The best sounding FM Tuner is.....

I own a Fanfare Ft-1. The presentation, soundstaging & tonal balance is near or the same as most of high end cd reproductions sytems given the right signal. With poor signal or crap quality broadcasts it fares no better than less expensive tuners. It is worth spending the money if you listen to a classical or jazz station with quality broadcast signal. Save your money if you only listen to commercial rock & rap stations.

My vote is also for the Fanfare FT-1, as it is (relatively) sanely priced for the CD quality performance it is capable of, with a high quality signal source. I am amazed every day by the music it makes in my home. It has balanced (XLR) out- puts as well, and if you can take advantage of these in your system, the silent background gives an even greater impress- ion of "live". As noted, the depth,soundstaging, etc. are all first rate.

I AM PUTTING MY VOTE IN FOR THE OLDER YAMAHA TUNERS, T85, T80, THEY REALLY LIVE UP TO WHAT THEY SAY ON THE FRONT, "NATURAL SOUND" I NEVER LISTENED TO FM BEFORE MY T85 TUNER BECAUSE IT WAS "JUST RADIO" NOW I CAN TELL WHERE THE DRUMMER HITS THE HIGH HAT AND HOW HARD BY THE DECAY OF THE SOUND. AN OUTSIDE FM ANTENNA REALLYYYYYYYY HELPS.

I own both a Yamaha T-2 FM tuner circa 1978 (bought new for $800.) and a Denon TU-800 AM/FM tuner circa 1989 bought used for 200.(originally sold for 500.-600.). Both these tuners are very sensitive and are available on the used market for reasonable money. The Yamaha is the better of the two. They both have the tube like sound. In fact, I bought the Denon to replace a McIntosh MR-67 tube tuner. The Denon was an A Class tuner according to Stereophile in the late 80s.It is a good tuner but it is not the McIntosh. It doesn't even come close. I have never heard a better sounding tuner than the MR-67.

A second to Gasman's review above. I also have the Fanfare FT-1 using the balanced outputs and am extremely happy. You will think a CD is playing when the reception is strong. This is worth the cost!