FM/AM versus Analog versus Digital

Not really comparable when you think about it. All your tuner is doing is receiving a signal from a radio station using a CD player or analog turntable. The sound you are hearing is created primarily by the CDP or turntable in the studio and transmitted over the airwaves to your tuner. A high quality, uncompressed, signal fed to a very high quality tuner will come very close to replicating the sound of the CDP or turntable used in the studio. If you have the same CDP or turntable at home your's should sound better.

Matchstik, Good decision, getting a tuner that is. You didn't ask for recommendations but since you noted the quality of sound from that Pioneer Tube unit its fair to point out that not all tuners are equal, not even close, and the best spec's do not always win the race. Many tuners have great spec's but the designers have ignored the out put stages and the sound can be thin and dry. Many of the best tuners are vintage analog ones which can be fairly inexpensive. Enjoy.......