High Value FM Tuner

[KentTeffeteller]

The HH Scott 312D nets Stereo on less signal strength than any other tuner I have owned which could be had for sane money. In good alignment, beats any Marantz, competes with McIntosh, Fisher, and other $1000 or more tuners. Sounds great, is sensitive and selective.

 

[mhardy6647]

For me, and FWIW, a good sounding mono tuner trumps a stereo tuner, any time.

 

[Brian]

The HH Scott 312D nets Stereo on less signal strength than any other tuner I have owned which could be had for sane money. In good alignment, beats any Marantz, competes with McIntosh, Fisher, and other $1000 or more tuners. Sounds great, is sensitive and selective.

So, you have compared it to a 10b and 20/20b on the same antenna and through the same system. These knock off any Mc tuner through the MR78 in sound and the 20b comes close to the purpose of the 78. Only advantage of the Mc tuners is no scope. Having compared them to the Fisher FM-1000 and TFM-1000, I tend to agree the 312e just edges out the FM-1000, not sure about the 312d but the TFM-1000's only competition back then and much later knocked out anything previously build and easily equal to the 20b and 20 in ss tuners. I had the TFM-1000 and it bettered the MR77 appreciably but, I ended up with the 77 ONLY because of the maintenance requirements of the TFM-1000. Today with better cleaning solutions I think the maintenance issue would be a nonstarter with it.

The Sherwood S3000 II and III had better sensitivity and quieting slope than the Scott monos and like the Scotts were wide band fm. As a youngster the Scott was the peak of the must have units living in the Boston area. No one else had a marriage of performance and looks, even McIntosh back then.

 

[hatrack71]

I'd be looking pretty hard for a used Magnum Dynalab or Fanfare tuner. Best I've ever heard but radio is terrible here. A nice mainstream unit is the Onkyo T-9090. all can be found in the $250-350 range.

 

[Daunia 70]

Aiwa AT-9700 FM only tuner.. High value at the time (MRRP $520 in 1978). Now,they can be purchased at bargain prices!
I haven't actually heard one yet,but it gets a great review at the tuner information center website.
BTW,I purchased one yesterday (complete with instruction and service manuals) via Ebay to go with my matching AIWA AA-8700 integrated and AD-6900/6700 cassette decks.

 

[KentTeffeteller]

Yes, I have. The Marantzes are great sounding, but not great on weak signal reception overall. Both Marantzes are also poor on HD radio noise filtering and on SCA rejection. I like the McIntosh MR 78 on reception, less so on audio quality. I like the McIntosh MR 74 better if I don't need the super narrow IF setting on the MR 78. I live between two medium size cities which are 50 miles apart. Many adjacent stations within 50 miles of each other. All the above tuners are in current alignment and maintained properly. If I lived 50 miles away either side, the Marantz would be a top choice of mine. But not in the kind of RF jungle I live in.

 

[nailer]

For me, and FWIW, a good sounding mono tuner trumps a stereo tuner, any time.

I too listen to FM in mono.

 

[Pio1980]

No mention of the Dynatuner FM 3?

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

 

[Nick_G]

I'd be looking pretty hard for a used Magnum Dynalab or Fanfare tuner. Best I've ever heard but radio is terrible here. A nice mainstream unit is the Onkyo T-9090. all can be found in the $250-350 range.

Well, I'll just quote this about the Denon TU-800 from the Tuner Information Center:

After tweaking a second TU-800, Bob called it "an incredible tuner for selectivity, sensitivity and sound, when working correctly. It beat the pants off a new Fanfare."

I've never tried a Fanfare personally, but I can tell you that the TU-800 is a superb digital tuner. Certainly it's great value for money for the performance.

Regards,
Nick

 

[Valveglow]

A really nice, very low dollar alternative is the Yamaha CT-1010

https://www.google.com/search?q=yam...v&sa=X&ei=9W8DVOzZGcnLggTDioDgBA&ved=0CCgQsAQ

 

[KentTeffeteller]

The new Fanfare tuners are mostly geared towards FM translator duty than sound quality. Especially in the audio stages. Less than audiophile.

 

[hatrack71]

The new Fanfare tuners are mostly geared towards FM translator duty than sound quality. Especially in the audio stages. Less than audiophile.

I guess I am not sure what you mean by new. The two Fanfare I have heard, even being a lower models, were really nice. Totally audiophile... if you consider radio audiophile. I wanna say they were from the 80's/90's. I'm sure these are subjective too so I won't argue them being not audiophile. That's just not my experience at all.

 

[KevinCorr]

I'll add the Denon TU-800.

Regards,
Nick

Yes, I got one of these and use it a lot.

Another favorite of mine is the Roksan Caspian, made in England, which was very expensive new but are pretty affordable now. See ebay, 4 days= no affiliation. I won't sell mine and even bought a 2d one.

 

[tybrad]

WHAT? No Mitsubishi DA-F20 mentioned yet? I have one and it's great, and in your $ range.
Fmtunerinfo's famous shootout has it in the top 10 all time. Unmodded, it's a very good tuner. With some cap mods, it becomes a GREAT tuner!


Go to bottom of page. Best tuner deal in the universe.
http://www.fmtunerinfo.com/shootouts.html

 

[Valveglow]

WHAT? No Mitsubishi DA-F20 mentioned yet? I have one and it's great, and in your $ range.
Fmtunerinfo's famous shootout has it in the top 10 all time. Unmodded, it's a very good tuner. With some cap mods, it becomes a GREAT tuner!


Go to bottom of page. Best tuner deal in the universe.
http://www.fmtunerinfo.com/shootouts.html

I have one of these nice DA-F20 tuners. They are selling quite low lately, which is somewhat distressing...

 

[KentTeffeteller]

The 1980's and 1990's Fanfare tuners are more audiophile and superb. The current Fanfare tuners is what I am discussing more so. I like the old Fanfare tuners.

 

[rcs16]

The new Fanfare tuners are mostly geared towards FM translator duty than sound quality. Especially in the audio stages. Less than audiophile.

As a guy who has designed and studied many tuner designs, I am puzzled, what you are talking about!!
Can you please explain, specifically what is involved in making a high quality FM tuner with excellent sound quality?
So many people in this forum crap on or have no idea about modern day FM tuner technology, like the Si4735 and Si4770 chips without ever evaluating them. That is very short sighted advise. So, please explain why the mentioned chip's can not produce wonderful sound quality?
I have done my evaluations, it would be nice to compare notes with other knowledgeable tuner designers and users.
I can say that the Si4735-D60 chip outperforms, sound just as good if not better than all the tuners that I own, Pioneer SX-1050/950, Crown FM-1.
The biggest faults I find with analog tuners, is adjacent channel selectivity (200KHz). Picking out a low power carrier sandwiched between two higher power carriers.
Of coarse I'd like to compare the DSP tuners against a much higher end analog tuner, such as a Sansui TU-X1, Pionner F-26,Kenwood L-02T.
I have but I really wonder if it is even a contest when I get a Si4770-A20 going. Costs vs performance!

Cheers
Rick

 

[KevinCorr]

Yes, I got one of these and use it a lot.

Another favorite of mine is the Roksan Caspian, made in England, which was very expensive new but are pretty affordable now. See ebay, 4 days= no affiliation. I won't sell mine and even bought a 2d one.

Wow, that Roksan on the bay just ended unsold at $180. Amazing to me. I would have gone for it if I didn't have two already. I got mine on the recommendation of doug s. who knows tuners.

 

[KentTeffeteller]

The new Fanfare tuners are excellent. But their main market these days is for translator (relay off air for rebroadcast) service. They are superb tuners, less marketed to audiophiles than to broadcasters. They are made mainly now for good quality audio (not necessarily the best) and balanced output. They are still great, I still love them. But for every Fanfare tuner you see at home 150 Fanfares are found at FM rebroadcast translator sites (the company's main market now). Sequerra makes far more broadcast modulation monitors and off air monitors than home tuners likewise. Just for some clarification. P.S. that tuner chip is superb, but that IC is not the only thing which makes a great tuner. Many a digital has higher residual noise than analog tuners. Which does not matter much when you are near a station. But in my case, I am listening to 50 mile off signals, and I need every advantage I can get. I also prefer discrete transistors which are easier to get when replacement is needed. FWIW, I like the best new tuners, the McIntosh MR 88 is a favorite of mine, I like the Fanfares and like the Magnum-Dynalab better offerings. P.S. I love the Crown FM Two a great deal. It works great in an environment where a lot of front ends get overloaded easily. And manages to sound great.

 

[rcs16]

Many a digital has higher residual noise than analog tuners. Which does not matter much when you are near a station. But in my case, I am listening to 50 mile off signals, and I need every advantage I can get.

So the spec's show, but when I use the Si4735-D60 this digital noise is less apparent than what the specs indicate and less than I hear in the FM1, as an example. I routinely listen to fringe stations, which are in the 20dBuV range, using mono, to get very good S/N. You have to realize, the DSP can remove many artifacts that analog can not, such as muti-path effects. The very low level, noisy stations is where the DSP shines, you really have to try them out.
I have reviewed both the Crown FM1(own) & 2 designs, but looking at the specs there is not that much diff., but it is also a dual conversion design and they changed the RF design to use the old j310 for the 1/2/3 stages. I guess I have to find one to do a compare. I could not even find a spec sheet on the Hitachi demod chip, never would find one if it was to die.
When you mention the likes of Magnum and Mac, I wonder what parts they are using?, I not sure if those guys are big enough to fab their own stuff, especially what they are doing for a stereo decoder?