The T117 was an average sounding tuner with very good sensitivity and selectivity. The audio sound performance was just average though. This tuner, like so many on the market, employed the standard do-it-all op-amps in the audio section yielding the standard op-amp results (thinness and haze).
The Pioneer 9800, on the other hand, was an excellent sounding tuner. It also had all the sensitivity and selectivity of T117 but with much better sound. Full, extended and no haze, grain or thinness. One of the biggest mistakes I ever made was selling mine. I have had many tuners and the Pioneer 9800 was my favority. I still look for one on the used market but to no avail.
So Pioneer does, and did make some nice products but they are few and far between. I don't think the 9800 tuner would have drifted off to sleep if Pioneer had made it longer. They were in such a hurry to cash in on the digital craze and, of course we were the loosers.
Sorry to get off the subject of Odyseey and McCormick. Both of these amplifiers are highly lauded and, in some iteration, are still in production. I don't think either of these will drift off to sleep anytime soon. Digital amplifier technology may eventually threaten their sales but I doubt emerging analog technology will render them to the flea markets since this technology in amplifiers has historically moved very slow.
The Pioneer 9800, on the other hand, was an excellent sounding tuner. It also had all the sensitivity and selectivity of T117 but with much better sound. Full, extended and no haze, grain or thinness. One of the biggest mistakes I ever made was selling mine. I have had many tuners and the Pioneer 9800 was my favority. I still look for one on the used market but to no avail.
So Pioneer does, and did make some nice products but they are few and far between. I don't think the 9800 tuner would have drifted off to sleep if Pioneer had made it longer. They were in such a hurry to cash in on the digital craze and, of course we were the loosers.
Sorry to get off the subject of Odyseey and McCormick. Both of these amplifiers are highly lauded and, in some iteration, are still in production. I don't think either of these will drift off to sleep anytime soon. Digital amplifier technology may eventually threaten their sales but I doubt emerging analog technology will render them to the flea markets since this technology in amplifiers has historically moved very slow.