1. Home
  2. analog
  3. 196208-208513

Finding a Great Sounding FM Tuner

The site to visit is fmtunersinfo.com It is unbelievable of the info at the site. About 90 tuners were compared for best sound. Trouble is top ten FM tuners cost $500 and more on eBay. Why a FM tuner? Well, the station does all the work playing different records or likely CDs. FM does not sound near as good as a record, but for casual listening ok with the right tuner. Many FM tuners do not sound good and distorts the audio. FM station quality audio is not near what was in the 1960s and 1970s. Competition was fierce and stations had audio engineers. Most FM stations were all tube generated audio too. Opti-Mods were carefully adjusted unlike now too. As stated top ten tuners are $500 to $1K- too high cost IMO for FM. However, a few slipped thru the cracks so to speak. A Merdian 504 is in top 14 and we are splitting hairs here. I bought one for $140 but usually cost $200. They are rare though. Cost was $1350 in 1991. The Mitsubishi DA-F20 is a cheap top 10 tuner but failure rates are high- no good.  The sleeper is a Hitachi FT-8000. It was not in the Shootout page but mentioned as better sounding than the stellar Hitachi FT-5500 MKII in Shoutouts 2.0. I owned both Merdian 504 and Hitachi FT-8000 and both are great sounding equal in audio performance. The FT-8000 are not known for failure and cost $150 to $220 on eBay.

jimbennet
musicfan2349's avatar
musicfan2349
313 posts
 

I used to think I wanted to add a tuner to my rig. It's mostly vintage anyways so, why not? I even came across one of these not too long ago:

https://hometheaterreview.com/sequerra-model-1-fm-tuner-reviewed/

And if not that, you can usually find classic Marantz 10B now and then:

https://classic-audio.com/marantz/0010b.html

Arguably, both are among the best FM stereo tuners ever made!

But then I asked myself, why? When there's so much commercial free music available for streaming? And as was pointed out earlier, most radio stations now have an internet presence so you can stream OTA programming and not worry about static, the weather, or even an antenna, just an internet connection. 

No, the FM tuner has become a relic of bygone days. The buggy whip, the coal scuttle, the gas light... The FM tuner. All surpassed due to obsolescence, lack of market or by being supplanted by better, more efficient technology.

Happy listening.

 

motown-l
353 posts
 

I live in metro-Detroit where there are still some high quality FM broadcasters. I am using a vintage, Luxman (Alpine era) T-450 Tuner that was gifted to me. It's a mid-tier, 100% analog unit from 1982. I have it connected to an equally vintage Radio Shack amplified TV antenna (Indoors). I find the sound of a good FM broadcast through a good analog FM tuner to be a more laid back sounding stream than their 256K AAC stream, fewer db;s but better bass response.

tablejockey
4,403 posts
 

Always like an excuse to post the 1954 REL Precedent. Inspiration for the Marantz 10B and others. For those of us who appreciate Art Deco/Industrial aesthetic and SOTA FM tuners

5236166-4956512c-rel-precedent-646-c1-mono-tube-tuner-circa-1954-us-tracked-amp-fully-insured-shipping-included.jpg (1200×778)

Until one of these rare birds magically show up in the rack, 65 Macintosh MR71 continues to remind me just how good FM can sound.

Here on the west coast, we have fantastic Classical/Jazz broadcast. R&R-not so much. 

rivington66's avatar
rivington66
89 posts
 

Get a vintage McIntosh MR67 and let the tubes call it a day.

bgross's avatar
bgross
531 posts
 

I had a really great Tandberg 3011A back in the day. I have little need for a tuner these days but If I did, I'd search out another or maybe an Accuphase T-100, also very good.

More to discover