What is the best hi-fi tuner ever made?

[Dan ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ]

H.H. Scott from way back.

We had an HH Scott broadcast FM tuner in our radio station, that at the time, was considered to be the bee's knees.

 

[Punker X]

I have a choice of an Accuphase T 101 vs a Carver TX-11a available to me. Any comments would be most welcome. Currently listening on a Luxman T 450.

So many variables, has anything been done to the tuners. Alignments, recapped. I would say if both recapped, upgraded and aligned. I would pick the Accuphase for sound quality. As found say at a garage sale, the Carver would probably sound better. One due to the age difference, two I really don't like the tantalum coupling capacitors in the Accuphase, but that is an easy fix.

 

[Bob@FM]

...good info here- https://groups.io/g/FMtuners

Eric just posted a spreadsheet done in 2002 by an FM tuner collector. He had the time and money to compare, and did very detailed measurements on what he considered to be the best tuners of all time. Remember, this is simply one man's opinion - same as the tuner "shootouts" at the FMtunerinfo site was also one man's opinion. The local FM environment is a huge swing factor, and so are mods.
https://groups.io/g/FMtuners/message/90372

 

[typesix]

The Carver is excellent if you have weak stereo signals or multipath interference problems.

 

[onemug]

My vote(s)...

Sequerra for SS, specifically the original FM-1... Marantz 10b for tubed.

My 'vote'... Marantz 10b.

I'm going just by sound. Some tuners may be more sensitive/selective spec wise, and that would be important to some but I've always had great local stations so sound was way more important for me.

 

[bowtie427ss]

H.H. Scott from way back.

Yes, the one with the nixie tube display and punch card preset station memory.

At the budget end of the spectrum the Sanyo T-35 has always punched well above it's weight class.

 

[Coolhandjjl]

So what exactly is a tuner alignment, and what are you missing if you don’t have that service preformed?

 

[rmp]

Yes, the one with the nixie tube display and punch card preset station memory

That would be the Scott 433.

 

[62caddy]

Kenwood L-02T acc to this.

https://www.fmtunerinfo.com/shootouts.html

 

[txturbo]

I would like to hear this one:

"The 109 Signature Edition is not only our best FM Tuner but the best in the world. The tuner board is Magnum Dynalab’s best we have ever made, the TRACC MKII audio has been under development for 10 years by Zdenko Zivkovic, it features Teflon By-pass caps, fully balanced output, on board trimmers so tubes can be matched as they are listened to, WBT RCA’s, a brand new tube load and configuration and new Ultra Premium tubes."

 

[KiM3Ce]

New to this forum however have been a reader for a long time. The breadth and depth of knowledge is impressive. I have a choice of an Accuphase T 101 vs a Carver TX-11a available to me. Any comments would be most welcome. Currently listening on a Luxman T 450.

The Carver is common and affordable and has a post-detection filter; it probably is relatively immune to HD noise. It is a common enough tuner that you can find out from other owners. The Accuphase came out before HD polluted the airwaves but may not have a problem; many older tuners are immune. It is much rarer but has a good audio reputation and it's a beauty! If the Accuphase has never been serviced, plan to invest $100 or more in an alignment; I believe it hit the market in the late 1970s. Good luck!

 

[Frank Sol]

This is a completely BIAS choice

https://audiokarma.org/forums/index...ight-what-tuner.265670/page-210#post-15322194

 

[acabdom]

You have helped me a lot. Many thanks.

One last question: On the subject of Exterior Antennas, what should be taken into account?

Do you think that this outdoor antenna will be enough to get a good signal ?:

1DB TELEVES CIRCULAR FM ANTENNA
SKU: TEL1201
Price: 28.53 Euros
1dB Circular FM antenna Televes 1201
This Televes Antenna is used to receive FM radio signals. It is a circularly folded dipole antenna, so an omnidirectional radiation pattern is obtained. It has an exceptional shielding to protect the signal from possible interference or noise, which manages to give us quality to the installation and to the signal.
Antenna built in stainless steel and ABS plastic for a long life and great resistance to the elements. Robust and stable mast attachment even in strong gusts of wind, Supported mast diameter: Ø 20 - 50 mm.

DETAILS

1dB omni-directional FM radio antenna (88-108 MHz) with the Televes guarantee

Main characteristics of Televes FM 1201 antenna:

• FM Terrestrial Antenna 88-108MHz G1dB.
• Omnidirectional optimized.
• Zamak clamp.
• Shielded junction box.
• Protection against atmospheric discharges.
• Shields the signal from interference and noise.
• Extends the life of the antenna by increasing the degree of protection of the coupler circuit.
• FM channels.​

Technical specifications of Televes FM 1201 antenna:

Working band: FM
Gain: dBi: 1
D / A ratio: dB: 0
Wind loadF: N: 27 @ 130 Km/h
37 @ 150 Km/h
Mast diameter F: mm: 20...50

MORE INFORMATION

EAN: 8424450012017
Pickup: FM
Environment: Exterior
Orientation: Omni-directional
Terrestrial Antenna Gain: Low
Dipole: Passive
LTE 5G Compatible: No
UHF Antenna Power: No

Thank very much

 

[acabdom]

I somehow remember one built by an RF guy named Sequerra (sp?) and that was supposed to be tops at the time.

Excuse me
His question went unnoticed at the time.
Yes I am in Spain.
Specifically, in the Canary Islands.
Greetings.

 

[MRL_Audio]

But surely there will be better ones, of higher quality. What are they?

Lots of threads about this topic here and elsewhere... someone mentioned it earlier. Check the following...

Tuner Information Center

 

[ConradH]

So what exactly is a tuner alignment, and what are you missing if you don’t have that service preformed?

The goal when designing electronic equipment is to have something that needs no adjustment when built, and no adjustment during its service life. Modern equipment mostly does that very well. Usually, the more digital methods are used, the less need for adjustment. Older analog tuners have a multitude of adjustments that have to be set at the factory, which also tend to go out of adjustment due to age and handling. Those adjustments are sometimes trimpots but are usually coupled transformers that are tuned to a certain frequency using a ferrite slug. As a tuner ages or gets jostled and the adjustments drift away from optimum, the sensitivity can degrade, the stereo separation will go down or it may not receive stereo at all, the distortion will increase and the dial will become inaccurate. Probably a lot more than that. It might be so subtle you don't notice or it might make you think the tuner is junk. Realigning a tuner takes specialized equipment that most techs don't have and it tends to be a bit of a mystery because factory alignment procedures seem to contain a lot of errors and make large assumptions about knowledge of alignment in general. Even an experienced tech can't learn alignment in a day or even a week. Ideally, you want a tech who's aligned your specific model multiple times. Some tuners are way easier than others.

 

[arts]

There have been a LOT of extremely good tuners since the advent of FM stereo broadcasting. Unfortunately, the quality of FM stereo broadcasting went into the dumper long ago.

Perhaps a better question would be which stations still broadcast a signal worth listening to? Regardless of content

 

[tropicalian]

Sansui TU-X1 is my personal favorite. Here is mine, pulling in all sorts of stations without breaking a sweat.

 

[KentTeffeteller]

Big questions here, what aspects of tuner performance? Sound quality? Sensitivity? Selectivity? Just for McIntosh alone, I prefer the MR 71 (tube) or MR 74 (solid state) for listening to, in most reception conditions. If you live in a market or markets where stations are present adjacent or second adjacent to each other on the band, a MR 78 is a much better solution for your needs. (Super Narrow IF in that environment a godsend, for keeping stations separated and not bleeding into each other)

 

[RickB]

I would like to hear this one:

"The 109 Signature Edition is not only our best FM Tuner but the best in the world. The tuner board is Magnum Dynalab’s best we have ever made, the TRACC MKII audio has been under development for 10 years by Zdenko Zivkovic, it features Teflon By-pass caps, fully balanced output, on board trimmers so tubes can be matched as they are listened to, WBT RCA’s, a brand new tube load and configuration and new Ultra Premium tubes."

I can vouch for the sound quality and reception of this tuner.

Compared to a 10B, MR78, MD106, FT101, MR65B, MR85, B760, I'd take the 109 for sheer listening pleasure and quality of reception.