[kramer5150]

lately I find myself completely enjoying FM radio

.

To the point where I am looking to add an FM tuner to my night time listening sessions.

Can anyone recommend a good AM/FM tuner? Doesn't need to be new or current production, analog is slightly preferable but not a must. Above all, it must sound good and pull in weak stations.

Leaning towards vintage marantz... tuner+phono preamp+headphone amp all in one

All suggestions welcome!!

 

[Awk.Pine]

Two things: some tuners sound great, but they can't pull in far-away stations (like my Parasound); others get the stations, but don't sound great. Some do both.

http://fmtunerinfo.com/

Also, older tuners go out of alignment. Heck, new tuners probably go out of alignment during shipping. Probably worth it to have an electronics repair shop tune your tuner, whatever you get, which may mean finding a repair manual.

 

[Turn&cough]

I have a Denon TU-1500RD. I don't know how it compares(soundwise) to top rated vintage tuners but I wanted the convenience of a tuner that I could control with a universal remote. I think it looks/sounds pretty good for the price. It's the only part of my system that I've never considered upgrading. That says a lot.

http://fmtunerinfo.com/reviewsA-N.html#denon

 

[lini]

kramer: If you don't mind nice 80s appearance, I was always pretty fond of the digital Technics tuners. They had very good ones like the ST-G90, but even the more modest ones like an ST-G5 from the mid-80s are properly built units with good receiption and long-term stability as well as proper, fairly neutral sound. If you want a decent workhorse tuner without breaking the bank, it recommend to check out one of these...

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini

 

[Pars]

The Carver TX-11 tuner is supposed to be quite good. Never owned one though.

 

[kramer5150]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lini /img/forum/go_quote.gif kramer: If you don't mind nice 80s appearance, I was always pretty fond of the digital Technics tuners. They had very good ones like the ST-G90, but even the more modest ones like an ST-G5 from the mid-80s are properly built units with good receiption and long-term stability as well as proper, fairly neutral sound. If you want a decent workhorse tuner without breaking the bank, it recommend to check out one of these... Greetings from Munich! Manfred / lini

Thanks for the replies. I'm a fan of both Technics and Denon... looking into it further. Looks are not terribly important. Onkyo, Kenwood, Sansui, Technics all had some interesting products in the mid-late 80s.

 

[MrJoshua]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Turn&cough /img/forum/go_quote.gif

Same as mine... Absolutely fantastic tuner.

Edit: Similar to mine. Mine is the RDS version and it has a larger tuning knob.

 

[kramer5150]

I am leaning towards an HD radio tuner....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD_Radio

Plenty of stations broadcast hybrid-digital in my area.
http://www.ibiquity.com/stationlist....et#stationlist

Any head-fiers have experience with HD radio?
Thanks... all comments welcome!!

 

[Duggeh]

Quad FM4.

Superb tuner for the price used. The FM3 is also good for the money if you dont pay much but is far less attractive and requires you use a DIN output. The Later FM4s had RCAs with a silver faceplate.

 

[riffer]

The best two tuners I have had are a Sansui TU-717 and a Magnum Dynalab MD-106T. The MD was slightly better on faraway stations so I kept it.

 

[ronin74]

Kramer5150,
Funny that you should ask. I've been thinking about starting a thread on this subject; "the validity of FM or is 192kbp > 106.9 khz", something like that.

To make a long short, at Music Lovers, Berkeley, I saw a tuner like mine, I quiped to the salesperson that I was surprised to see the relic in the age of streaming audio. He says he sells as many tuner as he does turntables. Reason: the uncompressed SQ of a good tuner sounds better than a compressed streams.

Anyway, I have a Magnum Dynalab FT 101 analog tuner. Back in the day I did the full due diligence before the purchase and the bottom line, I picked Magnum Dynalab.

I also use their ST-1 Omnidirectional Antenna to pull in my beloved KUSF (90.3 FM) from Sutro to back side of Contra Costa County.

Check em out:
http://www.magnumdynalab.com/history.htm

 

[Dept_of_Alchemy]

I have the Marantz 2238 and it's a great little receiver, the headphone out is quite good to boot. Not to mention the styling...

In my experience the most important component is the antenna, it ain't no use to have a top-rate tuner if you don't intend to use an out-door antenna.

 

[mrarroyo]

Sansui TU9900 or Sansui T919

 

[kramer5150]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dept_of_Alchemy /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have the Marantz 2238 and it's a great little receiver, the headphone out is quite good to boot. Not to mention the styling... In my experience the most important component is the antenna, it ain't no use to have a top-rate tuner if you don't intend to use an out-door antenna.

Yes an outdoor antenna is part of the plan, although I think I can get by for a while with an indoor antenna.. gotta scope that out too

I was talking to the guys at best buy today and a lot of them spoke highly of HD radio, sound quality and the availability of hybrid digital broadcasts in my area. Although, they only sold 2-3 receivers with HD radio capabilities. They all kind of admitted, that HD radio seems to be loosing out to www based streaming audio radio broadcasts. We all were in agreement however that www-streaming audio broadcasts are many times poor audio quality (that certainly is the case with my local FM stations).

Anyhoot.... thanks everyone and keep the suggestions coming. Someone suggested Pandora a while ago, which I'm very addicted too as well, when I am on-line.

I guess the real question I have is, How well does a $250-350 HD-radio setup stack up against a good vintage analog tuner + properly setup antenna?

 

[kramer5150]

This Sangean has caught my attention around the ~$220 mark.

http://www.sangean.com/product.php?model=HDT-1X