I have owned numerous FM tuners. For a $250 budget allocate as follows:
a. $150 for used tuner. I’ve had good luck with Sansui FM tuners. Consider TU-217
b. $100 to have the tuner aligned. I use X Ray Tuners
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.
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Been using a Magnum Dynalab, various models for several decades, they work well for me. Primarily listen to a local, 20 miles or so, station from the local college campus, Ucd Davis, 90.3 on the dial, Kdvs.org on the internet. Fairly low power, 13,000 watts. I use a Magnum Dynalab antenna and their 205 Signal booster and the signal is good, music quite satisfactory for a broadcast signal. Introduces me to lots of good music you'd not normally come across, college radio is at the cutting edge of new music, I've been exposed to so much new music I'd never have heard of, which has led to buying lots of vinyl. It's not as good as listening to my turntable, Linn lp12, but if I Iike the what I hear on the radio broadcast I'll buy the record. Works for me. |
@avanti1960 The Cambridge is a tuner on a chip like my Pro-Ject Tuner Box S except that they didn’t waste the money on a big empty encloser. It’s just slightly larger than a pack of cigarettes and is made from thick extruded aluminum. I would definitely seek out a classic stereo tube or solid state one, even the mono tube units from the early 60’s if you can also find the matching multiplex adapter. Both HH Scott and Fisher did this before the FCC signed off on the FM format currently in use today. Any of these units mono or stereo were so well made that they probably only need a cleaning and a recap and will perform up to spec with the existing tubes and the original alignment. As for solid state, they are even less high maintenance and were likewise built to exceptional standards. Even though, there are very many high-quality tuners are being manufactured today if you’re willing to seek them out and step up to the table as far as $ investment is concerned. |
Thanks for this thread. I love FM tuners but I live in a large city and there aren't many good quality stations left. I own two oddball tuners, an HH Scott 4312 nuvistor that my dad bought in 1963, and a Pioneer Series 20 F26 that I got directly from the first owner ($85.00). They are both amazing pieces of gear and sound dramatically different from each other. Neither are currently in use as I moved recently and haven't set things up. I agree with the need for a good directional antenna. |
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