I've owned many tuners and receivers and the ones I didn't move along because they killed (these are usually multiples owned, but in the case of the Mac only one) the competition in both RF and Audio are:
Pioneer Elite F-93 (The American underground press damned it with faint praise, which was the FIRST thing that made it stand out to me.)
Pioneer TX-9800 (Not quite as well built as Number three on this list, but otherwise top of the mark.)
Pioneer TX-9500 II (Tied for number 2, really)
Pioneer F-28 Series 20 (its audio resembles the F-93, more than the F-91 Elite does, though the house sound remains throughout the line.)
McIntosh MR78 (The audio is spectacular. The RF is less spectacular because the competition that it inspired has since raised the bar.)
Pioneer SX receivers (from 1975-1981 or thereabouts)
The main grievance against Pioneer is that it's a victim of its own success in terms of both accessibility and post War animus that's only recently been reignited for the same questionable reasons it prevailed (particularly in the Underground press) "back in the day". Just because it's not arcane or Scandinavian unobtanium doesn't mean it's not the top of the mark. But people get to like what they like...
