FM Radio, anyone?


I was a kid in the 70s. I remember listening to Detroit Tiger baseball on WJR AM 760 on summer evenings - the voice was Ernie Harwell. And I remember listening to music on our local FM stations, and FM sounded so much better than AM (well, of course it did!). 
I remember the glow of the dial on higher end FM tuners, or on receivers. We had a Pioneer that was nice. But a neighbor had a beautiful Marantz with the heavy horizontal tuning dial. Today I own a Model 19 and a 2215b.

So, today I also own a McIntosh MR87 and I plan to showcase it in a whole house audio rack, with a rooftop antenna for the best possible reception. I also have a Magnum Dynalab MD-108 and I’m not sure where to put it, but it sure is pretty! 
Yeah, I know, the SQ is crap compared to just about anything else these days. And radio stations just aren’t as good as they used to be, or as I choose to remember them (the exception being WXRT in Chicago). But I cannot let go! Anyone else?

mattsca

I setup a stereo and speakers inside and outside st the family lake house.  It has a Bluesound Node N130 for streaming Qobuz and a carousel CD player and my brother still listens to the local classic rock station.  FM lives including the commercials. 

Hello all. Pleasantly surprised to see how many FM radio fans like me there are. I clicked on the list posted on one comment of tuner ratings. Cannot say I agree but the guy is a real Kenwood fan. I have a KR bought new in the 80's stored away , has a remote size of a suitcase but you can only scan at the receiver. It was o.k. 125 wpc. I also have the Luxman 117 and the Sansui T-717 the reviewer liked but in my humble opinion nothing beats my McIntosh MR-71 tuner , last tube job they made before going solid state. It has one more gang than the previous MR-67 so the reception is a bit better. The sound is superb. Live up in the mtns in the sticks but we have several local stations , one oldies , one classic rock only broadcast at 500W , even lower at night. I have a indoor amplified rabbit ear antenna that picks them up fine. Went thru a bunch of them but this is the one you want. It is a NAXA purchased on line at Home Depot for under $20 free shipping. My MR-71 is pumped thru a McIntosh MA-7900 and vintage JBL speakers.

Where I live in NC the FM band is full of stations. A few are better than others, but WSGE 91.7 at Gaston College has an excellent playlist and variety. WNCW 88.7 out of Spindale too. 

I'm still using my Carver TX-11 tuner, connected to my TV antenna which is chimney mounted.  Works well. Maybe not CD quality or even 320kbps mp3 quality, but definitely listenable and enjoyable for casual listening. 

We also have a good classical station, 89.9 WDAV out of Davidson College that has some great programming. 

FM might be getting long in the tooth, but it isn't dead yet. 

And as others note, it is just easier to use than connecting your phone via Android Auto or even messing with music loaded on a flash drive, even though I do that from time to time, especially if I've downloaded something from Tidal to my phone. 

I've been an FM user all off my life, as a young person and a listener it was a way to keep an ear to the ground about Bands and listen to music and banter between DJ's / Presenters, certain Radio Stations were listened to religiously as a result of the Banter from the presenters.

Today FM is used to discover music, there is just do many more Radio Stations, especially when near City Suburbs.

Digital Radio puts FM to shame on the amount of Radio Stations and different music types to be discovered, but DR is for myself as a produced sound totally unstimulating. In my listening place, DR generates a boredom to the point of fatigue setting in. FM on the other hand really does stimulate and adds a little Pep, which is much more wanted by this listener.

I have a Magnum Dynalabs Etude and also an Onkyo T9090 II in my home office.  I live approximately 50 miles from the NPR station and get near CD quality audio.  I have a roof antenna, which helps immensely.  I listen to jazz all day when I work from home.