Finding a Great Sounding FM Tuner

@jimbennet Not sure if you might already know but if you want to pickup broadcasted FM and esp if you have a certain section of the band you happen to prefer in your area, it's fairly easy to make an antenna tuned to that band or even station.  It's a simple FM dipole with each "pole" being a certain length.  You need the formula but it's that easy.  People might like my story about living in Puerto Rico (dad in the Navy) and how my fav station was on the other side of a small mountain making it almost impossible to get.  I made the antenna and not only got it but was perfect 100% of time.  It was like magic and sounded great!

"My price range is $250 maximum"

jimbennet-.

your max makes finding much of anything good or bad difficult.

If you can find a Cambridge Audio 550/650T it may be near your threshold.

This is just for example

Cambridge Audio Azur 550T Black AM/FM Tuner + Remote *TOP Condition* | eBay

I used one before deciding a wanted a tube tuner(Macintosh MR71)

Should be priced near what you want to pay.

Love my vintage Marantz 10b. That oscilloscope is just too cool! Yet I feel I don't use it enough, and will probably sell to someone who will appreciate it more. And yes, a decent or better yet, a good and well-placed antenna is helpful.

@mapman it's awesome when Hitachi gets some love. Use my Hitachi tuner every day, listen to the morning show, have it on when I'm working. For me the tuner sounds so much better over streaming the same stations. They sound compressed and lifeless on my system. 

Tuners have been going down in price as demand is going down. Really search local FBM and Craigslist. There are a ton on there, most are in your budget. Around me there are some Mac and Luxman tuners that people want over $1000 for, they have been there for quite some time. 

I have a KLH model 18 tuner that I bought at a garage sale for $3.00. I sorted it out and used it for years. I modified it to use crystals for the Intermediate Frequency amplifiers so they wouldn’t go out of tune. I liked the mid century style of it, so much I bought a KLH model 21 FM radio. I refurbished it and it gets played in the kitchen every day.

In my bike shop in the basement I have an RCA 8R71 which was made about 1949. It uses a single-ended ultra linear output section. I found it in a junk shop up north about 20 years ago and refurbished it. It looks right at home in my shop since I tend to have really old bikes. 

The radios get more use than the tuners.

In my bedroom system, again due to its mid century appearance, I have a refurbished Realistic TM175 (FM only version). I guess I like rotary dials. I found that the Realistic stuff can easily out perform its specs if you spend a little time doing a complete alignment. I have a theory (having worked in the Allied Radio Shack service department decades ago) that Tandy kept their prices a bit lower by not having as much technician time spent on their products. 

My main system has a Dynaco FM-5, completely refurbished. It mostly gets played on Saturdays about once a month or less. 

There are two stations in town that are hard to pick up because they are low power college stations. I’m far more likely to hear something new and interesting listening to them. One of them does not stream.  As long as I can pick them up I’m not too concerned what tuner does it and all of my radios and tuners can.