I'm listening to my local station now. FM today has the same limitations it's always had. Limited frequency response and noise. Still sounds darn good on a good station.
Vintage Tuner-Only wonderful because it's the SOUND I grew up with?.....
I scooped up a lovely vintage 70s, Nikko FAM 500 Tuner.
When I work from home, I will stream certain Chicagoland radio stations while working. Several have pretty strong data over stream - per Roon's readings of the connection.
I plumped the cute yet smartly designed Nikko into place and the machine sounds great! I've only listened to FM stereo so far. It's been hours, so who knows? But I sure am enjoying a smooth sound with a bit wider soundstage--I know those to be true.
I wonder for a second.. . What was so wrong with radio when played over just decent equipment?
So, do vintage tuners have a subjective sound quality that makes them enjoyable? Or is this the sound I grew up with, which is just great with faults.