FM Tuner - All the Same?

[PositivelyMusicallyGeared]

19 hours ago, Eggcup The Daft said:

If you have VPN to the UK, find out about the higher bitrate BBC streams. The current settings are, I believe, here:

https://hifiwigwam.com/forum/topic/127134-high-quality-320kbps-streams-for-all-bbc-radio-stations/

I get some buffering issues listening at around this time, unfortunately because the R3 lunchtime concerts would keep me away from guitar practice...

 

You'll find that these are very close in quality to a good tuner (not of course that they sound the same) and far better than FM if you don't have the dedicated aerial and cabling. I'm in a ground floor unit, no chance!

 

Keep that dedicated aerial as long as you possibly can! The Naim is, shall we say, below average without it. WIth it, quality is excellent.

Thanks for the tip on higher bitrate BBC streams. Another alternative is to find a proxy server in the UK if you don't have access to a UK VPN server.

[mjs]

On 01/05/2018 at 6:54 PM, Pops110 said:

Very pretty. For such a beast.

I still have a Technics ST-3500 from the mid 70’s , was always a very good performer, looked good in that ‘70’s way as well, now have a Sangean WTF-3D tuner, FM, Dab+ and Internet, works ok.

 

[MusicOne]

Accuphase has just released its new FM tuner: http://www.accuphase.com/model/t-1200.html

 

 

The likely RRP of this unit is 7/8K. Would you pay nearly $8K for an FM tuner?

Edited May 7, 2018 by MusicOne

[Scratcher]

6 minutes ago, MusicOne said:

Accuphase has just released its new FM tuner: http://www.accuphase.com/model/t-1200.html

 

 

The likely RRP of this unit is 7/8K. Would you pay nearly $8K for an FM tuner?

Heck yea! I have already ordered mine

[MusicOne]

34 minutes ago, Conch said:

Heck yea! I have already ordered mine

 

You must be loaded, mate.

[rantan]

44 minutes ago, MusicOne said:

Accuphase has just released its new FM tuner: http://www.accuphase.com/model/t-1200.html

 

 

The likely RRP of this unit is 7/8K. Would you pay nearly $8K for an FM tuner?

Somebody who was insane and very wealthy. Perhaps they bribed their way out of the asylum

[rantan]

@Conch

 

No need for offence man. I thought it was obvious that I was just joking

[Scratcher]

18 minutes ago, rantan said:

@Conch

 

No need for offence man. I thought it was obvious that I was just joking

All good mate, I was joking too

[Scratcher]

http://www.audiounion.jp/ct/detail/new/151634/

 

[MusicOne]

1 hour ago, Conch said:

http://www.audiounion.jp/ct/detail/new/151634/

 

 

I can't read Japanese.

 

The Yen to AUD conversion is AUD$4745.

 

I've got an old Accuphase price list somewhere and I'm fairly certain the old (superseded) model retailed for over $7K here. Just shows what a ripoff the Accuphase distributor is. Sure, he needs to make a fair profit, but the difference in price is just crazy.

 

Old model price from PDF below........T1100........$ 7850

 

Accuphase Retail price sheet 1 Nov 2016.pdf

 

 

Edited May 8, 2018 by MusicOne

[Spinnergeoff]

I've had a lot of tuners over the years, and yes, antennae do matter. I've had Magnum Dynalab, Onkyo (various including the excellent T9090), Marantz including the legendary 2130, and have road-tested a very nice Accuphase (gold model, not sure now which, maybe T107) which I should have kept! 

But unless you have very hi-res gear and do some intense auditions, a very good tuner can be any mid-range one from companies like Marantz, Denon, Yamaha, Onkyo and so on. I presently have a number of tuners from those companies scattered around the place and enjoy using most of them. 

 

[Art Vandelay]

On 07/05/2018 at 5:51 PM, Conch said:

All good mate, I was joking too

 

You were bound to catch something when you went fishing with premium tuner.  

[Art Vandelay]

On 23/06/2018 at 2:12 PM, Spinnergeoff said:

I've had a lot of tuners over the years, and yes, antennae do matter. I've had Magnum Dynalab, Onkyo (various including the excellent T9090), Marantz including the legendary 2130, and have road-tested a very nice Accuphase (gold model, not sure now which, maybe T107) which I should have kept! 

 

Hard to beat a humble Marantz ST6000 imho. 

Good sensitivity and selectivity, useful features, and fine sound quality. 

 

 

[Zaphod Beeblebrox]

13 hours ago, Art Vandelay said:

Hard to beat a humble Marantz ST6000 imho. 

Good sensitivity and selectivity, useful features, and fine sound quality. 

 

 

I'll send over my Denon TU-1500AE sometime. It will blow away your ST6000. 

[Batty]

I used to have a Cyrus Tuner, was pretty good in the UK when I lived there, but when I emigrated it seemed to have lost it's edge.

[doogie44]

It's a lot further away from BBC in Oz--that could explain it?

 

On a nostalgic note, it's very hard to beat the retro valve tuners (Leak, Dyna, McIntosh) for great musicality...if only their sensitivity was better.

 

Just my 2c worth

 

[Art Vandelay]

1 hour ago, Zaphod Beeblebrox said:

I'll send over my Denon TU-1500AE sometime. It will blow away your ST6000. 

No need Zaph. I have a Denon TU-1500 too. 

 

 

[Zaphod Beeblebrox]

6 minutes ago, Art Vandelay said:

No need Zaph. I have a Denon TU-1500 too. 

 

 

Then you already know how good it is. 

[Art Vandelay]

6 minutes ago, Zaphod Beeblebrox said:

Then you already know how good it is. 

I haven't done a direct comparison but they seem to be close in terms of performance. The Marantz has some useful features though - such as a signal meter and RDS decoder. 

 

The Denon mostly gets used for a wideband fm link that I've setup with my brother who's 10km away.  The link is on a higher (amateur) band but is down converted to the fm band for easy demod.   

[Zaphod Beeblebrox]

5 minutes ago, Art Vandelay said:

I haven't done a direct comparison but they seem to be close in terms of performance. The Marantz has some useful features though - such as a signal meter and RDS decoder. 

 

The Denon mostly gets used for a wideband fm link that I've setup with my brother who's 10km away.  The link is on a higher (amateur) band but is down converted to the fm band for easy demod.   

Actually, I need to issue an apology. I mis-read your original comment. I am unfamiliar with the ST6000. My aged brain read it as ST600. A much older and quite average tuner. Since Denon and Marantz share so much technology in their recent products, I would expect the ST6000 to be an excellent performer. Probably superior to the very excellent (and VERY inexpensive on the used market) Denon. 

[Art Vandelay]

4 minutes ago, Zaphod Beeblebrox said:

Actually, I need to issue an apology. I mis-read your original comment. I am unfamiliar with the ST6000. My aged brain read it as ST600. A much older and quite average tuner. Since Denon and Marantz share so much technology in their recent products, I would expect the ST6000 to be an excellent performer. Probably superior to the very excellent (and VERY inexpensive on the used market) Denon. 

 

The ST6000 is a late 90's / early 2000's vintage from memory, which I regard as modern these days.

 

The Denon might be slightly older but as you say it's designed to be simpler - though fortunately not at the expense of performance.   

Fwiw, my brother uses a TU-1500 for his end of the radio link too. $50 bucks used from Len Wallis and it's in near mint condition.  

[Tasebass]

...late to the party but I'll give a plug for Rotel tuners...

This RT 1024 sounds more "incisive" than a RT990BX that i also own which sounds smooth by comparison...

Both enjoyable I might add...

 

Tase.

 

[ersel]

On 01/05/2018 at 10:00 PM, MusicOne said:

 

 

 

Guys....way back in 1975, I purchased (new) a complete Quad system.....57 ESLs, 33 pre, FM3 tuner (+ a Fons TT) and 303 power amp, soon to be replaced by a 405 power amp when it became available.

 

I lived with that system for about 25 years and with the 57s until the year 2015.....that's 40 years with the ESLs. I sold the quad 33/405/FM3 in about 2007, as they weren't being used. In retrospect, I should not have parted with the FM3, but the buyer wanted it so badly, he upped the offer and I couldn't refuse.... I remember him saying at the time, that he thought the FM3 was one of the best tuners ever made.

This makes me really curious, since the opinions on the FM3 seem to be really contradictory, regarding the sound quality.
Some reviewers state this tuners musicality, and praise the sound quality, others, on the other hand have stated the rolled off top end, and not being impressed with the sound vs. some vintage or modern tuners.

When I see the prices that are offered for the FM3 from time to time I do wonder whether it is worth the price, considering that at times the Accuphase T-101 was offered for a third of the amount of money added to that price .

 

I would appreciate any input from someone who has compared the Quad FM3 to modern (better sounding) tuners, as well as the input on the Accuphase T-101 vs. the Quad FM3.

[surprisetech]

On 28/06/2018 at 8:26 AM, Batty said:

I used to have a Cyrus Tuner, was pretty good in the UK when I lived there, but when I emigrated it seemed to have lost it's edge.

Not as sensitive, or not sounding as nice?

 

Generally speaking, when looking at specs I have noticed that UK/European designed tuners tend to be less sensitive and the focus is more on selectivity &/or audio quality.  Possibly because the transmitters tend to be a lot closer and adjacent/alternate channel issues are more of a problem than signal strength.

[Batty]

Yeah, sensitivity.