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A McIntosh Tuner, Is There One In Your System?

MR-71 in my main system
MR-71 in my vintage system
MAC1900 in my vintage system
MAC1500 hanging around in my avatar
NAD HT Receiver in the office system
Denon TU-630 retired on the shelf after 27 years of non-stop use

I have an FM (only, no TV) antenna with rotator on the roof split off to an MR71, MAC1900 and the NAD.

Today I was listening to KXJZ in Sacramento on all three of these tuners. According to Google maps, that transmitter is 95 miles (straight line) form my antenna with the coastal hills in the way (not line of sight). The way my splitters are set up, the NAD had a 3 dB advantage over the Macs. However, the NAD was picking up noise from another station (poor selectivity). Both Macs picked it up just fine - the MR-71 was picking it up in stereo.

I normally listen to KCSM jazz, and other public stations for music. I have never considered FM to be as good as records and agree with the comments about softening the sound, etc. But I listen a lot and the Macs sound great and live broadcasts done well on FM can be excellent.

I have had tuners in my system since about 1970 and definitely have the bug.
 
MR-67, MR-71, MR-73, MR-77 and an MX-110. Of these, the '71 and the '77 are my favorites with the '71 getting the nod with overall the best sound. The '73 was my first McTuner and Terry helped me get it going and updated - it's a great piece of machinery.

Tuners are a musical link to the outside world and are how I find and hear new music. I don't know why anyone would have a nice home system with out a quality tuner.

Tip: get an outside antenna. After putting one up, you'll wonder why you didn't do it sooner.

Murray
 
In a big city, sure it's still viable. I find myself flipping stations quite a bit... still pissed about our only smooth jazz station going hip-hop even though I don't even know what "smooth" jazz means... it was a nice change of pace sometimes.
I've written before about the issues my MR78 has, especially what Terry said to me. I told him it drifts off the station (and out of stereo mode) during the 1st hour it's on and he said about 20% of the MR78s made have this problem... and on many of them it can't be fixed... at least not reasonably. Even Modafferi said just leave it turned on.

Anyone else have this issue with their MR78?
 
Here's the line up here:

- MR-77 currently in use.
- Two MX-110s in rotation - not sure why I've ended up with 2, though.

All of them need to make a trip up to Terry DeWick for alignments, though.

The local Univ of Arkansas runs jazz from 9PM through the night most every night these days. They also have a local full-time classical station, too. Nice.

When I was back in the Monterey Bay area, the local PBS station would broadcast the Monterey Jazz Festival live! I can't tell you what it was like to hear the Gerald Wilson big band and Kurt Elling coming through my UREI/Altec 813s via Mac MC-75s and an MX-110. That was quite the experience and confirms that live performances and quality transmissions can be quite viable.

Cheers,

David
 
I've owned several Mac tuners and still have an MR77 I bought over 30 years ago. Haven't sent it off to Terry yet but it still sounds great. I only listen a few hours a week, mainly to Grateful Dead shows or some avant-garde jazz on KCSM and KPFA in San Francisco.
 
I listen to FM thru my MR85 most every morning while having a cup of coffee, scanning the paper & getting ready for work. I also listen to the Acoustic Storm program on Sunday mornings. No plans to give up on tuners any time soon...:no:
 
MR 77
Works flawlessly
Very smooth and musical sound : like a very good lp indeed !!
Listen only to one or 2 stations with no commercials.
I use it about 3 hours per week, so it's not much compared to CD's and Lp's
but I would never quit it !!
 
I have a MR500, one of Mac compacts, I only listen to our all classical station here in Houston, the tuner is on my second system teamed up with a pair of two way B&W 201’s.

Vahe
 
jdandy said:
How does the Tuner Module 1 sound? Do you listen to FM stereo with it, or is it just installed in the MX119 without being used?
Click to expand...

I do listen to FM stereo a bit, but there are not a lot of quality radio stations in my area.

When I switched to McIntosh I did not want to loose functionality compared to my previous system.
 
I am currently using the MR74. It's a wonderful piece of equipment. But if it wasn't for the classical 101.1 and UNT's jazz station, I wouldn't utilize it nearly as much.
 
Living in NYC I enjoy my DeWicked MR-74........just the best.....also makes Rush sound great on AM!:D
 
I have a MR78 I use in my main system, listen to it pretty much everyday. A MR74 in the bedroom, which is also a great performer. We have a couple good fairly local stations, 93.3 The Planet plays mainstream alternative / hard rock and Rock 101.1 plays a good mix of classic rock.
 
Mc_Man said:
I have a MR78 I use in my main system, listen to it pretty much everyday. A MR74 in the bedroom, which is also a great performer. We have a couple good fairly local stations, 93.3 The Planet plays mainstream alternative / hard rock and Rock 101.1 plays a good mix of classic rock.
Click to expand...

Any drifting problems with the MR78?
 
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