What are the BEST FM Antennas HELP

Hi Gary; you may want to check out the Fanfare dipole ($85). If you have your own home, and don't mind mounting a 200" boom, go with the APS-13 from antenna specialists (see my review on AudioReview).

NO MATTER WHAT: You will need an antenna that it outside, mounted high, away from power cords and tall buildings/trees. FM travels accross the ground, and is "line of sight." If you are near (within 1 mile) of really tall buildings, you will really need the gain of an outdoor antenna mounted about 6 feet above the roof line.

FM is located just above ch 6 (TV) and wll below CH 7, so the radio shack antenna is about as good as you'll get indoors. There are some that offer "amplification," but that usually means amplification of EVERYTHING, noise included. There are exceptions to this; let's see if others chime in who are in a similar environment to you...

You have a very nice tuner; but it will require a proper antenna, no way out of it! I have been researching this for over a year; it is very complex once you get into the nitty gritty of it.

I would try the $85 Fanfare (Don't get the "other" one, which is a knock-off of the Fanfare), follow the instruction carefully - very carefully - and see how that works. IF it does not satisfy your needs, you'll need a directional antenna like the APS-13, which I love (It requires a rotor and a rotor box w/remote).

Good luck and let me know how it goes,

-Kurt

A company named Terk makes some nice antennas.

You are going to hate this but the Radio Shack FM only antenna (I forget the number) is as good as they get unless you are willing to spend say $ 350. I used a nine foot Channel Master for years until I read an article written by an antenna expert who said the Radio shack unit for $ 30 was much better. I will look for the web site if you are interested. He did give instructions on how to cut the ends of certain elements to make it more selective (which I have done).
So go spend $ 30 and be happy while I see if I can locate the web site.

As an ex-salesman at a high-end store, my experience has been that you can not improve on a signal that is'nt there- in other words, you did the right thing in buying a great tuner and putting the money in the right place but it's not worth the money or effort in buying powered attena's. Just try to go up with one you have, higher might get better results but it's not a guarentee, good luck

Try Antennae Specialties - model 9 should be fine - and make sure you get a rotator and a single length of RG6 (no patch panels) to the tuner.

Radio Shack does not represent state of the art, nor should it at it's mass market pricing. Considering the investment you have in your tuner, you may consider a more elegant solution.

Superior antenna designs are created by the industry leaders, which eventually trickles down to the economy brands. However, the precision cuts, plating and spacing of elements on the premium brand offers that last bit of performance that may be audible with a high end tuner such as yours.

One of the innovators in this business is Winegard. Their products are the latest evolution in design coupled with the best materials and craftsmanship. I use their ghost killer model in my own system.

Their web site offers many designs, one of which should be perfect for your need, depending on distance and conflicting signals in your area.

http://www.winegard.com/products/vhfuhf_tv_products/index.html

I agree that Winegard is one of the best and a leader in the antenna business. A good on-line mail order source is Stark Electronic in Massachusetts. To find it you must be accurate, because Starkelectronics.com with the S at the end is a place in Minnesota.

http://www.starkelectronic.com/winegard.htm

While there is no substitute for a quality roof-mount Yagi with rotor and quad-shielded RG/6 coax lead-in....

You don't necessarily need to have an outdoor antenna as someone above suggested, particularly if you few of your desired stations are distant. I have the discontinued AudioPrism 8600 (?) I think the model name was, looks like a large cat scratching post, it is 6 foot tall! I have it on the porch and simply string the coax lead along the baseboard and then through the wall into the listening room. Works like a charm...

If you were closer I would suggest you come over to my place to see what the www.antennaperformance.com APS-13 Antenna will do. If you by a cheap antenna and you try to get anything but local stations you are doing committing your tuner to sucking a signal through a soda straw. I respectivefully disagree with any of the reviewers that you can take a simple dipole or one of the various car antenna whip types like the Magnum Dynalab ST-2 or Fanfare 2FMG and begin to approach whay you can do with a APS-13 or if necessary a APS-9 multielement array can do for you mounted outside. This is one of the greatest examples of proof is in the pudding arguments and one of the biggest no brainer choices there is. I simply did not know some stations were even on the dial till I upgraded to the APS-13. The Winegards are good but up to the APS-13 (check the number of elements on the mast).

Here are some VERY helpful web sites geared at maximizing your chances at getting the best FM Signal:

http://www.fmdxweb.com/

http://www.dxing.com/tvfmdx.htm

http://www.iprimus.ca/~hepburnw/tropo.html

I absolutely love non-corporate FM and have owned tens of tuners over the years. Trust me on this one, get a great FM ONLY (not TV/FM) Antenna and mount it outside on a rotor (antenna performance had (may still have) much of remaining stock of extra heavy duty rotors, something you will need during icing conditions or long term reliability).

PS: Here is a good article on the APS-14 (precusor to the APS-13):

http://www.wb2vvv.com/Articles/FMDXIN~1.html

Also, you should read the Stereophile article on the APS-13.

I suspect the answer is obvious but my question is: what is the risk of an outdoor tall antenna in Florida where lightning is very frequent?

The answer to the Fla question is electrifrying!!

I have very good results with my Dynalab tuner at 60 miles out, using the Radio Shaft FM yagi mounted high in my attic (for lightning protection) & 75' of RG6 coax. Very likely the Channel Master's, Wineguard's etc. would work better but for my minimal investment it's certainly cost effective.

i am using some little wires that came with my old reciever, going into my Sansui Tu-517, and i thought that worked good, i might have to get something better.