How is it ? that a tuner smokes the table ???

Khaki8,
What are the 4 stations here in NYC with high quality broadcasting? This thread has got me curious.

I would like to give my old tubed Sherwood tuner a shot on a decent radio station. I don't expect it to compete with a good tt set-up, but before reading this thread I was recently contemplating radio station transmission and whether or not a tuner could be a high quality source.

Thanks!

Thank you, Khaki8!

I have always wondered about why some super-priced tuners have a market. I can understand about moderately priced tuners...

The signal goes through a lot of processing, and is sent over the air, only to be processed more by your tuner. The level of processing can be argued to be the reason why super-priced tuners are priced as they are -- accurate demodulation of the received signal. My questions remain, is the fidelity of the original source is really maintained, and is the fidelity of the original source as good as a properly set up, high quality turntable?

On the question of the original source, the the quality of the cd processors used in radio stations may far surpass our home processors. But it is still digital...

I am an analogue fan, both in photography and audio. In both realms, I have never experienced digital that can capture the nuances, including textures and subtleties of detail, and the naturalness, of analogue. I read a criticism of a digital photo where snow looked like concrete. There was nothing natural, nor accurate about the photo, and it was taken with a state-of-the-art professional digital camera costing thousands of dollars. I agreed when I saw the photo. I believe the argument of digital audio versus analog is analogous.

So, from my perspective, I actually would never think that radio could compete with a high-quality, well set up turntable. Even if the radio station source was analogue, with it's signal processing, I still would not think it could beat direct high quality turntable signal.

Also, isn't radio supposed to go digital in the near future?

These thoughts add up in my mind and make me wonder how some tuners can be so expensive and actually sell. The only thing I can think of is that it is all relative -- to some, a thousand or more dollars for a tuner is not expensive.

Hi Jimpcn,
I enjoyed reading about your system! Thank you for sharing your speaker design; it sounds like a good future project.

Something that came to mind about your friend's tt is about the cartridge and its set-up. Perhaps it is an intrinsically laid back cartridge in its sound characteristic. An analogous situation happened to me with rolling some 12ax7's. I found Telefunkens to be laid back and thus lacking the sparkle of Bugle Boys. During a-b listening, I concluded that I would not buy more Telefunkens because of their sonic character. Other people have reported that they really like this characteristic.

Another thing that came to mind was that perhaps the vta needed tweaking.

Just thoughts...

Your pre-amp sounds really interesting! What issue of Glass Audio was it from? I am actually interested in trying it out. Alternatively, do you have a schematic that you would not mind sharing with me? I, too, am more of a DIY'er. I have old tube equipment that I modify and repair.

Thank you, in advance for any further information you can provide me!

Best regards.

Hi Jimpcn,
The Dynavector XV-1s does not sound like a laid-back cartridge, based on the reviews. The reviews portray it as dynamic and incredible in its imaging capabilities.

I recall the Dynalabs as great tuners when I worked in audio. I never took radio as such a serious source. I will reconsider and do some serious listening after reading this thread.

Thank you for your efforts about the pre-amp information. I am very curious about using a 6080 in a pre-amp! Have you ever checked out this guy's page: http://www.normankoren.com/Audio/index.html ? I think what he does to a Pas3 pre-amp is interesting. I also think his amp is interesting. Heavy projects, but I am considering them.

Best regards.

Thank you Jimpcn!
Happy listening!

Dear Jimpcn, Thank you for correcting which issue of Audioxpress your pre-amp came from. I was wondering about the issue you originally cited because the closest article that I could find that made sense from Oct. 2005 was, "Design a High-Performance Valve-Based Line Amp." And, I recalled you mentioning the phono stage; a line amp would not have one.

2005 looks like an interesting year with the series of articles of tips on constructing tube amp projects.

Thanks, Jimpcn!
(2005 does look like a good year for the audio journal, though.)

By the way, Jimpcn, I did take another look just now at your earlier posts. I see where I was misled. At one point, 3-05-2009 I believe, you said that you and your friends have more than $10k invested in turntables. And you repeatedly mention how the 109 blows away turntables.

I misunderstood. Thanks for pointing out how your pre-amp is line-stage only.

I am still very curious about it using a 6080 tube. It is an indirectly heated dual triode. I think it was originally used in power supply or rectifier circuits. I could be wrong, though. But, how is it used in your pre-amp circuit? As the line level amplifier, one triode section per channel? If so, is there any cross-talk?