McIntosh transistor tuners....any good ones?

I just moved up to McIntosh gear from Adcom separates; and
you don't have to know anything about audio to appreciate
the difference. I bought a used MR-73 mostly because the
Pre and Amp took up most of my budget. I had the tuner
aligned and checked out by my local McIntosh service shop;
and it sounds GREAT! Lots of presence, midrange and bass
that was totally lacking with the Adcom.
A friend of mine is a host on our local FM classical
station - and when he's on the air it sounds like he's in
my living room. I do have to say that the MR-73 (which is
an older model) does not have quite as good separation of
some of the newer models. If you have the budget - look
into a MR-75, MR-77, or MR-7082.

78 is the bomb,great sound and seperation,owned one and miss it today,the 80 is the same beats except the digital readout and presets.Most of the rest are fairly good I would go for a 77 or if you want AM too a 75.Only beacuse the 78 and 80 tuners are fetching big bucks like all the other 70s MAC gear.Cheers.

Thanks for the input. I had seen a model 78 on ebay some
time back, and the ad referred to it as a tube unit...thanks
for correction.

Glad some else pointed out the MR 78 is solid state.Having just today sold an MR 78, I will tell you that probably the people at the tunerinfo website said it best, and I am paraphrasing "if you want a very good tuner, have the money to spend, want something that will keep and possibly appreciate in value during the time you own it, a 78 is a very good choice in a tuner". It is beautiful to look at, and very easy to use, especially for us older analog guys. Reception wise it will suck the clouds out of the sky, but I do think it could sound a little better. But at the same time, the resale value and the fact that it is a very good tuner are very good reasons to at least try one.

I have an MR-74 and it sounds real good, used. They're all gorgeous, of course, and just take that dial knob for a spin, literally. You know when you get there.

Jakeman, what model Yamaha?

If you cant find a Mac thats in your budget try a
Tandberg with analog tuning.I have a Yamaha thats pretty
good ,but not as good as a Mac or Tandberg. Good luck !

The 78 is not a tube tuner but has been decided to be the one Mac that all others should be judged by and cost more now than when new in most cases - then digital made the scene and no one wanted to believe they were necessarily better because it was just as easy to play a CD than to listen to the radio for the mass consumer. Before it took time and energy to play LP's so the radio still got a lot of attention and air time. There are a lot of good tuners out there but even I still feel and maybe want to even really believe that some of those old tuners including the ones found on those massive receivers of the 70's just bring it in better than some of the models made today - sales of tuners are not exactly skyrocketing so I am sure most companies are not putting much R&D into them. I like my Mcintosh 77 and my Harmon Kardon 730 receiver tuners but they do not get the air time they used to.

The MD108 tuner review in Stereophile back in 1997 mentions some of the great all time tuners, a couple of mac's were
on that list, strangley absent were the Sequerra tuners.
If someone sill has that review I'd love to see the
list of all time faves.

I don't think that McIntosh would sell anything that was not good - all their personnel have that rare pride in their company (obviously, otherwise they would have died off long ago or would be like Marantz is today).

I personally have only listened to the MR80 and 7082 and they both equally had remarkable soundstaging and sound quality. Reception is so antenna-dependant that there is no point in commenting on it. I will be getting a SS Mcintosh tuner when I can afford it but right now I have an older Sony ES that is suprisingly good, but not quite Mcintosh (not in price either...). I have been watching MR78s sell on ebay like crazy for upwards of $1800! I would like to hear one to see what they are all about.

All in all, I think McIntosh is the best and that most people just prefer tubes over SS. I found a friend's older Yamaha tuner (don't remember the model but was claimed to be good) to not have the sound refinement that even my Sony 550ES has. Good luck. Arthur

I own one of the MR 7xxx series. It is easy to use, has a number of convenient presets as well as several other tuning methods, gets AM, and sounds great. On live FM broadcasts, it recreates depth and ambience. It's real strength is in those stations which broadcast MUZaK(tm) in their carriers - no birdy. Many of the tube tuners you mentioned and others are weak there, plus they are fussy to maintain, IMHO. I also own other tuners such as the ones you mentioned.