really wanting to try is the new accuphase t1000; this is one that i have been told is a definite step above whatever may now be in second place, when run thru its digital out into a dac.

one last comment - the cheap sony xdr-f1hd is far and away the best tuna i have ever encountered, for reception abilities. and, its sound is actually quite respectable, when run thru an ase z-man tube buffer stage. (smokes the s/s macs, for example.) i am tempted to get mine modded...

doug s.,
presently listening to 90.9 weta, thru onix bwd-1/soap-2 p/s
 
Soundwise, I find that there is a difference between the 3001 and the 3001A.
I am also aware that there has been more upgrades than just the FET part.
So I believe you are not properly informed about this.

"dolph"
uh, no, i believe the info posted is correct. at least it is according to the few authorized tandberg service techs i spoke with about it.

doug s.
 
HD is NOT High Definition.
"HD" was connected to the term Hybrid Digital but that was dropped.
HD tuners are a dead end and sound like that as well, just like DAB in EU is and does.
At the best, and only IF FCC, by law, removes the option of broadcasting analog FM, the resolution can sneak up to a comparable 300kb/s MP3 quality.

"dolph"
again, at least regarding sound quality, you are mistaken when referring to the sony xdr-f1hd. thru a tube stage, it sounds quite good, even in stock form. yes, it is not as good as the best analog tunas, and yes, it does do better on analog broadcasts, which is why one of the awailable mods - to force it into analog reception on stations that broadcast hd - is a good idea.

doug s
 
uh, no, i believe the info posted is correct. at least it is according to the few authorized tandberg service techs i spoke with about it.

doug s.

Then again the Norwegian people I know that have had their historical technical era on Tandberg factories and those Norwegians, Swedes and Danes that I know of that were educated to serve Tandberg Tech centres in Scandinavia supports that there are differences.
Enough to make it audible.
Enough to make difference in solidity of the circuity.
But Tandberg upgraded gradually.
Get an early 3001 and a late 3001A and the differences will shine through.
On a late 3001 and an early 3001A it will be harder to determine soundwise.

"dolph"
 
again, at least regarding sound quality, you are mistaken when referring to the sony xdr-f1hd. thru a tube stage, it sounds quite good, even in stock form. yes, it is not as good as the best analog tunas, and yes, it does do better on analog broadcasts, which is why one of the awailable mods - to force it into analog reception on stations that broadcast hd - is a good idea.

doug s

I will have a hard time debating this since HD Radio is not present in EU.

The figures I stated are not wrong.
The term connected to HD Radio is not wrong either.

And when resembling that with figures for sound quality and digital resolution on DAB here in EU, I stand by what I posted.

What is it you find wrong?
Do you think the "HD" has influence on the analog broadcasting from one particular station?

And what do you mean with "again"?

"dolph"
 
Then again the Norwegian people I know that have had their historical technical era on Tandberg factories and those Norwegians, Swedes and Danes that I know of that were educated to serve Tandberg Tech centres in Scandinavia supports that there are differences.
Enough to make it audible.
Enough to make difference in solidity of the circuity.
But Tandberg upgraded gradually.
Get an early 3001 and a late 3001A and the differences will shine through.
On a late 3001 and an early 3001A it will be harder to determine soundwise.

"dolph"
what jdurbin1 has posted here to this thread makes the most sense to me. i never had my refurb'd modded 3001a in the same room w/my ex-brother-in-law's refurb'd 3001, so i dunno; and i also have no idea what wintage his 3001 was. but, for me, since it is so much easier to find a cheaper better sounding more reliable tuna than any of the 3001's "a" or otherwise, i really don't care any more - my trip thru tandberg lane took place early-on in my tuna addiction..

ymmv,

doug s.
 
I will have a hard time debating this since HD Radio is not present in EU.

The figures I stated are not wrong.
The term connected to HD Radio is not wrong either.

And when resembling that with figures for sound quality and digital resolution on DAB here in EU, I stand by what I posted.

What is it you find wrong?
Do you think the "HD" has influence on the analog broadcasting from one particular station?

And what do you mean with "again"?

"dolph"
"again" had to do w/your tandberg comments. i said "again", cuz my wery next post to this thread was addressing something you posted.

i know nothing about digital broadcasting in europe, i have never heard it. a station in the usa that broadcasts in hybrid digital still has analog broadcasting that can be picked up by any standard fm tuna. the only influence the hd broadcast might have is its possible interference w/an adjacent-band analog broadcast, if it's a weak or distant station.

i am only talking about the sound of the xdr-f1hd, re: my disagreement w/what you said - re-read my post. you can hear the sound of this tuna yourself - it is an analog tuna as well as a hybrid digital tuna. (you would want to find a 50us deemphasis wersion, if awailable.) i also stated that i think it sounds better in analog mode than in hd mode, so your not having hd broadcasts means you can skip the mod to force it into analog when hd is present. ;)

doug s.
 
hey dolph, it is possible i misunderstood you, re: hd - i also agree that hd itself has shortcomings regarding sonics, and i would love to see its demise. i was referring only to the sonics of the particular sony xdr-f1hd in my comments.

regards,

doug s.
 
With what we can buy online or auction, what is the best tuner out there? Do we look to Sansui? Mcintosh, whats the consensus. I just got a 717 and its beautiful. It makes me wonder how much better it can get...

I've not heard a stock TU-717, but my PX-modded unit sounds truly excellent and is very sensitive. I don't have the audiophile ears that some here seem to possess, but I think it sounds as good as any tuner I've owned, including a Kenwood L-01T, Marantz 20b and Sony STA-6B. I sold the Kenwood and the Sony will probably go as well, but I'll probably hold onto the Marantz, just because I love the scope and vintage appearance.

The TU-717 is my main tuner right now, its combination of styling and ergonomics make it my favorite, despite that fact that this is a very common model. One of the great values in audiophile quality components, IMO.
 
Agreed, if you have a top notch antenna system and a poor tuner, the tuner will be your weak link. Especially if your favorite station is 50 miles or more away and isn't super powered to boot. I am a rural listener and a super tuner is needed along with that fine antenna for good listening in Stereo. Otherwise, I get noisy mono to fluttery, multipath laden stereo. I live midway between Knoxville and Chattanooga, TN most of the week. I get all but the lowest powered signals and have many stations on adjacent channels to boot and I need every bit of sensitivity and selectivity I can get.

Me too. I'm 50 miles west of Atlanta but those stations are a piece of cake. According to FM Fool's chart I can pick up 65 stations from GA/AL/and TN.

I think it's more but I don't really try to find them. And here's the kicker, most all of my tuners around my house and garage are all tuned to 88.7 which is supposed to be my most vacant channel. They are all fed from a small FM broadcast pod from one of my XM satellite tuners. :thmbsp:
 
This thread was fun I miss the "Best Tuner" comments! Or did we sum it up pretty much?
best tuna? kinda like most beautiful woman? :D

for me, best tuna is a modded refurb'd harman kardon citation 18. is my modded refurb'd sansui tu-x1 better? maybe. but, maybe not - to be honest, i have not done a blind a-b, as i have done w/a lot of other tuna. they are so close, that's what it would take to be sure. (i know the modded 18 is better than an aligned modded accuphase t109, i did the blind a-b w/these.) but, considering the cost, the choice of the citation 18 is a no brainer. imo, of course. ;)

doug s.
 
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