Tuners?

[londonbarn]

Pioneer F-26, Carver TX-11 and just sold a Scott 350B

 

[Vitopanch]

Hail,
Finally, after a long search, I found an Akai AT-V04 on Ebay in very nice appearance condition and advertised excellent operating condition. I have been wanting one of these young fellas for awhile now to use for DXing. The bonus is that it came as a three banger with the matching Integrated Amplifier and Timing machine. It is enroute to me now. Yahooo.

Vito

 

[bully]

Regarding the Onkyo T-9. Simply the best *sounding" tuner I've enjoyed hearing. I have paid way too much for mine, but I liked the first one so much I bought a second one. Then I bought the next series TOTL T-4090 (but it resides in its box now for no good reason other than I moved 4 or 5 years ago and some things still haven't been unpacked ... ).
As good as the T-9 sounds, I found a site on the web that a tech guy posted about the T-9. He, too, was blown away by the sound quality, and, being a techie, he looked into improving a great thing. I contacted him, and he sent me the parts list and what to do. I'm NOT a techie, but have thought to send one of the T-9s to one of our tuner experts (e.g. PunkerX for one) with the material the guy sent me.

 

[superdog]

I don't have many tuners but I have always been intrigued by fm and the process of pulling in stations.I was using a yamaha t-33(bpc) until i found a tx-7100 in excellent condition for my pioneer sa 5200 int amp.World of difference.There are a couple of good classical staions about fifty miles away and at night that tuner provides almost cd quality sound.Also have a Sansui tu-s9 that is also an excellent tuner.I am waiting to find a matching amp one of these days.The best part is i only paid $22 for both.

 

[bdscott]

Only one, an Adcom GFT 2, modded by Don Scott that I just purchased. Really nice sound and tremendous reception.

Every once is a while I run across your unfounded comments. Yet despite hundreds of happy people with tuners I have upgraded, you insist I don't know what I am doing. Please align your brain. The happies aren't wrong. You are.

 

[JBN]

I don't understand why your slamming Alleykat based on this comment. Someone a little drunk when reading his comment?

Every once is a while I run across your unfounded comments. Yet despite hundreds of happy people with tuners I have upgraded, you insist I don't know what I am doing. Please align your brain. The happies aren't wrong. You are.

 

[Vinyl Rules!]

Every once is a while I run across your unfounded comments. Yet despite hundreds of happy people with tuners I have upgraded, you insist I don't know what I am doing. Please align your brain. The happies aren't wrong. You are.

If you are the real Don Scott, just two questions for ya':

(1) Are you still doing alignments by ear?

or

(2) Are you using a signal generator and distortion analyzer now to dial in
you alignments?

If (2), what equipment do you use?

Curious minds want to know.

Thank you.

PS - A Bonus Question: When you put in new ceramic filters, are you using
using matched pairs with the same CF (center frequency) and identical
roll-off slopes? If the answer is yes, are you matching them yourself,
or are you buying them from another source?

 

[ValvTubeHead]

I don't understand why your slamming Alleykat based on this comment. Someone a little drunk when reading his comment?

I suspect Don's referring to the next-in-line post #158 rather than 157. :sigh:

 

[Yamaha B-2]

If you are the real Don Scott, just two questions for ya':
(1) Are you still doing alignments by ear?
or
(2) Are you using a signal generator and distortion analyzer now to dial in
you alignments?
If (2), what equipment do you use?
Curious minds want to know.
Thank you.
PS - A Bonus Question: When you put in new ceramic filters, are you using
using matched pairs with the same CF (center frequency) and identical
roll-off slopes? If the answer is yes, are you matching them yourself,
or are you buying them from another source?

What!?! You couldn't possibly be questioning someone else's ears, could you? Don't we all hear the same thing the same way. Believe we have had a similar discussion on the merits of "aligning by ear" over that the FM Tuner Forum. Sort of like 'eye-balling' a straight line when one has a laser handy. Only worse.

 

[geraldm121]

Mac MR73 - 2
Mac MR74 - 2
Sansui TU555
Sansui TU666
Yamaha T470
Yamaha T550 (2)
Yamaha T560 (3)
Yamaha T7 (3)
Yamaha TX700
Yamaha T960II
Yamaha CT810
Fisher KM60
Scott LT112B
Realistic TM175B
Sherwood S2500
Sherwood S3300
Onkyo T15
Onkyo T4700
Onkyo T4120
Dynaco FM1
Akai AT-K02
Luxman T450
NAD 4020a
Heathkit AJ15
Teac T-H500 - 2

Sony XDR-F1HD - (wow, what a DX champ for $100 less a $50 rebate)

RECEIVERS:

SANSUI 200
ADVENT 300
ONKYO TX8011
Realistic STA46
Realistic STA65C
Realistic STA65D
Realistic STA180
YAMAHA CR600
NAD 7020 - 2 (totally different Receivers inside the case! so much for my parts donor, thanks, NAD)
DENEON AVR1900
HARMAN KARDON AVR30
PIONEER SX525
McIntosh 1500


I guess I like Tuners http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/images/smilies/music.gif

 

[radioactive]

Mac MR73
Mac MR74
Sansui TU555
Sansui TU666
Yamaha T470
Yamaha T550 (2)
Yamaha T560 (3)
Fisher KT50
Scott LT112
Yamaha T7 (2)
Sherwood S2500
Yamaha T960
Onkyo T4310
Onkyo T4010
Dynaco FM1
Akai AT-K02
Luxman T450
NAD 4020a

nice selection of tuners you have there gerald.btw welcome to ak.

 

[doug s.]

Every once is a while I run across your unfounded comments. Yet despite hundreds of happy people with tuners I have upgraded, you insist I don't know what I am doing. Please align your brain. The happies aren't wrong. You are.

yup, walve tube head got it right, i am sure. the esteemed mr scott was certainly referring to my post, #158, not #157. mebbe mr scott was drunk, who knows? like he is when he's doing up his tunas? ::

ok, mr scott, my brain is perfectly aligned. all the "happies" aren't wrong? you mean like all the bose owners aren't wrong about how great their speakers sound? :lmao:

i would submit that all the happies are ignorant. like myself, who was once ignorant, they think you are the tuna guru, from your stereopile daze. thank god i discovered real rf engineers & tuna techs that actually know what they're doing, before i ever sent you any of my gear.

how come you have yet to respond to vinyl rules' & yamaha b-2's comments? their comments are why you run across mine every so often, & why they aren't unfounded, imo. i am right, the happies are ignorant, & you are wrong.

i've read of several instances where work done by you was sent to real techs who had to un-do the horrors of your work. because, that's what happens every so often, when someone who is a parts-swapper hits a snag, or doesn't do measurements, on a tuna. i'd wager that more of your "happies" would experience better sound than not, if they followed my adwice in post #158. if the sound of a tuna you have worked on is as good or better than it was prior, then it's yust dumb luck, imo. could as easily result in something far worse, or even broken, that has to be sent elsewhere to get fixed.

doug s.

 

[Yamaha B-2]

:lmao::lmao::lmao:

Well, as least he isn't a religious nazi (thus far).

 

[gelmhirst]

Just one tuner in my stable. I'm not a huge radio fan, but I have to say when I sold my original Magnum Dynalab FT101A I regreted it. A few years later one came up locally, I jumped at it. I really do appreciate the quality, both in build and sound, outstanding in my mind/ears.

 

[doug s.]

Just one tuner in my stable. I'm not a huge radio fan, but I have to say when I sold my original Magnum Dynalab FT101A I regreted it. A few years later one came up locally, I jumped at it. I really do appreciate the quality, both in build and sound, outstanding in my mind/ears.

the ft101a is a fine looking tuna, imo. but, that's about it. there were three separate iterations of this tuna tested in jim rivers' fmtunerinfo.com's "shootouts"; out of 84 tunas, they placed 37th, 40th & 60'th. even the md108 came in only 20th. not bad, 20th, actually, but at what price? there's a plethora of tunas awailable for <$500 that will see off the md108.

i had a 101 in my system for about 6 months, an ok tuna, but nothing to write home about. if you really like it, try something, for example, like a mitsubishi da-f20, w/o breaking the bank. it will open your eyes. and, more importantly, your ears! it ma make you a huge radio fan, assuming you have a station broadcasting a quality signal, so you can take adwantage of it.

ymmv,

doug s.

 

[Vinyl Rules!]

yup, walve tube head got it right, i am sure. the esteemed mr scott was certainly referring to my post, #158, not #157. mebbe mr scott was drunk, who knows? like he is when he's doing up his tunas? ::

ok, mr scott, my brain is perfectly aligned. all the "happies" aren't wrong? you mean like all the bose owners aren't wrong about how great their speakers sound? :lmao:

i would submit that all the happies are ignorant. like myself, who was once ignorant, they think you are the tuna guru, from your stereopile daze. thank god i discovered real rf engineers & tuna techs that actually know what they're doing, before i ever sent you any of my gear.

how come you have yet to respond to vinyl rules' & yamaha b-2's comments? their comments are why you run across mine every so often, & why they aren't unfounded, imo. i am right, the happies are ignorant, & you are wrong.

i've read of several instances where work done by you was sent to real techs who had to un-do the horrors of your work. because, that's what happens every so often, when someone who is a parts-swapper hits a snag, or doesn't do measurements, on a tuna. i'd wager that more of your "happies" would experience better sound than not, if they followed my adwice in post #158. if the sound of a tuna you have worked on is as good or better than it was prior, then it's yust dumb luck, imo. could as easily result in something far worse, or even broken, that has to be sent elsewhere to get fixed.

doug s.

Doug,

You hit the nail on the head! :bash::bash::bash::bash:

I'm not a tech, but one thing I have learned from those who have have had to go in and re-do Mr. Scott's work is that he gets his tuners quieter on weak stations by reducing the stereo separation.

Perhaps he only uses a mono speaker when he does his "alignments by ear.":lmao::lmao::lmao::lmao:

Even a klutz like me could make a tuner more quiet by doing this! :yes: :yes: :yes: :yes: :yes:

 

[MuZak]

My tuna history:

Well, my first was actually a reciever, but I mainly listened to FM back then (as my main source)
what with alllll the stations with all the choices of great music
(70s in N.Y.) and thats what got me into persuing tuners and radio in general....
so I guess it kinda qualifies.
It was (is.. still have/use it regularly) a Stereotech 1200 (MAC budget line)

Next came a Voice of Music 1465 (tube) I got in college for a (small) debt owed.
Took ages to get rid of the mystery hum.
Ended up putting it aside for a several yrs and bought a:

Yamaha "natural-sound" T-960II.
Its pretty decent and I've recently re-discovered it, but was not satisfied so I got a:

Magnum Dynalab ft-101.
Its ok... By then, there wasn't so much good FM anymore,
especially since moving to South Fla soon after, so it was
more than good enough for how rarely I used it.
Only one station worth listening to down here, and only between 9 PM and 1 AM...
Great jazz show. Little or no compression and fantastic sound.
I can't believe it. Best sound quality on FM I can remember, ever.
Its an NPR station in Miami. Nice strong/clean signal too.

Got a Lafeyette tube set off ebay a while back...
Duunno the model #. Not labled. Must've fallen off or sumthin.
For AM listening. Its a "simulcast" model from the interim years, between FM and FM stereo.
They say those are the best, or among the best available for AM listening, since one channel was broadcast on AM.
They tried to make the AM front end plausibly similar sounding to the FM frontend for "stereo" ...with obviously limited success...
It did result in some very good AM front ends though.. Some of the best.

More recently I've gotten an MAC MR-71 and a Fisher FMR-1 to have my dream collection.

After restoring/updating those, I'd like to get a nice condition Scott.. maybe with outboard MPXer, to totally round out my dream collection.

Thanks for reading!

 

[Whitehall]

Update on my collection:

just added a Sony ST-730ES today.

It joins McIntosh MR71, McIntosh MX113 (a MR74 with a preamp), Sony ST-5000FW, and a Sony ST-S7. Plus the receivers - Sony STR-6060FW, STR-6200F, Marantz 4300, and Yamaha CR-1020. Picking up a Sony STR-GX10ES tomorrow.

 

[Whitehall]

Added one more this week - a Onkyo T-G10, a kissing cousin of the T-9090 II but with a couple of extra bells and whistles.

Didn't get the STR-GX10ES after all and sold the Marantz 4300 and the McIntosh MX113.

Listening room - MR71 and T-G10 with big antennae.

Family room - ST-S730ES and ST-5000FW, both Sonys on wire dipoles.

 

[tonak1]

Fischer 500c
Kenwood 950b
Carver 2000