The best sounding FM Tuner is.....

It's not just for the car. You might start with Stereophile's recommended components. Then you might try the various mail order highend dealers, to see if you can audition any contendors. I use an ADCOM GTP-350 as the tuner, and it sounds pretty good. My Sennheiser HD-600's with my 10 year old AM/FM Walkman are unmistakably highend and high-rez. The classical station waylays me for long periods of time with these, and the inside of my skull becomes 300 feet in diameter...

affordable? Creek tuners,and of course Magnum Dynalab. This company makes only tuners. The 108 is a benchmark,102 about 90% performance at 1/2 price ,Etude 85% of performance for 1/3 price of 108.

The PILOT 380 is by far the very best fm tuner ever made! Get one and listen carefully.

So far I enjoy my 23 year old Accuphase T-100 best of all. When it came out it was slated as an MR78 killer....I am lucky enough to have several stations that broadcast live classical and "unplugged" music. This tuner recreates the spatiality well, unlike other tuners. I stress the importance of the best aerial you can install!!!

You might also try to find an older Nikko Gamma. These were very high quality and extremely musical. I picked my Gamma 20 up at a pawn shop for $45, it's list price was $495. If you have a good FM station nearby, a good tuner is worth having.