Kind of an old thread, but has immediate relevance to me today.
I just went through the process of looking for a new tuner, the one in a Pioneer SC-37 AVR is just too irritating. 3 of the 4 tuners I got were digital with costs ranging from free to $60, total cost for all 4 much less than any decent new tuner being sold today. All were much better than the AVR. Here is what I listened to in ascending FM audio quality. All used the same antenna cable, no splits, no two on at the same time talking to each other.
Yamaha T50 - free, digital, very good AM, somewhat harsh FM
Marantz ST50 - not free, digital, AM not as good as the Yamaha, but much better FM, still a little harsh
Luxman T-111 - not free, digital model, pretty good AM, cleaner than the Marantz in FM, would be the top keeper except for the next one
Harman Kardon TU910 - not free, but close to it, analog with changing color dial scale, or will be when I replace some lamps. AM is pretty good. FM sounds variable, depends on source. With good sources it sounds very musical. Voices seem natural. It never seems harsh, maybe digital tuners are like that?
I find that I get more engaged in the broadcast in the H-K than the others, seems to disappear and lets the content come through clearly.
Enough for the re-opening of the thread, Happy listening.
I just went through the process of looking for a new tuner, the one in a Pioneer SC-37 AVR is just too irritating. 3 of the 4 tuners I got were digital with costs ranging from free to $60, total cost for all 4 much less than any decent new tuner being sold today. All were much better than the AVR. Here is what I listened to in ascending FM audio quality. All used the same antenna cable, no splits, no two on at the same time talking to each other.
Yamaha T50 - free, digital, very good AM, somewhat harsh FM
Marantz ST50 - not free, digital, AM not as good as the Yamaha, but much better FM, still a little harsh
Luxman T-111 - not free, digital model, pretty good AM, cleaner than the Marantz in FM, would be the top keeper except for the next one
Harman Kardon TU910 - not free, but close to it, analog with changing color dial scale, or will be when I replace some lamps. AM is pretty good. FM sounds variable, depends on source. With good sources it sounds very musical. Voices seem natural. It never seems harsh, maybe digital tuners are like that?
I find that I get more engaged in the broadcast in the H-K than the others, seems to disappear and lets the content come through clearly.
Enough for the re-opening of the thread, Happy listening.