The new tuners don't seem to measure up to the vintage stuff, I suspect the ability/talent to design a world class front end has fallen by the wayside. Engineers are taught how to design with digital circuits, RF/analog is a foreign concept to 99% of the engineering graduates in the last 20 years.
I've spent a lot of time trying out different tuners the last year or so (Sugarbrie, you're an evil man, you got me hooked on foolin' with 'em). For current tuners that offer great sound and features, there's Magnum Dynalab and Fanfare. To my ears, the rest of the stuff out there does not compare to vintage tuners from Pionner, Kenwood, or Sansui.
Check out
If you don't have the long green for a MD or Fanfare, and remote is a MUST, go to Ebay's tuner offering and type in "remote", do a search.
Good luck, Jeff |
The Vintage FM Tuner site didn't paste for some reason, here it is...
http://www.fmtunerinfo.com/ |
Vintage Tuner Site
Nicotine deprived while experimenting with HTML, not an ideal mix. Sorry for the multiple posts to the same question. As for the Fins, here's hoping they prove me wrong and beat Philly tonight... |
An "RS" series Yamaha tuner can be remote-controled if you you have a remote. (Bought a used TX-540 for $40 and its a nice tuner.) Also, consider the Marantz ST-6000/ST-59 if you must have a remote. Older non-remote tuners are a steal used and sound great. Be sure to get a good antenna. |
Easy: find any early 90's NAD Monitor Series tuner (4300?) tuner/pre(?) or full receiver (7100, 7400, 7600). These all have their wonderful FM tuner with selectable IF, selectable noise filtering, and FAR better sound than their newer T7xx HT receivers, for example. As I understand it the one manufacturer of critical an IF or RF decoded stopped making them a few years ago, so all cheap tuners are compromised. I still use a NAD 7400 in my basement rec room, with simple FM rabbit ears. Great FM, fair but ultraflexible pre, ballsy THX amp. |
Ernie,
I have a 7100 I use in my garage system, good value and appropriate for the task. My dealer tells me the 7x00 series are prone to failure, specifically the power swtich gives out and there are no replacment parts available. Have you heard this... any idea of a workaround if the power switch calls it a day?
p.s. good suggestion, didn't occur to me to think of the old NAD stuff |
This one's easy (if you don't need AM):
Used Onkyo T-9090II
Used Fanfare FT-1 or FT-1A.
I owned an Onkyo T-9090II for roughly 8 years before I
replaced it with a Fanfare FT-1A about 2 years ago. The Onkyo
is better than the Fanfare for DX'ing but the Fanfare sounds
*MUCH* better on medium/strong signals. |
Do any of these have remote? |
Onkyo T-9090II and Fanfare FT-1/FT-1A both have remote. |
Hi Jeff, So I have infected you I see (LOL!).
The Creek T43 is a fine tuner with remote. Upgrade the stock power cord while you are at it.
Too expensive or can't find a used one???..........
then the Cambridge T500 is the same Creek design with a few corners cut to lower the cost (like made in asia instead of UK). The remote is extra ($39), but is good since if you find a used one, it is easy to pick up a remote from any Cambridge dealer.
Upgrading the power cord on the T500 is a must for the best sound. Try the Blue Circle BC61 ($80). Same for the Creek. Also put Vibrapods under them for issolation ($6 each). Cleans up the image a little.
The Marantz ST6000 mentioned above is also a good choice.
If you can live without a remote, some of the vintage Kenwood tuners have great sound. I have a KT8300 and KT6500.
My favorite audio cables for FM tuners that can be had used, are the original JPS Superconductor or its close clone the Millersound Labs. |
When I got my tuner, I wanted AM capability with plenty of presets plus control flexibility and of course good FM sound. I settled on an Audiolab 8000T and haven't regretted the choice, but I know what Finsfan means about wanting a remote control. Does anyone think any of the options mentioned above could fill the shoes of my tuner without giving anything up, but still adding the remote control? If not, I'd stick with the Audiolab (no longer made)... |
Jeff...not familiar with power switch problems. If mine ever breaks I'll probably just hard-wire one of my PCs around it or build a switched PoBox, as I use for my remote monos. Probably improve the preamp S/N too. But again, such a fine tuner sction.... |
The Marantz ST-6000 mentioned has 60 presets AND "preset scan" which will automatically scan all 60 preset stations. Also dual antennae inputs, sleep and timer function and manual / auomatic tuning.
Nice to see such a well thought out product for about $250-$275 new. |
Misterkleef: What do you mean by "medium/strong signals"?
What numerical readout on the Onyko's'signal strength indicator for "medium"? for "strong"? Thanks! |
This is a bit late, so I hope it still helps:
Kenwood L-1000T is the best you'll find with a remote that does everything for around $400-500 or so. The Onkyo and Fanfare already mentioned also do well.
But if you want to get something less expensive, seek out a Yamaha TX-930 or TX-950, which allowed you to switch presets with the remote. They seem to be identical except for the color of the display. They also are designed very nicely and allow you to program station names in. Most don't have a remote with them, but Yamaha should still sell them. It was an option. |
How about an used NAD S400 Tuner? |
Is that there "S" line expensive one? If so, I'd hope it would perform at least as well as the old Monitor ones. I can't remember, but think the Monitor tuner alone was called the 4300? Ern |
