Tuner!!!
PreCd
Posts: 786
I am wanting to buy a tuner for my system. What would everyone recommend?
SDA2BTL
Marantz CD5004
Adcom GFA-545
Bottlehead Quickie Tube Preamp
Marantz CD5004
Adcom GFA-545
Bottlehead Quickie Tube Preamp
Post edited by PreCd on
Comments
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Do you want analog or digital? Does it need to match the rest of your system and if it does, then let us know what you have already. Some of the older analog tuners are really cool pieces, but it really depends on what your plans are. Some are better at pulling in distant stations whereas others do better at seperating multiple stations that are near each other on the dial. If you provide a little more info, I am sure many on here can provide you with more specific suggestions.2-ch System: Parasound P/LD 2000 pre, Parasound HCA-1000 amp, Parasound T/DQ Tuner, Phase Technology PC-100 Tower speakers, Technics SL-1600 Turntable, Denon 2910 SACD/CD player, Peachtree DAC iT and X1asynchorus USB converter, HSU VTF-3 subwoofer.
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Do you want analog or digital? Does it need to match the rest of your system and if it does, then let us know what you have already. Some of the older analog tuners are really cool pieces, but it really depends on what your plans are. Some are better at pulling in distant stations whereas others do better at seperating multiple stations that are near each other on the dial. If you provide a little more info, I am sure many on here can provide you with more specific suggestions.
I have a Adcom system, black, but am not really interested in any of their tuners. Analog or digital. Pulling in distant stations would apply to me as we do not have many here to choose from.
Thanks!SDA2BTL
Marantz CD5004
Adcom GFA-545
Bottlehead Quickie Tube Preamp -
How much are you looking to spend?
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The best distance or "DX" tuner (and great sounding too) I've owned was an Onkyo T-9090II (T-9090 is a close second).
The best sounding tuner (that I still own) is a Kenwood KT-5020.
The best melding of DX and sound was a Sansui TU-717.
You can spend a lot more for fractional gains, but can't go wrong with any of the 3 above.
Polkie billbillw's brother-in-law owns Radio X Tuners and does great alignments and mods. Many older tuners need to be aligned to sound their best.
You can also get some good opinions at www.fmtunerinfo.comVTL ST50 w/mods / RCA6L6GC / TlfnknECC801S
Conrad Johnson PV-5 w/mods
TT Conrad Johnson Sonographe SG3 Oak / Sumiko LMT / Grado Woodbody Platinum / Sumiko PIB2 / The Clamp
Musical Fidelity A1 CDPro/ Bada DD-22 Tube CDP / Conrad Johnson SD-22 CDP
Tuners w/mods Kenwood KT5020 / Fisher KM60
MF x-DAC V8, HAInfo NG27
Herbies Ti-9 / Vibrapods / MIT Shotgun AC1 IEC's / MIT Shotgun 2 IC's / MIT Shotgun 2 Speaker Cables
PS Audio Cryo / PowerPort Premium Outlets / Exact Power EP15A Conditioner
Walnut SDA 2B TL /Oak SDA SRS II TL (Sonicaps/Mills/Cardas/Custom SDA ICs / Dynamat Extreme / Larry's Rings/ FSB-2 Spikes
NAD SS rigs w/mods
GIK panels -
Nice! Thanks for the info.inspiredsports wrote: »The best distance or "DX" tuner (and great sounding too) I've owned was an Onkyo T-9090II (T-9090 is a close second).
The best sounding tuner (that I still own) is a Kenwood KT-5020.
The best melding of DX and sound was a Sansui TU-717.
You can spend a lot more for fractional gains, but can't go wrong with any of the 3 above.
Polkie billbillw's brother-in-law owns Radio X Tuners and does great alignments and mods. Many older tuners need to be aligned to sound their best.
You can also get some good opinions at www.fmtunerinfo.comSDA2BTL
Marantz CD5004
Adcom GFA-545
Bottlehead Quickie Tube Preamp -
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inspiredsports wrote: »The best distance or "DX" tuner (and great sounding too) I've owned was an Onkyo T-9090II (T-9090 is a close second).
The best sounding tuner (that I still own) is a Kenwood KT-5020.
The best melding of DX and sound was a Sansui TU-717.
You can spend a lot more for fractional gains, but can't go wrong with any of the 3 above.
All three are good tuners; I agree with another early post that what you want or need is a very important criterion. If you don't need high sensitivity or high selectivity and sound quality is paramount... you can probably save a lot of $. If you need all three, be prepared to spend.Polkie billbillw's brother-in-law owns Radio X Tuners and does great alignments and mods. Many older tuners need to be aligned to sound their best.
You can also get some good opinions at www.fmtunerinfo.com
I didn't know that about Mike! I can say that Mike (Punker X at audiokarma) is an excellent practitioner of his craft. My Fisher 500C's tuner was tuned up by Radio X.
I have very mixed feelings about fmtunerinfo; there's no doubt that the site is a great resource for the hobby, though.
One other (slightly heretical) thought -- do you really, really want or need stereo? Due to the technical limitations of multiplex FM stereo (which was an elegant and sophisticated analog technology to provide FM stereo with full compatibility to the installed base of mono tuners; 1961's state of the art), all FM (analog!) tuners will perform objectively better (S/N, sensitivity, frequency response - range and flatness - and distortion) in mono compared to stereo. There are some fine FM mono tuners that offer tremendous sonic performance and decent selectivity and sensitivity, at very reasonable prices. One of the very best sounding FM tuners at my house is a late 1950s Sherwood S-2100 AM/FM mono tuner, bought for $50 and needing only minor tuning up. You'll probably have to spend at least 10 times that for as good a stereo tuner.
