I am one of those 8 or 9 who purchased one new from Joe Sausa at New Tube about a year ago. I am very happy with this tuner, not really expecting much, but I have to say it exceeds my expectations in every way. My reference tuner is a Meridian 504 (FM only, probably also sold only 8 or 9 units).
The sensitivity is high enough that it picks up all stations from here to 40 miles north (Corvallis and beyond, I'm in Eugene, OR). I swapped out the stock tubes for EH12AX7s and 12AU7s (the unit has four tubes, 2 per channel). Bass response is good and the mids and trable are soft. I wouldn't say this is anywhere as dynamic as my Meridian but is very tubey euphonic and that is what I was looking. Don't get me wrong, this is very hifi and full frequency, just sounds like I remember my Dad's Heathkit tuner did, which is fine with me. I listen mostly to two local stations, one classical, the other the University of Oregon station that plays everything under the sun (ahem rain these days) from electronica, to latin, to showtunes, punk and weird and back, sometimes all in the same half hour. But all in all for the money, this is an excellent value. It offers true tube sound, the remote works well and has several cool features that allows you to custom program stations. It is well built for Chinese made electronics, is quiet and looks great. Perhaps the reason why people are not writing reviews are because they are enjoying listening to their JD 402As at home, like I'm about to do.
Cheers
Steve
The sensitivity is high enough that it picks up all stations from here to 40 miles north (Corvallis and beyond, I'm in Eugene, OR). I swapped out the stock tubes for EH12AX7s and 12AU7s (the unit has four tubes, 2 per channel). Bass response is good and the mids and trable are soft. I wouldn't say this is anywhere as dynamic as my Meridian but is very tubey euphonic and that is what I was looking. Don't get me wrong, this is very hifi and full frequency, just sounds like I remember my Dad's Heathkit tuner did, which is fine with me. I listen mostly to two local stations, one classical, the other the University of Oregon station that plays everything under the sun (ahem rain these days) from electronica, to latin, to showtunes, punk and weird and back, sometimes all in the same half hour. But all in all for the money, this is an excellent value. It offers true tube sound, the remote works well and has several cool features that allows you to custom program stations. It is well built for Chinese made electronics, is quiet and looks great. Perhaps the reason why people are not writing reviews are because they are enjoying listening to their JD 402As at home, like I'm about to do.
Cheers
Steve