Vintage Mcintosh tuner

The MR-71 has tube electronics, so of course some will prefer it's sound character/quality to that of the solid state MR-78. The RF section of the MR-78, however, is superior to that of the 71 (higher alternate and adjacent selectivity, etc.), and to that of any other tuner you can name. Distant stations, or ones in a crowded metropolitan area (closely spaced in frequency), will be received with lower distortion and noise on the 78. It is in the area of RF performance that the 78 may be the best tuner ever available to consumers. That is a priority to some listeners, less so to others.

I own an MR78 and loving it. It has been one through with the caps being replaced. No problems recommending that tuner. The MR71 and MR67 are also quite good, albeit somewhat differently flavored (typical tubes v solid state stuff). Between the MR67 and MR71 I would pick the MR71. And if I were an equipment whore (please, no one be offended, I'm making fun of my past self) I would own my MR78 and an MR71! My days of owning multiple components in the same category are over. Well, almost- I do have 2 sets of headphones. 

MR78 designer Richard Modaferri offers his update/optimization of the tuner through Audio Classics. He incorporates everything he has learned about tuner design since the tuner was introduced into his update, improving both the 78's RF performance and it's audio quality. He also installs new gold plated jacks in place of the original nickel-plated ones, tests the tuner and provides a written report of your 78's performance results, including charts and specs.

 Richard also modifies other McIntosh tuners. He did a mod on my MR74 last year, and it now sounds identical to my MR78.