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Tuners?

I have a few ...

Sony XDR-F1, ST-J88B, ST-J75
MacIntosh MR67, MR74, MR78
Fisher FM100B
Nikko Gamma I, V
Pioneer TX-9100
ReVox B261
Yamaha TX-930, TX-1000U, T-85
Akai AT-V04
Dynaco FM-3
Heathkit AJ-43D
Hitachi FT-5500 MKII
JVC FX-1010TN, FX-1100BK
Onkyo T-9090II
Sanyo Plus T55
Sherwood S3000V
Stromberg-Carlson SR-445

No Scotts, Sansui's, Kenwoods, Accuphase's, Luxman's ..... yet ....
 
Arcam Alpha 5 FM Tuner

I have acquired a number of components recently for my London address. Recently, I accumulated variety of Arcam components in several individual transactions. The Arcam Alpha 5 FM Tuner works perfectly and looks new. An Alpha 5 Plus works as the integrated amplifier in this kitchen/conservatory system for the tuner and an Alpha 7 CD player. We listen to everything through KEF Corelli speakers.

All the Arcam equipment should be readily convertible to US voltage.
 

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charles 1973 said:
I've only got 1 Tuner, I had a lowerer end digital yamaha in the mid 80's that sounded pretty good.

My current tuner I purchased new 2 years ago, a Magnum Dynalab MD100T Hybred Analog FM unit with the silver wiring option and a remote. I don't understand how, but this FM tuner sound's better than 1/2 my CD colection when I hear the same song. I had no Idea FM radio could sound so good. Do any of you find this. My CDP and DAC module together sound great at their best with some CD's but overall the Tuner Trumpts them. I listen to that tuner 80% of the time while using the CDP during comercials. Most consider FM Radio to be inferior to other sorces, including MP3. They apparently haven't heard FM at it's best, or it's 2'nd best.

Bryston B100-sst w/DAC Module; Magnum Dynalab MD100T Hybred FM Tuner; Denon 1500II CDP & Denon 1920 Universal Player as CD Transports; Energy Pro-22 Monitors.
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A friend of mine use to have a Marantz 10B until he try out a new Magnum Dynalab 109 FM tuner....the magnum dynalab just sounded more..realistic and much..quieter too! If I had the money I would have one of these FM tuners in my system too!..:thmbsp:
 
And the Magnum Dynalab is beaten out by many other tuners. Among them the HH Scott Broadcast Monitors, McIntosh tuners, Marantz 20 and 20B, Fisher classics, Sequerras, and the REL Precedent.
 
KentTeffeteller said:
And the Magnum Dynalab is beaten out by many other tuners. Among them the HH Scott Broadcast Monitors, McIntosh tuners, Marantz 20 and 20B, Fisher classics, Sequerras, and the REL Precedent.
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And many fine vintage analog and digital tuners from Sony, Yamaha, Sansui, Pioneer, Accuphase and others. The key with vintage tuners is to have them 'upgraded' (recapped and aligned) by a knowledgeable tuner tech and, as with all tuners, feed them from a good antenna, which generally means a yagi.
 
KentTeffeteller said:
And the Magnum Dynalab is beaten out by many other tuners. Among them the HH Scott Broadcast Monitors, McIntosh tuners, Marantz 20 and 20B, Fisher classics, Sequerras, and the REL Precedent.
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I have not heard this fm tuner yet but some say the Accuphase T-1100 could be the very best fm tuner that has ever been made yet. They talk about this new Accuphase fm tumer in this thread too... http://www.goodsoundclub.com/Forums/ShowPost.aspx?pageIndex=2&postID=14781#14781
 
Only one that served me very well and am interested in getting "reacquainted" with it, a KLH-52 from the early 70's. Gotta get a turntable. Got two Epicure speakers to go with the system.
 
Too many - tuners, that is. Here's a few somewhat in order of preference (some rebuilt, some modded, some stock, all analog):

Kenwood:
KT-7500 (recapped and modded, great bass, superb local reception with new matching IF filters favoring local, highly accurate analog tuning that never drifts)
KT-7500 (completely stock and works great even with dial lights out)
KT-815 (rebuilt and modded for DX-ing use. Good sound and a superb DX unit with a 230, two 180s and a 150 IF filter set).
KT-815 and KT-615 (stock, future projects and/or spare parts)

Pioneer:
TX-9100 (pair, both recapped and both excellent on local broadcasts)
TX-8100 (recapped and pretty good sounding too)
TX-7800 (re-capped and excellent for AM with AM wide/narrow switch, good for FM)
TX-9800 (two of these, both re-capped and both excellent sounding but don't hold alignment very well)

Sansui:
TU-717 (recapped, excellent sensitivity and great audio quality - almost as good as the modded Kenwood KT-7500)
AU-D9 (recapped, excellent audio quality, half the push button presets don't work)

Marantz:
150 (recapped, OK as a tuner, needs better alignment, CRT is awesome to watch)
115b (recapped and excellent sounding tuner)
2120 (recapped, OK but nothing special)

Overall, the better Kenwoods are my favorites, the high-end pioneers are close behind, the Sansuis are excellent, but the Marantz tuners are inferior - except the Marantz 150's 'scope is just plain fun to watch. Separate analog tuner units are generally superior to analog receivers from the 1970s era, but some of the Pioneer receivers have pretty good FM tuner boards.

I use a 14-element FM boom antenna 30-feet up on a tower with a rotor for DXing, and have pulled in good FM stereo signals from at least 120 miles distant with this setup on good analog tuners. Those cheap, omni-directional rooftop antennas with two aluminum ovals crossed at 90 degrees work pretty good too in a pinch. Di-pole antennas are just basic and must be moved around as they are directional, but a great tuner will use those pretty well. In fact, a great tuner will work fine for local FM stations with just a six-inch wire stuck into the center of the 75-ohm socket.
 
Namvet- how much or in your words, how better is the modded KT-7500 over the unmodded. I have one that i am impressed with and use it as my everyday tuner and have contemplated modding it. Also it you can, what type of mods were performed on it? Thanks for your input in this matter.
 
DaWoofer said:
Namvet- how much or in your words, how better is the modded KT-7500 over the unmodded. I have one that i am impressed with and use it as my everyday tuner and have contemplated modding it. Also it you can, what type of mods were performed on it? Thanks for your input in this matter.
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i am not namvet, but i will throw in my two cent's worth. i had a stock but mint kt8300. it worked perfectly, had excellent reception, ok dynamics, and excellent timbre. but its soundstaging was so flat that it ranked towards the bottom of almost a hundred tunas that have gone thru my rig. and, this is supposedly a step above the kt7500. on the other hand, i also owned a modded kt7500, and it was near the top. only its lack of ultimate quieting held it back. but sonically, it was superb.

not that it's gospel or anything, but check out jim rivers' shootouts over on the fmtunerinfo.com site and see where he ranks the stock kt7500. and note that one of his all-time fave tunas is his modded kt7500.

so, if you like your stock kt7500, i strongly urge getting it modded. ;)

ymmv,

doug s.
 
Not much in common between the KT-8300 and 7500.. The 7500 is a conventional and simple tuner, where as the KT-8300 was a statement tuner with Kenwoods latest technology of the time. Sometimes simple just sounds better.
 
Punker X said:
Not much in common between the KT-8300 and 7500.. The 7500 is a conventional and simple tuner, where as the KT-8300 was a statement tuner with Kenwoods latest technology of the time. Sometimes simple just sounds better.
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that may be true in some cases, but i would be surprised if it's the case here. i have heard from too many fm tuna fans that the stock wintage analog kt-series kenwoods sound average at best, but modding them is a different story. i found this to be basically true as well. while i never owned a stock kt7500 (and i never heard anyone say it sounds better stock than a kt8300), i also owned a kt5500 that was basically nos - its simplicity was no benefit. (one simple tuna that sounds excellent, tho not better than its more complicated brother is the philips ah185 - a worthy competitor to its slightly better ah673 relative.)

doug s.
 
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