Tuner Information Center...gospel?

jim rivers is yust one guy in a small room w/a very good, but not cutting edge rig. which is pretty-much made clear on the shootouts site. while i do agree with some of jim's findings, i don't agree 100% w/all of them. (same goes w/the ricochets, which is a nice counterpoint to the shootouts.) but, yust like anything else in audio, the shootouts are only a starting point, not the "gospel", as you put it. use your own ears.

also, realize that jim's absolute fave tuna is a modded kenwood kt-7500. buy one for ~$100, pay someone $200-$300 to mod it if ya cannot diy, & be in tuna heaven. (i owned one of these, modded to the hilt by bill ammons - one of the best tuna techs, & they *are* outstanding, but not *my* fave.)

another point, regarding the shootouts, & how close in sound the better tunas really are, is to consider what jim says about the pioneer f-91, which ranks mid-pack in his group:

"...In a large room, in a big sound system, I might choose this Pioneer over the L-02T...."

but, regarding the md108, based upon my own limited experience w/md tunas, & what other folks w/more experience than myself have said about them, i *do* believe when jim says the mitsubishi da-f20 (which i own), is better than the md108. ;~) the md108 uses a car-stereo chip; for $6k they coulda really made a helluva tuna imo, instead of yust a wery good one. and, no, i am not one of those who gets upset when my personal gear is slighted - the da-f20 i own is *not* the main tuna in my rig. mebbe if i mod it... ;~)

doug s.

76doublebass, i remember your postings, as i am also a joseph chow customer. i went back & searched the archives, & didn't find anything offensive about responses to your postings. in fact, i noticed i replied to one of your questions myself! :>) of course it could be that you were not the only one that took offense - the moderators may have gone back & deleted a post or two. they do that sometimes, if things get outta hand. don't be scared off by one or two folk that may get a wild hair up their a** once in a while. it happens everywhere. as i said, the moderators go in & remove the ugly stuff. some sites i know about have the posts screened *beforehand*. you wouldn't want that, now would ya? ;~)

doug s.

fmpnd, you were not completely ignored - in fact, i replied to you, referring you to more info about the rht-10 on the fmtunerinfo.com site. you will also recall i teased you about the fact that you thought your modded 990bx wasn't as good as your md108! :>)

part of the reason (the main one, imo), that you didn't get a better response, is the fact that the rht-10 is a *wery* rare tuna; (only ~500 ever made), most folk have never heard one. i certainly haven't. i had a chance to buy one a while back, i should have jumped; but it was a bit over my budget. (is the one you have a line on awailable for a good price?) :>)

i would hazard a guess that a stock rht10 would be comparable to your modded 990bx, but, per the info on the site i referred you to, it can be modded to be even better (perhaps the best, according to the info on the fmtunerinfo.com site?)

doug s.

ps - the naim nat-01 *was* in the shootouts; it fared poorly. the one *i* heard was fantastic, imo...

doug s.

hi frank,

i really *do* believe that hardly anyone - on the yahoo tuna forum, or anywhere else, for that matter - has heard the rht-10 - too rare. which is why i pointed you to the yahoo tuna forum's sister site - fmtunerinfo.com - comments from someone there who has actually listened to a modded one.

re: whether or not the rht-10 is worth it, well, there was one f/s here on agon from israel for ~2/3 retail, i personally would pass on that. i *should* have nabbed the one for ~1/2 retail about a year ago. ;~) oh well...

there's really so many nice sounding tunas - especially after mods - that, unless you have lotsa $$$, & *really* like the looks of a certain model - like the rht-10, for example - it's hard to justify spending a lot of cash on something like that. but, then again, i am talking to someone that bought an md-108 - even used, i think i couldn't afford that! :>) in your case, it may be worth trying the rht-10. get it modded to the gills & tell us what you think. even if ya pay top dollar, it *still* will cost less than even a *used* md108. and, you could always sell it w/o taking *too* much of a hit, especially if it's been modded.

tunas that i would recommend modding for an all out assault on the best sound there is, but still at a reasonable cost, would be the accuphase t101, rotel rt-2100, mitsubishi da-f20, harman kardon citation 18, philips ah673, roksan caspian (if this can be modded?), aiwa 9700, heathkit aj1600, & sansui tu-9900. this small sampling is based upon my personal experience, and also takes into consideration "cool" factor. :>)

i await my accuphase t109; it should be coming back from joseph chow any day now, modded up big time. i also have high hopes for this one, but it's not what i would normally consider *bargain*. i was lucky, & got it *right* on ebay a while back - it was japan-spec, & needed to be conwerted from 76-90 band to usa 88-108 band. i think folk were afraid it couldn't be done, & it affected bidding. i was lucky; joseph chow did it for a reasonable price, but it took him >6 months to source the part, as accuphase wouldn't sell it to anyone here in the usa. he had to sneak one in from a friend of his in asia.

i *do* own a coupla relatively spendy tunas, but, (like my t109), i got 'em right, so i can sell 'em w/o taking a hit. problem is - i may have to keep 'em! lol!

regards,

doug s.

hey whatjd, cool - don't bother w/vintage tuna. more for the rest of us! ;~)

seriously, you need to listen to several kt-5020's before you can make a determination as to how one should sound. or, at least get yours properly serviced & aligned. tuna's are far & away the one piece of audio gear that most needs to be serviced & aligned before a serious audition. don't get me wrong - i am not defending this tuna - i have never heard one. but i know i wouldn't be so quick to judge it, based upon one un-serviced sample.

again, the shootout list is only one person's opinion, in one person's rig. i certainly have disagreements with the shootout list, but that does not mean it's patently off base. example: while i *did* think my revox b760 was fantastic, i like my philips ah673 & mitsubishi da-f20 a bit better. and my revox b261, which was thoroughly panned on the shootout list was *identical* in performance to the b760 - i decided to keep the b261 & sell the b760. and, the tandberg 3011a *sucks* - i was happy to return mine in exchange for the b261 i replaced it with. :>)

as far as "ferrari for fiat" tunas go, here's a list of those i have personally tried that all cost me <$100, that i feel can stand shoulder to shoulder w/the best, sonically. some are not the most sensitive, tho:

nikko gamma 1
philips 185
hitachi ft-8000
jvc bx1100
aiwa 9700
technics st-8600
stromberg carlson sr445 (used w/mpx stereo decoder)
fisher fm90r (used w/mpx stereo decoder)
sherwood s3000-III (used w/mpx stereo decoder)

i have not tried the hitachi ft-920, or the mitsubishi da-f30, but i suspect they, too, are winners, based upon comments of those i trust.

ymmv,

doug s.

hey frank, this is a duplicate answer. ;~) check your email...

doug s.