High-end analog radio tuner

They exist for sure, some even have built in CRTs showing all sorts of funky wave patterns and that...marantz 10b, 150, etc, all really flashy tuners.  Accuphase, audiolab, fisher, etc...

 

I know that FM radio has been granted a stay of execution in the UK, at least, but i'm not sure of the logic of buying a highend analogue tuner in other countries.

 

Not to mention, are the radio stations you can pickup worth spending a fortune on for tiny little improvements in SQ?

 

Didn't you hear for magnum dynalab?

Yep. Even if you would have the best tuner in the world I doubt the sound quality would be that great anyway.

Seems like a waste of money to spend big amounts of money on an analog tuner. Sending sounds over the air in the analog domain will always have relatively high amount of noise. Not to mention that most radio stations compress the sound a lot too.

Something like that CA 650T is probably right at the top end that is still reasonable amount to spend.
 

 

Sure, there are high-end tuners. Magnum Dynalab builds nice ones, but I like the old all-tube Scott 350B stereo FM tuner I have.

An inexpensive yet excellent tuner is the Sony XDR-F1HD. It posts excellent specs and the serious radio geeks love it. I got mine for $50 with a rebate - worth every cent.

One reason tuners aren't popular is because the really good ones tend to be multiband communications receivers aimed at hardcore SW listeners and amateur radio folk. They tend towards technical excellence, run tests and, typically, have zero tolerance of snakeoil and magical realism.

You can find excellent sets - ones that will let you listen to airplanes, international broadcasts, and much else. The three big manufacturers are Kenwood, Yaesu and Icom. They make a lot of transceivers for amateurs, but also have a few models for listeners. I use an Icom IC-756ProII. Love it to pieces and, yes, it sounds great.

One caveat: the antenna is every bit as important as the radio itself. A lot of people who think radio sounds bad haven't used a good antenna. Ideally, you need an external antenna. Better yet, a directional antenna pointed at the transmitter.

If done "right" the way that CBC Radio 2 does it in Canada, FM is a valid source of very high quality music.  I have a couple of modest Parasound TDQ-150 (mini desktop) tuners that I enjoy on a daily basis.  The live recordings they do are amazing. 

 

This site: http://www.fmtunerinfo.com/  will give you way more info than you need in finding a good quality tuner.  They have done some comparisons and some of the vintage Kenwood tuners are actually very good (better rated than Magnum Dynalab, much to my dismay, being a loyal Canuck).

 

The bottom of this page is their "shootout" rating list.. http://www.fmtunerinfo.com/shootouts.html

Edited by MrSlim - 10/7/10 at 2:44pm

What was posted above is valid (Sony HD radio)- don't know if you have HD capable radio stations up there but I would venture to guess that HD radio from the cheapest tuner (I have a $100 Sangean HD tuner) would trump any multi-thousand dollar analog tuner. HD stations sound so real. I have compared HD to analog and there is no comparison, and I had the Cambridge tuner for a while (mine broke after a day FYI).

 

Although I have not had an opportunity to compare myself, I have read some opinions re HD quality vs Analog that disagree.. 
 

 

I've been a CBC Radio2 fan for years, they've got such a great mix of programming. Live concerts(Canada Live), Jazz(Tonic), new Music(The Current). 

 

It just seems to me that they put a lot of effort into keeping the signal clean, and uncompressed.  Some of Canada Live shows have given me chills..  And they keep an archive of previous shows (not sure for how long) here:

http://www.cbc.ca/radio2/cod/ (Concerts on Demand) I was going to mention a concert from a couple of years ago that featured Tubular Bells done on 3 x 9 foot Grand Pianos..  Glad I found a way to drag it down to my computer..

 

Of course, having a good antenna, and being able to orient it properly is very important.

 

Edited by MrSlim - 10/8/10 at 11:34am

I'll admit I have not read many threads regarding this but I'm not sure how analog could beat a (near silent) digital station. The Sangean takes a few seconds to lock on the HD station when first turned on, it's analog until the HD is locked and it's like going from a cassette to a CD. I've owned NAD and Cambridge tuners and they are not listenable in comparison. The noise from analog is just too much and it is basically eliminated with HD radio.
 

Edited by tim3320070 - 10/8/10 at 1:59pm