Well maybe old tuners aren't the best sounding tuners there are. I haven't owned all of them but have owned a dozen or so. I do know that my modded Kenwood KT 7500 sounds great and far better than my friends Magnum Dynalab that he paid 700 bucks for several years ago. He was quite disappointed as a matter of fact as it sounded no better than the old Denon 747 it replaced. I'm not putting MD down, I'm just stating what we learned. He paid 40 bucks for the old Denon at a hock shop. So I think a good modded vintage tuner can be a real bargain compared to many modern tuners. I think alot of people have also listened without these old tuners being serviced and also without a good yagi antenna. Both are mandatory imo.
Tuner Information Center...gospel?
I am sure many of you know this site. It seems way too many people are taking the shootout opinions as gospel.
Obvious Kennwood bias. Units that are nothing special being rated as something special....ie: Technics ST-9038 and Sansui TU-717(ok, but flat, thin, old sounding).
For what it's worth I have owned most of what this site has in the top 30, and none are better than the Magnum MD-108 (with the exception of the Accuphase 109v).
Most of the top rated older tuners sound like that...old transistors, old(and not very good) capacitors,aluminum internal wiring, Zinc RCA jacks...etc...guys and gals these do not make for high end sound.....if so, go buy some old Sansui or Kenwood amps...you wouldn't because they are outdated sonically. Then the newer Kenwoods that are rated highly...all have cheap op-amp based audio cicuits....again, these are not audiophile parts.
If you have watched the price of older tuners...and these Kenwoods...the site has had much impact on the re-sale prices of these tuners....people are putting way too much faith in one person opinions (which is what the shootouts are).
The Mitsu 20 and the Sansui 919 are very,very good...esp. if aligned and newer caps, wire and RCAs are installed. But better than the top Magnum........nope.
Also, tuners like the top two Linn, the top Naim, and others, are not among those listened to.
All this said, I do like the site, and there is much useful information and I do like the fact that this site may have made people more interested in tuners. If you have a great FM station in your area, or a few of them, then having a good tuner is a great investment. There is useful info on the site, but the shootouts are just one person's opinion.....so do some of your own listening and don't take anyone's opinion (including mine) as anything more than that.
Obvious Kennwood bias. Units that are nothing special being rated as something special....ie: Technics ST-9038 and Sansui TU-717(ok, but flat, thin, old sounding).
For what it's worth I have owned most of what this site has in the top 30, and none are better than the Magnum MD-108 (with the exception of the Accuphase 109v).
Most of the top rated older tuners sound like that...old transistors, old(and not very good) capacitors,aluminum internal wiring, Zinc RCA jacks...etc...guys and gals these do not make for high end sound.....if so, go buy some old Sansui or Kenwood amps...you wouldn't because they are outdated sonically. Then the newer Kenwoods that are rated highly...all have cheap op-amp based audio cicuits....again, these are not audiophile parts.
If you have watched the price of older tuners...and these Kenwoods...the site has had much impact on the re-sale prices of these tuners....people are putting way too much faith in one person opinions (which is what the shootouts are).
The Mitsu 20 and the Sansui 919 are very,very good...esp. if aligned and newer caps, wire and RCAs are installed. But better than the top Magnum........nope.
Also, tuners like the top two Linn, the top Naim, and others, are not among those listened to.
All this said, I do like the site, and there is much useful information and I do like the fact that this site may have made people more interested in tuners. If you have a great FM station in your area, or a few of them, then having a good tuner is a great investment. There is useful info on the site, but the shootouts are just one person's opinion.....so do some of your own listening and don't take anyone's opinion (including mine) as anything more than that.