Can anyone recommend an FM Receiver that would play into a relatively high end system?
Aside from my rant in previous post re/importance of antenna and the only antenna that will make a big difference (read astounding difference ) is a rooftop rotatable. That is all true. I think my rant also was due to the fact that I have since moved to rural area which I term FM wasteland so I no longer listen to analog FM (limited listening to a FM community station out of Chico, Ca with a dipole antenna in both systems using Kenwood 600T in one and Mitzu DA-F20 in another) I digress. Im so far out in the boonies that even rooftop would not pick up my preferred stations 150- 170 miles away so my unobtanium APS 13 yagi sits in a box in the garage. I would likely be able to pull in Sacramento stations although I do not see much in the way of eclectic offering there. So my rant based in part on being p'o'ed on having lost a major source of music satisfaction. The tuners in themselves are a source of satisfaction similar in effect in how we can enjoy with our other system components. At any rate,, the bottom line here is if you have a station that you are really dedicated to or even better a couple of them in your area and you are using an FM tuner by all means , by whatever means --install a rooftop antenna which will enable the music being broadcast to be at its best possible quality. Again it needs to be rotatable as that dials in the optimal signal strength and with a tuner with multipath meter will help to potentially avoid interference or reflected signal. For me listening to a station where by there are no commercials and the DJ's come off like genuine souls and do not have to abide by a playlist dictated by a higher power but instead play what they enjoy that becomes a good opportunity to hear music that is not mainstream and lets one decide whether to buy it. |
Hi CDC77, One more excellent tuner I'd add to the list is a Linn Kudos. These were $1,800 new when I bought mine, but now see them from time to time on Audiogon at $400-500. I have a very high resolution system and can tell you it sounds great. I'm about 40 miles north of NYC and use a roof antenna and get great sound. Has signal strength info, stereo/mono and wide/narrow band options and remembers them for each preset. Might be worth it to keep an eye out if you see one of these come up. Good Luck! |
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cdc77, You might want to make sure that you have acceptable reception in your area for the FM stations of interest. Would suggest using the radio in your car to make that determination. As for FM tuners, Magnum Dynalab FT-101A has satisfied my needs for 28 years without fail. As mentioned, MD offers used tuners with a warranty. |
FM Tuner Shootout (scroll to bottom to see final rankings): https://www.fmtunerinfo.com/shootouts.html Many would say that the Accuphase T-1100 is the best new FM tuner today. |
Here’s my take on FM when I rented cars that had digital FM head units and I drive in/out of normal/digital reception the difference is very evident. There’s a huge diff in sound clarity. i don’t know if newer home receivers have the same differences. i just mounted a 360degree FM antenna in my attic, cost was around $35. connected my Sansui 9090db and now get4.5 out of 5 signal strength with crystal clear reception across the dial. Absolutely nothing lacking about it. by chance connected my smart TVand now getting around 50 hidef channels too. personally I would not get a stand alone receiver, not when there are so many really good classic receivers available. |
Hi, while I am at my computer I have a Pioneer HD CAR ! FM tuner DEH 33HD. $65 if I remember, with $7 car whip antenna. I only listen to HD FM jazz WQXR. In New Jersey near NYC, very very strong signals. For my main system I have and Outlaw HD receiver, thats why I bought it. I love the sound quality, I am near field so hear everything. What's up with this unhappiness with HD ? Is there some technical reason that it is not much better than plain FM ? I am a Physicist/EE. Regards Pat O. |
patrickorlando What's up with this unhappiness with HD ? Is there some technical reason that it is not much better than plain FM ?As implemented in the US, HD radio uses lo-res lossy compression. So while it can be quiet just like all digital, it sounds much more like an mp3 than a quality FM signal. Note that "HD" does not stand for high definition or anything else. It's just a gag. |
HD creates self-noise that degrades the frankly better-sounding analog signals. If stations would put news/talk on the HD side and music on the analog side, I'd be less critical of it. Many great tuners aren't of the "conspicuous consumption brand name namecheck" Persuasion. By Stereophile's own proclamations, the Pioneer F-93 ("Pulls stations in even after they've signed off") killed all its peers in a very "Britward" biased review. And that included the Day Sequerra. Of the many tuners I own I will only list the ones I use daily in eight different systems, in a rough order of quality/performance. A few sound slightly better, a very few have significantly better RF front ends. McIntosh MR78-The variable bandwidth tuner the rest of the industry was forced to emulate. The only downside to this powerhouse is even when modded, the "Very Narrow IF bandwidth filter" is rarely useful owing to distortion. Pioneer F-28 Series 20 A great sounding and RF-sensitive tuner. Unfortunately handicapped as a DX tuner by its unique Quartz Lock system. Pioneer F-93/F91/TX-9800/TX-9500 II (you could include any of their well-lauded brethren reviewed in the early years of TAS.) Sansui TU-919 (uses Pioneer's variable capacitor) Yamaha T-2 (even better specced than the vaunted CT-7000) A favorite, but no longer easy to find in great condition. Magnum Dynalab late generation Etude. Great sound, not bad RF, terrific ergonomics-positive user tactile experience. Kenwood KT-5020- I bought one fully expecting it to be awful, based on very bad experiences with Pioneer's F-9, 90 tuners. I was wrong, the 5020 is a top-tier tuner. TOTL Pioneer SX-XX50 and XX-80 receivers. None will stand up to a top-level variable IF bandwidth tuner, if the DX stations you're trying to tune aren't adjacent to a local blowtorch, they sound great. As noted by others the big problem with FM is like politics, everything is local. If you live in an area where high-quality music is being broadcast things are pretty much as they've always been. But if you're in an area of the country where the entire bandwidth has been consumed in a tsunami of "CLEAR CHANNEL" and "come be 'wif us" religious broadcast formats, then justifying the purchase of TOTL tuners (and maintaining them) can be a "point of diminishing returns" proposition. After all the back and forth to be found on the tuner groups, in the end, the best one is the one you have if it works as designed and is reliable. Arguing over the placement of filters or the swapping out of minutiae is great fun for armchair engineers, but in the end makes very little difference to 99% of end users. Just my two cents.
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