"4yanx":
I also will throw my hat in the ring and vouch for a Magnum Dynalab. I know what I'm talking about when it comes to Magnum Dynalabs. I happen to own an FT-101 (the original version........ not the newer FT-101A or the more expensive Etude version), and to this day, right after I bought mine more than two summers ago, I solemnly swear by and stand by this tuner 100%. This thing, when it is hooked up to a decent antenna, sucks in stations like a vacumn cleaner sucks dirt out of a rug or a carpet, with a great degree of separation (makes a BIG contribution when it comes soundstaging and imaging), and do so with superb quieting (removes a lot of the fuzz and other impurities that often makes FM listening so dreadful). In the wake of the Pioneers, Sansuis, Kenwoods, Marantzs, and McIntoshs from the late 1960's and the 1970's, I would say that my FT-101 can at least rival some of these gems that were produced during that era, holding its own against most of them, only to be surpassed by the high-end designs of the day (like the Marantz 10B of the mid 1960's, and the McIntosh MR-67 and MR-71 of the late 1960's to early 1970's). But when it is compared with anything that has been produced over the last twenty years or so, it beats the living hell out of anything produced back then (meaning the 1980's) as well as today. And unless you're a serious FM afficionado (in which case, I would go for something like a MD-108), an FT-101, FT-101A or Etude is all most of us should need if we are in need of a good tuner that is reasonably priced. And amazingly enough, Magnum Dynalabs seem to hold their value quite well. Like I said, I bought my FT-101 back in 2000, for the sum of $590.00 (on "e-bay"), and I believe that this VERY SAME tuner has retailed for $495.00 when it has made its debut back in 1985. Now, if that's not holding its value, then I don't know what is to quite honest with you. Being that until the MD-90 was introduced last year, the FT-101A was available for a long time, and the last time I checked, an FT-101A was retailing for around $875.00 to $900.00. I wonder how much a used FT-101A or Etude in mint condition would go for now on the used market. Through a many of system upgrades now and in the future, equipment will come, and equipment will go. But along with maybe my Nakamichi BX-300 (unless a ZX-9 or a CR-7A comes along), my FT-101 stays. Neither one of those components will never be offered for sale. That's how highly I think of this tuner. If that's not a glowing endorsement, then I don't know what is.
Hope you find your tuner real soon.
--Charles--
