What's the best tuner?
- Thread starter yardie100169
- Start date
moinau
Je me Souviens
Hi,
I bought my Sansui TU-719 in 1978, and still use it to this day. I have it connected from my TV antenna with a 75Ω cable. Good sound and good looking Tuner, all black with a nice white face plate. Is it the best at everything, no, but for me in my house, yes. Buy something YOU like and get a good antenna, I'm afraid to say, there is no such thing as best.
doug s.
Super Member
yes, this is a fine sounding tuna, for sure. slightly better than the tandberg 3001a, in my direct blind a-b comparison, and a dead ringer for my onix bwd-1 w/soap-2 power supply. the onix & the sansui 719 were the only two tunas i could never distinguish in blind a-b. not that a-b always led me to find one tuna better than another, but, except for these two, i could always discern a difference.
yes, i also think the tu719 is a fine looking thing, perhaps bettered in appearance in the sansui line only by the sansui tu9900. and, yes, i also agree that there really isn't a "best". and, after a certain level of performance, (ie: if you get your tu719 modded), the differences really will be so slight, it's like splitting hairs.
ymmv,
doug s.
... 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.
My stock, and fully functional, 3001A is almost the equal of my refurbished TU-X1 sensitivity wise and I like the Tandberg's sound a very little bit better.
How was your Citation modded? TIC says it's nice, but got the impression they did not find it a world beater, expect for one member of course. :thmbsp:
doug s.
Super Member
[Mod Edit: Removed reference to deleted posts]
seriously, this yust goes to show that everyone's tastes are different, and it's best to try yourself. i, personally, would take a well-sorted nikko gamma 1 over the 3001a.
re: the hk 18, mine has had yust about every cap replaced w/higher quality; rca's, iec, disconnect the 300 ohm antenna, check/replace resistors/etc; and full alignment. stephen sank did the work. he also did up the built-in amps, and connected them to the disconnected 300 ohm antenna connectors; he said they were remarkable w/efficient speakers; i have never tried them. the filters were not replaced. i had a second, done by punker-x mike williams; more traditional replacement of only caps in signal path, plus alignment w/new matched filters; these two tunas were also wirtually indistinguishable. i now have another stock hk 18, it is wery nice - i'd say between a stock tu719 & tu9900 for example. mods certainly improve it.
re: folks not thinking it's a world-beater, the fact is there are wery few of these hk 18's around; i believe that's the main reason it's not more well-thought-of. (mebbe if they retailed for $2k when new, they'd have more of a mystique?) the few folks i know from the yahoo tuna forum who have taken the time to find one have them gone thru and refurb'd/modded, have been wery impressed. unless, of course, they are lying to me, to make me feel better.
doug s.
I've cleaned this thread up, removing the personal attacks, etc. Please don't make that necessary again.
The kind of comments that were removed are not in the spirit, or the rules, of this site, or of reasonable behavior. Being "right" doesn't excuse being rude. For those who gently tried to point that out, thanks for the assist, and I'm sorry your warning didn't take hold.
The kind of comments that were removed are not in the spirit, or the rules, of this site, or of reasonable behavior. Being "right" doesn't excuse being rude. For those who gently tried to point that out, thanks for the assist, and I'm sorry your warning didn't take hold.
Shackman55
Super Member
The very best tuner? Hmmmm That would be the one I am listening to right now.. I had a flashback to when I was 11 years old and friend of the family gave me a lime green transistor radio, which seemed to run forever on 1 9volt battery. It was the best sounding tuner on the entire planet, it brought me the sounds of Doo wop, Rock and Roll, jazz, classical and more with a depth that just isn't possible from any other piece of equipment bar none. It was the first time I had heard them and it was magical. Sitting in my bed hiding under the covers with that little white ear plug in my ear I heard the world.
Attachments
Old_Tech
Yer-isn't!
The Sony XDR-F1HD has excellent AM reception and beautiful sound.
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_158XDRF1HD/Sony-XDR-F1HD.html?tp=882
Dave Bowman
It's a way of life!
I have to throw in my Luxman T-110..........Sounds smooth as silk and picks up and sticks to, an amazing amount on the dial.........
Dave
Dave
Thanks! The price is nice too.....
Maybe not the best but I like my T-109
Thanks for all the great information on this forum; it helped me a lot in making a decision.
As part of my "hey, I can now afford to buy all those things I used to drool over as a kid" thing, I just bought my first ever tuner (Accuphase T-109) and I love it. My kids (all under 10) never knew there was radio until yesterday so it was a great experience for the family and one of the best things I have done in a long time.
What do I like about the T-109? It's very simple to use, in less than 5 minutes I programmed the 12 stations I found into the memory presets (so even my totally non-technical but eternally gorgeous wife can use it) and the sound quality is excellent. I don't presently have anything to compare it against so yesterday I bought the second tuner of my life (a Pioneer F-26 for less than $450 on Yahoo! Auctions) and will listen to that at the weekend.
The only real problem is that in Japan there aren't that many FM stations left to listen to, but those that are all transmit at excellent quality.
Chris
Thanks for all the great information on this forum; it helped me a lot in making a decision.
As part of my "hey, I can now afford to buy all those things I used to drool over as a kid" thing, I just bought my first ever tuner (Accuphase T-109) and I love it. My kids (all under 10) never knew there was radio until yesterday so it was a great experience for the family and one of the best things I have done in a long time.
What do I like about the T-109? It's very simple to use, in less than 5 minutes I programmed the 12 stations I found into the memory presets (so even my totally non-technical but eternally gorgeous wife can use it) and the sound quality is excellent. I don't presently have anything to compare it against so yesterday I bought the second tuner of my life (a Pioneer F-26 for less than $450 on Yahoo! Auctions) and will listen to that at the weekend.
The only real problem is that in Japan there aren't that many FM stations left to listen to, but those that are all transmit at excellent quality.
Chris
speaker dave
Active Member
Actually, the Sony is pretty narrow band sounding on AM.
I have a broad selection of AM radios, one currently in production that sounds pretty good is the Tivoli PAL. Battery operation might help you for hum free taping. Use the headpone out to the line in of your recorder.
David
Damon Hill
Active Member
I hardly listen to AM on my Sony; I can only get one station in HD and it's sport talk only! There's a Disney-owned station which won't lock in for HD; I had one occasion to demonstrate the Sony at the Pacific Northwest Audio Society's annual DIY meeting along with my copper Jpole. There I could get that station, and it was kind of strange to listen to it initially tune in analog, and after a few seconds expand into HD stereo with much wider audio frequency range.
Alas, the music was horribly compacted, worst I've >ever< heard... AM radio here in Seattle has been a big disappointment. And I can't seem to DX AM worth a darn.
Alas, the music was horribly compacted, worst I've >ever< heard... AM radio here in Seattle has been a big disappointment. And I can't seem to DX AM worth a darn.
Old_Tech
Yer-isn't!
Well if there aren't any stations a tuner is of little use. Kind of like a turntable without records!
MWalt
Super Member
+1 :yes:
influx
Electronica Rehabilitatus
What amazes me is not how well a 'super tuner' performs (you pay for that) but how well the average vintage tuner does it's job. Make the right choice among Kenwood, Sansui, Pioneer, Sherwood, Phillips, Nikko etc; recap, add a few choice mods, align and you are at least 95% of what the big boys can do (for considerably less coin :yes:. More money saved for investing elsewhere like new vinyl or new tubes :thmbsp:. Also agree with Doug s., mono tuners with an out board MPX can be relevatory and a great bargain to boot!
In the end it's about the music
In the end it's about the music
