hi dennis,
i was going to recommend you replace the bulbs of your 8000t - likely all that's wrong with it. i would recommend against spending big bucks on a new tuna - you will have to spend $4500 on the new accuphase t1000 to get better sound than what you have. and no way any magnum dynalab will compare to what you now have. unless you buy their most expensive $9k tuna - that one might be close to your 8000t. I have owned an 8000t, and its ranking on the fmtunerinfo.com site is accurate, imo - it's a killer sounding tuna.
now, for best sound on a budget, i would recommend vintage for sure. do not be scared by reliablilty issues - spend some money on a refurb & mods, and you will be good for another 30 years, easy!

for $400-$1500 or so, you will have a tuna that will go toe to toe w/any tuna at any price. but you awreddy have one that will!

i would recommend against dealing w/aps for refurb/mods - ed hanlon is overpriced because he subs out the work to another ct shop - may as well go right to the source. and, i have dealt w/the guy before - he's a paranoid schizophrenic. seriously - he was amazingly abusive to me (and countless others) when i asked him a few simple tech questions. i would also recommend against dealing w/don scott - if something he worked on sounds better than it did before, it's dumb luck - he uses no measuring equipment whatsoever, says he adjusts "by ear"!?! impossible w/a tuna - it needs serious measuring equipment for proper alignment, etc... and, i have heard horror stories from several techs and customers, regarding tunas he's "worked on"...
it was mentioned that some folks have gone thru a lot of tunas, doak mentioned something like twenty. well, i presently have more than that right now!

recent personal financial difficulties mean i will be putting quite a few of them on the block, in all price ranges. if you wanna spend a lot, i will be letting go a mint sansui tu9900 that was first modded & refurb'd by joseph chow at components plus usa; then further tweaked by mike williams (aka punker-x at audiokarma) of radio x tunas. asking $1100 and worth every penny. so close to my modded refurb'd sansui tu-x1 you couldn't tell 'em apart w/o direct a-b. and even then, you might not know unless your rig has truly full-range bass.

(i may have to put the tu-x1 on the block, too, but we'll wait-n-see...

) and, the tu9900 - one of the most handsome tunas ever made, imo, kicks the tu-x1's butt in the looks dept, imo. if you want a more modern tuna that still sounds great, (not quite as good as your 8000t, but wery close), i have a mint marantz t-17 w/remote, (mine is black), that was aligned by none other than "ain't this stuff fun" ray macdonald, from the yahoo fmtuna forum, who also has >20 tunas presently, and is a tech freak as well. he prowided me w/all the service notes he took, as well as owners manual, service manual & schematics. i'd like $300 for this... i have a really nice sansui tu-717 that also sounds great, i want $200 for it. (and lazydays, if yours doesn't sound good than it for sure needs an alignment/service - these are excellent sounding tunas, imo. the onkyo 9090ll you long for will have better sensitivity, but it won't sound as good.) i have a few others, as well, if interested.

and, i can tell you about a lot of others you may be interested in, that i don't presently own, but have tried. for example - denon tu850 is the denon to get, imo. tu900 is also good, but it will need thorough servicing & mods, & it's even more rare than the relatively scarce tu850...
http://radioxtuners.com/http://www.componentplususa.com/pages/upgrades.htmlhttp://us.marantz.com/Products/617.aspdoug s.,
so many tunas, so little time...
