Tuner choice

It depends on what you want.  A lot of tuner affionados are after long-range reception, which makes sense if there is a very good station you cannot otherwise reach.  But if you have a very good (technologically) station in the area, you should evaluate tuners on the same basis as other hi-fi gear.  Namely, how does it sound.  Musical?  Dimensional? etc.

In my area we have on of the best FM stations in the nation for sound .... WFCRi a public radio station that plays DJ'd classical music all day, and DJ'd jazz for three hours in the evening.  I've tested many, many tuners sise by side over the years, and I can name three that are really good sounding and don't cost and arm and a leg:  for tube, a Fisher FM90b or a Dyna FM3, for transistor a Carver TX-11 or an early Harman Kardon Citation 14 or 15.  There were lots of Japanes tuners with better sensitivity specs .... but many of them sounded as flat as cardboard.  With a good modern station and station-based DJ'ng, FM can sound like your own CD or SACD player.

Unsound, I agree that selectivity is an important spec, although frankly it was more important in the past than it is now due to advances in technology  ..... while sensitivity in most tuner gear today is less than it was in the distant past (when FM stations were fewer and further apart.).  Ultimately, however, the tuner is a piece of hi-fi gear and needs to be evaluated as is any other source component.

yyzsantabarbara  ... agree...you can pay a lot more, but it is a bit of a crapshoot today because tuner's just don't get reviewed.  But IME the early models I mentioned will hold their own with any of the recents .... at about 1/50th the price.