[3moons]

Almost seventy tuner reviews to date. jim...

http://www.fmtunerinfo.com/shootouts.html#FT-101

[warnerwh]

Jim: Thanks for the update. Still love the modded Kenwood.

[Daniel]

The shootout series is fantastic.  Congrats on the latest update, Jim.  Its a valuable addition.  Don't forget to post your impressions of the SN tubedac vs. the Ack! dAck!

[3moons]

Hello Daniel, I do need to do the DAC thoughts. I'm keeping the Scott-Nixon DAC. It suits my tastes the best. More later. jim...

[vfrpilot]

Where are the Creek Tuners? I have a T-41 and I believe a T-43 exists. I would be interested to see where they fit.

aaron

[3moons]

I would love to try a Creek and probably will this year as one comes available. jim...

[doug s.]

creeks' latest offering is the t50.  i haven't heard it, but i have heard the t43.  it's nice, but does not hold a candle to the tandberg 3001a, for one, either sonically, or reception-wise.  

now, some may say that wouldn't be a surprise, considering how well-regarded (and expensive!) the 3001a is/was.  well, the 3001a *is* a nice tuna, but i have several that i prefer to my 3001a, which has been refurb'd by a t'berg specialist.  like the philips 185, onix bwd-1, modded hk citation 18, technics st-8600, sansui tu-719.  tuna that i own or have owned, that would be in the same league as the 3001a (i'd have t do direct a-b to be more definitive), are revox b261, revox b760, meridian 204...  the yamaha t2 was only a hair off the 3001's pace, & only in the extreme low bass, which i'd have never known, imo, if i dint have a pair of vmps larger subs in the system where i compared 'em...  

i just today received a rotel rt-2100 which i'm anxious to give a listen to...  

doug s.

[niklasthedolphin]

creeks' latest offering is the t50.  i haven't heard it, but i have heard the t43.  it's nice, but does not hold a candle to the tandberg 3001a, for one, either sonically, or reception-wise.  

now, some may say that wouldn't be a surprise, considering how well-regarded (and expensive!) the 3001a is/was.  well, the 3001a *is* a nice tuna, but i have several that i prefer to my 3001a, which has been refurb'd by a t'berg specialist.  like the philips 185, onix bwd-1, modded hk citation 18, technics st-8600, sansui tu-719.  tuna that i own or have owned, that would be in the same league as the 3001a (i'd have t do direct a-b to be more definitive), are revox b261, revox b760, meridian 204...  the yamaha t2 was only a hair off the 3001's pace, & only in the extreme low bass, which i'd have never known, imo, if i dint have a pair of vmps larger subs in the system where i compared 'em...  

i just today received a rotel rt-2100 which i'm anxious to give a listen to...  

doug s.

Modified

"dolph"

[doug s.]

creeks' latest offering is the t50.  i haven't heard it, but i have heard the t43.  it's nice, but does not hold a candle to the tandberg 3001a, for one, either sonically, or reception-wise.  

now, some may say that wouldn't be a surprise, considering how well-regarded (and expensive!) the 3001a is/was.  well, the 3001a *is* a nice tuna, but i have several that i prefer to my 3001a, which has been refurb'd by a t'berg specialist.  like the philips 185, onix bwd-1, modded hk citation 18, technics st-8600, sansui tu-719.  tuna that i own or have owned, that would be in the same league as the 3001a (i'd have t do direct a-b to be more definitive), are revox b261, revox b760, meridian 204...  the yamaha t2 was only a hair off the 3001's pace, & only in the extreme low bass, which i'd have never known, imo, if i dint have a pair of vmps larger subs in the system where i compared 'em...  

i just today received a rotel rt-2100 which i'm anxious to give a listen to...  

doug s.

Now, I know this thread is long gone, gray, old and retired.

But I have to comment on this statement that, in itself, is out of allignment.

I listened carefully to most of the mentioned tuners in this post I quote.
And I totaly disagree.
There must be something completely wrong with your 3001A or with the rest of you equipment or borth.

I can only come to think of two tuners of the many 100's I've put my ears to that can compete with the 3001A.
Those are the Day Sequerra Studio 1 and the Magnum Dynalab MD-109.

Hey...............I'm just comming in here now to make sure no one out there let themselves fool by this mysterious post about a lot of crap-tuna's sonicaly outperforming the best of them all.

"dolph"

hi dolph,

fyi, there's nothing wrong w/my 3001a's, or the rest of my equipment.  (but, i no longer own either of the 3001a's i used to own - i sold them both.)  as prewiously stated, one was completely refurb'd and aligned, w/a mild power supply cap upgrade by heinz preiss, a well-respected tandberg specialist.  it sounded the same as the un-serviced unit.  now, while i have never heard the md109, & i only heard the sequerra in a casual listening setting, it doesn't surprise me that you think these will compete w/the 3001a.  based on ears i trust, these are also good but highly over-rated tunas as well.  (well, actually, i confess i haven't heard much about the new md109, it's the md108 i have heard about.  maybe md finally has come out w/a top-tier tuna - for $9k, i would hope so.  but, if i were in the market for a new tuna, based on my experience w/the lower-end md's, and on what others who have heard the md102/106/108 have said about them, i would, w/o hesitation buy the accuphase t1000.)

as for "the rest of my system", well, there have been a couple of constants in it for about +ten years - preamp, fono, digital, subs.  speakers, amps (and tunas, of course), have changed more frequently.  in fact, with about 35 tunas presently, i swap them out every week or three...   

equipment constants are a highly modded melos ma333r preamp, oracle delphi turntable upgraded to mkv specs, w/origin-live dc motor kit powered by a lab-grade hewlett packard p/s.  fono stage is pentagon ps-3.  digital system is based on a highly modded art di/o, which has withstood direct a-b comparisons to several digital rigs up to $8k, even as recently as earlier this year.  i have used it w/warious transports; presently i am using an audio alchemy acd-pro, which uses the inwerted pioneer stable-platter mechanism.  a pair of vmps larger subs driven by a pair of electrocompaniet aw75dmb amps have also been a mainstay; x-over was a marchand unit, recently replaced by a deqx 2.6.  main speakers have included meret re's, proac tablette 8 reference signatures, coincident victory's, sansui sp2500's, piega p5 ltd mkll, custom built upgraded dillon acoustics ego's.  i am presently enamored of a horn system consisting of a pair of oris 150 horns w/fostex fe206e drivers sitting atop a pair of heavily modified klipsch lascala bass bins, loaded w/15" fostex pro-audio woofers.  yes, they're still actively crossed to the vmps subs.  main speaker amps have include custom-designed home-brew set amps - one el84 based, the other 6v6 based.  other amps have included modded/refurb'd electrohome 6aq5-based p/p amp, el84 set mono block amps pulled from an akai m8 tape deck, sharp digital amp, audio mirror 6c33c-based set mono blocks, mesa baron.  i am presently using a modded almarro a205a mkll on my oris 150's, w/a rawsonte-built gainclone on the lascala bass-bins...

i use separate isolation transformers on each piece of digital gear, & everything is run thru balanced power conditioners.

further listening since i first posted in this "long gone, gray, old and retired" thread, would now have me rank the revox b261 & b760 above the 3001a, not its equal.  and, to add to the list of 3001a equals, besides the yamaha t2, i would add three bargain-priced sleepers:  jvc fx1100bk & hitachi ft8000, & creek cs3140.  (yes, i would wager the cs3140 is better than the newer t43.)  a bargain sleeper i would rather listen to than the the 3001a is a well sorted out nikko gamma 1.  yes, i have also listened to >100 tunas in the past ten years...

a few of my fave tunas that are definitely better sonically than the 3001a, (imo, of course), that i still own include modded/refurb'd sherwood s3000v, never-serviced sherwood s3000lll mono w/studio-12 mpx, never-serviced sherwood s2100-ll, stromberg-carlson sr445 w/studio-12 mpx (this has abysmal sensitivity), never-serviced aiwa at-9700u, never-serviced rotel rht-10, roksan caspian, sansui fm8 mono w/studio-12 mpx, modded-refurb'd sansui tu9900, modded-refurb'd sansui tu-x1,  modded-refurb'd sony st-a6b, never-serviced paco st-45 w/studio-12 mpx, heathkit aj1600, both never serviced, & refurb'd/modded.  and, of course, there's my long-standing fave, certainly competitive w/the best, at a relatively bargain price - my modded/refurb'd hk citation 18.  in fact, i stumbled across this tuna years ago, after conversing w/an audiophile tuna addict, who was in the biz.  he sold sequerra, tandberg, marantz, mcintosh, among others, & he owned all their best tunas.  but, his stock hk 18 was his fave, & the one he kept. 

tunas that i no longer own, but still consider a step above the 3001a include aligned accuphase t100, never-serviced accuphase t101, modded/aligned accuphase t109, mitsubishi da-f20, both never serviced, & refurb'd/modded, philips ah6731, sansui tu-719, refurb'd/modded kenwood l-07tll, refurb'd/modded technics st-9030...

for more "mysterious posts", by myself and a lot of other tunaholics, go to the yahoo tuna forum:
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/FMtuners/

i know there's a lot of folks who think the 3001a is the best tuna out there.  sorry, i am not one of them.  (there's also a lot of folks who think the mcintosh tunas are the best, i am not one of those folks either...)

as always, ymmv,

doug s.

[niklasthedolphin]

creeks' latest offering is the t50.  i haven't heard it, but i have heard the t43.  it's nice, but does not hold a candle to the tandberg 3001a, for one, either sonically, or reception-wise.  

now, some may say that wouldn't be a surprise, considering how well-regarded (and expensive!) the 3001a is/was.  well, the 3001a *is* a nice tuna, but i have several that i prefer to my 3001a, which has been refurb'd by a t'berg specialist.  like the philips 185, onix bwd-1, modded hk citation 18, technics st-8600, sansui tu-719.  tuna that i own or have owned, that would be in the same league as the 3001a (i'd have t do direct a-b to be more definitive), are revox b261, revox b760, meridian 204...  the yamaha t2 was only a hair off the 3001's pace, & only in the extreme low bass, which i'd have never known, imo, if i dint have a pair of vmps larger subs in the system where i compared 'em...  

i just today received a rotel rt-2100 which i'm anxious to give a listen to...  

doug s.

Now, I know this thread is long gone, gray, old and retired.

But I have to comment on this statement that, in itself, is out of allignment.

I listened carefully to most of the mentioned tuners in this post I quote.
And I totaly disagree.
There must be something completely wrong with your 3001A or with the rest of you equipment or borth.

I can only come to think of two tuners of the many 100's I've put my ears to that can compete with the 3001A.
Those are the Day Sequerra Studio 1 and the Magnum Dynalab MD-109.

Hey...............I'm just comming in here now to make sure no one out there let themselves fool by this mysterious post about a lot of crap-tuna's sonicaly outperforming the best of them all.

"dolph"

hi dolph,

fyi, there's nothing wrong w/my 3001a's, or the rest of my equipment.  (but, i no longer own either of the 3001a's i used to own - i sold them both.)  as prewiously stated, one was completely refurb'd and aligned, w/a mild power supply cap upgrade by heinz preiss, a well-respected tandberg specialist.  it sounded the same as the un-serviced unit.  now, while i have never heard the md109, & i only heard the sequerra in a casual listening setting, it doesn't surprise me that you think these will compete w/the 3001a.  based on ears i trust, these are also good but highly over-rated tunas as well.  (well, actually, i confess i haven't heard much about the new md109, it's the md108 i have heard about.  maybe md finally has come out w/a top-tier tuna - for $9k, i would hope so.  but, if i were in the market for a new tuna, based on my experience w/the lower-end md's, and on what others who have heard the md102/106/108 have said about them, i would, w/o hesitation buy the accuphase t1000.)

as for "the rest of my system", well, there have been a couple of constants in it for about +ten years - preamp, fono, digital, subs.  speakers, amps (and tunas, of course), have changed more frequently.  in fact, with about 35 tunas presently, i swap them out every week or three...   

equipment constants are a highly modded melos ma333r preamp, oracle delphi turntable upgraded to mkv specs, w/origin-live dc motor kit powered by a lab-grade hewlett packard p/s.  fono stage is pentagon ps-3.  digital system is based on a highly modded art di/o, which has withstood direct a-b comparisons to several digital rigs up to $8k, even as recently as earlier this year.  i have used it w/warious transports; presently i am using an audio alchemy acd-pro, which uses the inwerted pioneer stable-platter mechanism.  a pair of vmps larger subs driven by a pair of electrocompaniet aw75dmb amps have also been a mainstay; x-over was a marchand unit, recently replaced by a deqx 2.6.  main speakers have included meret re's, proac tablette 8 reference signatures, coincident victory's, sansui sp2500's, piega p5 ltd mkll, custom built upgraded dillon acoustics ego's.  i am presently enamored of a horn system consisting of a pair of oris 150 horns w/fostex fe206e drivers sitting atop a pair of heavily modified klipsch lascala bass bins, loaded w/15" fostex pro-audio woofers.  yes, they're still actively crossed to the vmps subs.  main speaker amps have include custom-designed home-brew set amps - one el84 based, the other 6v6 based.  other amps have included modded/refurb'd electrohome 6aq5-based p/p amp, el84 set mono block amps pulled from an akai m8 tape deck, sharp digital amp, audio mirror 6c33c-based set mono blocks, mesa baron.  i am presently using a modded almarro a205a mkll on my oris 150's, w/a rawsonte-built gainclone on the lascala bass-bins...

i use separate isolation transformers on each piece of digital gear, & everything is run thru balanced power conditioners.

further listening since i first posted in this "long gone, gray, old and retired" thread, would now have me rank the revox b261 & b760 above the 3001a, not its equal.  and, to add to the list of 3001a equals, besides the yamaha t2, i would add three bargain-priced sleepers:  jvc fx1100bk & hitachi ft8000, & creek cs3140.  (yes, i would wager the cs3140 is better than the newer t43.)  a bargain sleeper i would rather listen to than the the 3001a is a well sorted out nikko gamma 1.  yes, i have also listened to >100 tunas in the past ten years...

a few of my fave tunas that are definitely better sonically than the 3001a, (imo, of course), that i still own include modded/refurb'd sherwood s3000v, never-serviced sherwood s3000lll mono w/studio-12 mpx, never-serviced sherwood s2100-ll, stromberg-carlson sr445 w/studio-12 mpx (this has abysmal sensitivity), never-serviced aiwa at-9700u, never-serviced rotel rht-10, roksan caspian, sansui fm8 mono w/studio-12 mpx, modded-refurb'd sansui tu9900, modded-refurb'd sansui tu-x1,  modded-refurb'd sony st-a6b, never-serviced paco st-45 w/studio-12 mpx, heathkit aj1600, both never serviced, & refurb'd/modded.  and, of course, there's my long-standing fave, certainly competitive w/the best, at a relatively bargain price - my modded/refurb'd hk citation 18.  in fact, i stumbled across this tuna years ago, after conversing w/an audiophile tuna addict, who was in the biz.  he sold sequerra, tandberg, marantz, mcintosh, among others, & he owned all their best tunas.  but, his stock hk 18 was his fave, & the one he kept. 

tunas that i no longer own, but still consider a step above the 3001a include aligned accuphase t100, never-serviced accuphase t101, modded/aligned accuphase t109, mitsubishi da-f20, both never serviced, & refurb'd/modded, philips ah6731, sansui tu-719, refurb'd/modded kenwood l-07tll, refurb'd/modded technics st-9030...

for more "mysterious posts", by myself and a lot of other tunaholics, go to the yahoo tuna forum:
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/FMtuners/

i know there's a lot of folks who think the 3001a is the best tuna out there.  sorry, i am not one of them.  (there's also a lot of folks who think the mcintosh tunas are the best, i am not one of those folks either...)

as always, ymmv,

doug s.

Modified

"dolph"

[doug s.]

Whatever your opinion is and whatever gear you have to audition your FM gear, a lot of those tuners you mention is tested here as well and when I read your post it's like "WHAT T.. F... IS GOING ON THERE"..................and then I wish I was nearby to help you out of your trouble. Because that's what it is. Trouble. Somewhere, somehow.

Sorry mate, but did you at all fit the interconnections?
Do you have an antenna?



"dolph"

nope, sorry.  no trouble.  save the insulting antenna/ic questions.  the only "trouble" there is, is that we have a differing opinion about the 3001a, & it seems to bother you.     whatever...

doug s.

ps - welcome to audiocircle!   

[niklasthedolphin]

Whatever your opinion is and whatever gear you have to audition your FM gear, a lot of those tuners you mention is tested here as well and when I read your post it's like "WHAT T.. F... IS GOING ON THERE"..................and then I wish I was nearby to help you out of your trouble. Because that's what it is. Trouble. Somewhere, somehow.

Sorry mate, but did you at all fit the interconnections?
Do you have an antenna?



"dolph"

nope, sorry.  no trouble.  save the insulting antenna/ic questions.  the only "trouble" there is, is that we have a differing opinion about the 3001a, & it seems to bother you.     whatever...

doug s.

ps - welcome to audiocircle!   

Modified

"dolph"

[doug s.]

Whatever your opinion is and whatever gear you have to audition your FM gear, a lot of those tuners you mention is tested here as well and when I read your post it's like "WHAT T.. F... IS GOING ON THERE"..................and then I wish I was nearby to help you out of your trouble. Because that's what it is. Trouble. Somewhere, somehow.

Sorry mate, but did you at all fit the interconnections?
Do you have an antenna?



"dolph"

nope, sorry.  no trouble.  save the insulting antenna/ic questions.  the only "trouble" there is, is that we have a differing opinion about the 3001a, & it seems to bother you.     whatever...

doug s.

ps - welcome to audiocircle!   

Exactly............

I simply don't understand you can have opinion differing so much when I've heard these 100's of tuners aimed at highest end of the market on some extremely well playing equipment.

Whatever.

May piece and your eardoctor be on your side.

"dolph"

the only thing i don't understand, is why you need to be insulting, yust because we differ on the sound of the 3001a tuna.  many folks agree with me, others agree with you.  but, i don't need to insult your hearing, because of it...  your egotistical presumptuousness, on the other hand....   

doug s.,
may peace & your therapist be on your side....

[*Scotty*]

What stations have you found that have good programing, I am listening to WAMU and WETA, are there any I have overlooked. Also what stations are you using for your evaluations
of tuner performance.
Scotty

[niklasthedolphin]

What stations have you found that have good programing, I am listening to WAMU and WETA, are there any I have overlooked. Also what stations are you using for your evaluations
of tuner performance.
Scotty

Modified

"dolph"

[niklasthedolphin]

Whatever your opinion is and whatever gear you have to audition your FM gear, a lot of those tuners you mention is tested here as well and when I read your post it's like "WHAT T.. F... IS GOING ON THERE"..................and then I wish I was nearby to help you out of your trouble. Because that's what it is. Trouble. Somewhere, somehow.

Sorry mate, but did you at all fit the interconnections?
Do you have an antenna?



"dolph"

nope, sorry.  no trouble.  save the insulting antenna/ic questions.  the only "trouble" there is, is that we have a differing opinion about the 3001a, & it seems to bother you.     whatever...

doug s.

ps - welcome to audiocircle!   

Exactly............

I simply don't understand you can have opinion differing so much when I've heard these 100's of tuners aimed at highest end of the market on some extremely well playing equipment.

Whatever.

May piece and your eardoctor be on your side.

"dolph"

the only thing i don't understand, is why you need to be insulting, yust because we differ on the sound of the 3001a tuna.  many folks agree with me, others agree with you.  but, i don't need to insult your hearing, because of it...  your egotistical presumptuousness, on the other hand....   

doug s.,
may peace & your therapist be on your side....

Modified

"dolph"

[doug s.]

I apologize for any insult I may have caused you.

I have to say that the way you write how the lousiest tuners beatet what I, through over 40 years of listening, found to be the best tuner, is insulting too.
If that is deliberately insulting or lack of listening experience is the big question.

"dolph"

you ask whether i have an antenna.  you ask whether my ic's are properly connected.  you tell me "may my ear doctor be on my side".  that's not insulting?  then, when you say you aren't being insulting, you say tunas i prefer over the 3001a are "the lousiest tuners...", and imply i lack listening experience.

the "big question" is - yust because you found something to be the best, does that make make it so?  and you are insulted that not everyone shares your opinion?  are you the tuna god?  everyone else who disagrees with you is insulting you?  lemme know how your therapy works out...  maybe they can wean you off your love of a physical mechanical/electrical object.  not surprising that you are scandanavian, w/your love of tandberg!   

doug s.

[doug s.]

What stations have you found that have good programing, I am listening to WAMU and WETA, are there any I have overlooked. Also what stations are you using for your evaluations
of tuner performance.
Scotty

hi scotty,

my fave station is wpfw; 89.3.  besides its excellent signal quality, i love its jazz, world, latin, caribbean programming.  (i think it sucks that they now do a hip-hop show, it's godawful.)  as i live on the south edge of frederick, i also listen to wypr; 88.1.  i also listen to wamu (88.5) & weta (90.9)...

best,

doug s.,
presently enjoying nice jazz on wpfw, thru my wintage, excellent-sounding, tandberg-3001a-challenging refurb'd sherwood s3300 that i picked up locally for $16...   

[*Scotty*]

I switched to over to wpfw on my refurbished Fisher FM100B and it sounds pretty good. There is a big drum solo going on right now with many cymbal crashes.
Scotty

[doug s.]

I switched to over to wpfw on my refurbished Fisher FM100B and it sounds pretty good. There is a big drum solo going on right now with many cymbal crashes.
Scotty

i haven't heard that tuna, but i had an old fisher fm-90r mono tuna that sounded really nice, when run thru a studio-12 mpx decoder.  being refurb'd, i am sure yours sounds really nice - many folks say great things about the fisher tubed tunas...  i have another fisher - a 100r mono that i haven't tried yet - it was so cheap, i couldn't resist!   

yes, 'pfw had a nice sound this afternoon.   

doug s.