Right tuner for the job

You might want to try the Fanfare or Audiolab tuners. Great for your sons and probably good enough for you too.

Warren:

Can you give us a bit more info, such as:
1. Do you intend to use the tuner for critical listening, or will it be used mainly for casual listening?
2. How much are you willing to spend, and are you willing to buy a used tuner?
3. How good is the rest of your system that will be used with the tuner?
4. Do you want a tuner that has both FM and AM capability?
5. Do you want an analog tuner, or is a "digital" tuner OK?
6. Will you be using the tuner to get distant stations?
7. How good is the local radio programming where you live?

With this info, it will be easier to offer some good suggestions about which tuner to buy.

I've had/have several tuners- MAC 1700(RCV), Mac MR 73, Pioneer tx 6200, Scott LT-112B, Sansui 717, Scott tube mono, Fisher 500, 400 , 800 etc. I found the SS tuners to have better resolution and extension than tubes. Some of the more pricely tuners don't sound any better. So try a tuner from the 60's,70's or 80's. when they made the best ones. Also some vintage RCV sound great. Bottom line, radio sucks so don't go crazt spending mega bucks. pick one up at a garage sale for $5.00 & have fun !

Sure here's some additional info on my current system: tuner will be used with Rotel model 1080 200 watt amp, McIntosh C37 Preamp, Anthem CD-1 Player and McIntosh LS350 speakers. I like nice gear and my son's respect the equipment. At present I have a Magnum Dynalab FT 101A tuner which I intend on selling.

A little more info to consider. I live in an area where reception is good. I prefer to purchase a used tuner. I will only use FM band. Don't need AM. Thanks!

Do you need a remote? Find a tuner which offers three "banks" of channel memories and then give each one "bank." (1-10/11-20/21-30 for example) Yamaha/NAD/Sherwood tuners among others all had this feature. Check out the Marantz ST-6000 as well. (For around $270 New, this tuner seems like a decent deal.) Or you could buy from me one of my mint/as new tuners...Sherwood TD-7010/Marantz ST-59. Bill

Thanks for the additional info. Given your present audio equipment, I'll conclude that you want to get a first-rate tuner, but are willing to buy a used unit. Have you considered getting a Sequerra tuner? They were -- and still are -- one of the finest tuners ever made. It will probably take some time to track one down a Sequerra, but you won't ever have to worry about getting something "better".

Not to be rude, but does anybody bother to READ what the gentleman is requesting? He wants something with PRESET buttons, so stop suggesting analog tuners already! =)

That said, here are my recommendations: It would be nice, I think, to retain a tuning knob, but have the addition of preset buttons. Sony did one of the best jobs of this, and their tuners such as the ST-S730ES or SA5ES are regularly available. Also very similar in circuit design concept (and good sounding too) are the Sansui TU-X701, Luxman T-117, Denon TU-800, and JVC FX-1100 or FX-1010TN, but all without tuning knob. I own all but the Luxman, and they all perform very admirably. Note, of course, that unless you have the IF filters replaced and an alignment done that performance can be variable, as with any tuner. The Audiolab is also reportedly good, but can be hard to find.

Yamaha also produced a very good line of tuners including the T-70, T-80, T-85, TX-1000, TX-2000, TX-900, and TX-950/930 (identical with different display colors). The TX-1000/2000 (identical but faceplate) and TX-930/950 also offer station naming and tuning knobs. I particularly like the T-85 for its auto-tracking discriminator, 4 IF settings, balanced mixer front end, and discreet linear multiplier stereo demodulator, much of which is also in the TX-1000.

Hope this helps. Feel free to ask any other questions you may have.

Ryanmh1, I thought if any one would know it would be you, you can have an analog tuner with pre-sets. Good suggestions by the way.

Thanks to all who responded to my question. Very much appreciated. Warren.

You can indeed have an analog tuner with presets: I can think of at least two that will do this: Tandberg 3001 and Yamaha T-7. The Tandberg's presets don't tune the station in on center, however, unless the tuner is absolutely, precisely, and perfectly aligned due to how the system is implemented. Even then, it still isn't perfect. Close, but not quite. I haven't used the Yamaha.

Ryanmh1, I could be wrong about this, but, didn't Fanfare and Magnum Dynalabs offer analog tuners with presets as well?