Why even bother?


I have some general questions.
How any audiophile could be serious about having tuner in his of her system?
The FM signal is so compressed that sound is way far inferior to the sound from any records, CD and even tape.
Why some hi-end companies are still produce them?
I haven't seen any discussions regarding this matter.
What is your opinion?
Thanks.
misterl
free music programs are nothing to scoff at. An excellent resource for sampling music,and with satilite options, and internet, etc, there really is a bounty choices available. There could be real adventure in this avenue of listening. The tuner like the library is one of the great shared treasures of a social life. Of course, you could run into ruins and muck and - + confusion of bad sonics but real meaning. It is kinda of exciting to me though.
Forgot to mention the antenna: it's a Sony AM-300 Helical indoor antenna with battery powered amplification and manual tuning. This antenna rocks!
Guys,

Again, I am not talking about regular listening to the radio at all.
My point is strictly about listening to FM thru hi-end system.
There is no way FM signal can camper to CD or record in the quality of sound.
Even a strong FM signal contains distortions. This are just rules of Physics.
Sum of hi-end tuners cost $2000-$6000. Why bother to pay for them and not to invest in to speakers, CD player or amplifier instead?
This is my point.

Thank you for your responds.
Misterl, if we settle on a $5,000 tuner price for discussion purposes (e.g., one of the dynalabs is that costly), I agree with you. For my lifestyle, I'd prefer to spend no more than $2,000 on a tuner and invest the rest in other system upgrades or in music. That's because I don't sit in the sweetspot and listen to the radio. The radio is terrific background music. I'm willing to invest in that up to a point.

As a caveat, I hope to never hear a $5,000 tuner since I might then be persuaded to actually buy the damn thing! That's the problem with this hobby ;-)
If your in a large metro area with lots of stations..why not. A good tuner (I have Sansui TU-717) sounds very good!

Dave