[rickweed]

Hello all,

     I am strongly considering the purchase of a Magnum Dynalab md 90 or md 90-t.  The rest of my system is Van Alstine hybrid seperates and Biro speakers.  My question is would I be better off with the solid state md90 or the tube output version which costs like $600 more?  I am ignorant on this subject and would appreciate any input that you feel appropriate.  Thank you.

Rick

[Gordy]

Hi Rick,

Have you seen this site?   http://www.fmtunerinfo.com/   For less than the $600 upgrade you may find many equal if not superior alternatives.  Just an opinion, of course!

[doug s.]

rick, you would be better off w/any of a multitude of vintage tuners that cost from $25 up to mebbe $400-$500.  gordy is correct to suggest checking out the fmtunerinfo.com site.  here's a list of tuners that will compete w/the top m-d offerings, forget about the md-90.  and, if these tuners are modded, they will get even *better*.

hitachi ft-8000
technics st-9030
technics st-9038
technics st-8600
sansui  tu-517/tu-717/tu-9900
accuphase t-100/t-101
onix bwd-1
mitsubishi da-f20
harman kardon citation 18
philips 185
philips ah673
rotel rt-2100

there are *more*, these are ones i know about...

[warnerwh]

The Kenwood KT 7500 should be on Doug's list. I have a modded one and it sounds as good as a cd  sometimes.

[doug s.]

The Kenwood KT 7500 should be on Doug's list. I have a modded one and it sounds as good as a cd  sometimes.

this should be on the list *only* if modded.  i had a stock kenwood kt-9900 - a lot better than the kt-7500.  it was in perfect condition, but its sound was quite mediocre.  bill ammons, a highly qualified rf engineer & tuner modder, confirmed my opinions, saying the kenwoods really need mods to make them sound good - i thought perhaps i had a sample in need of work, but he assured me it was not likely the case.

while jim rivers prefers his modded kt-7500 to every tuner on his "shootout" reviews on the fmtunerinfo.com site, you will also see that a stock kt-7500 ranks near the bottom of the list.  his description of it closely mirrors my impressions of the kt-9900 i owned.

but, warner, your point is well taken - get a kt-7500 for max $100, send it off to someone like bill ammons who will go thru it completely, mod & align it to the 9's for ~$300, & you will have an absolutely world-class sounding tuna.

doug s.

[warnerwh]

Doug is correct that the KT 7500 Kenwood is only world class after modding and is mediocre stock but for a total of 400 bucks you have a tuner so good more than likely you'll be surprised at how good fm can sound if you have any quality broadcasting in your area. Also an outdoor yagi type antenna is money well spent.  So for 500 you can have a tuner and antenna that will compete with about anything new that's available.  I understand someone may even do a mod to the 7500 with tubes. Down the road so don't hold your breath but it will happen.

[doug s.]

yup, fm can sound pretty amazing, if ya have a station w/a quality uncompressed signal.  my fm (w/quality antenna) easily rivals my digital & analog rigs, which are nothing to sneeze at, if i do say so myself...     it's amazing to have someone come over when good stuff is being played on the tuna, & the music is cranked up.  they'll sit down to listen, ask what's cued up, then freak when i tell 'em i dunno, it's the radio...  

being a tuna addict, which has caused me to purchase most of the tunas i prewiously listed, and a handful of others too obscure or pricey to make a general recommendation for, i yust recently went nuts & bought a japanese-market accuphase t109 off ebay.  i couldn't resist, as it went for ~half the price of what a typical usa-spec t109 goes for.  and, i am really taken with the sound of my stock accuphase t-101.  *AND*, i found that joseph chow, owner components plus http://www.componentplus.us/ and one of the original kenwood tuna engineers, would change its japanese 76-90mhz frequency range to the usa 88-108mhz band for only $150.  and since this tuna is almost identical to the t-109v, which jim rivers ranks even above his #1 kenwood l-02t on his fmtunerinfo.com shootouts, i can only imagine how good it will sound, after it's fully aligned & modded, for another $325 or so...

so, to rick (and anyone else), if ya really wanna spend close to $1k for a tuna, this really is the way to go, forget about the m-d stuff.  

regards,

doug s., so much tuna, so little time!

ps - here's a link to modding a kt-6500 w/tubes:
http://www.fmtunerinfo.com/DIY.html#KT-7500
here's the pic:

[orthobiz]

Also go to
www.antennaperformance.com

Buy a good antenna
Buy a modded MD
(I got an FT101)

or

Buy your own and have APS mod it.

They sound great, I have an AVA system also. But you will have to put up with M-D naysayers. Opinions are rampant.

Easily under 1000 bucks for everything. The Sansui TU-719 is also sweet...

Good luck!

biz

[doug s.]

Also go to
www.antennaperformance.com

Buy a good antenna
Buy a modded MD
(I got an FT101)

or

Buy your own and have APS mod it.

They sound great, I have an AVA system also. But you will have to put up with M-D naysayers. Opinions are rampant.

Easily under 1000 bucks for everything. The Sansui TU-719 is also sweet...

Good luck!

biz

*stock* m-d tuna has naysayers; i agree that when modded, they improve dramatically.  sorta like the kenwoods.  but, the problem i have w/thte m-d's is that they're too expensive stock, for the sound quality.  better to start w/something that's awreddy fantastic-sounding before mods, imo.  unless of course, ya gotta have the m-d look.  they *are* great looking, imo.

re: antennae, if ya wanna spend the big bucks on the aps-13, by all means, do so.  but, i tink you'll find the winegard hd-6065 better than the aps-9a, at ~half its price, if ya want a fantastic bargain antenna.  and, depending on yer reception conditions, the winegard may be all ya need anyway - i am in a wery difficult reception area, & i replaced an aps-14 (more-expensive-to-mfr wersion of the aps-13) w/the winegard, & i got no reduction in signal at all.  of course, i have been challenged about this assertion by ed hanlon on the yahoo tuna forum, & he insists i dunno what i'm talking about, cuz i dint do measuring w/fancy equipment, etc.  he's right, but all of my tunas have showed the same readings on their signal strength meters, & i have experienced no sonic degradation - the *real* test, afaik.

doug s.

[rickweed]

Thank you all for your opinions.  I take each and every one seriously and will attempt to sort it all out and then go with my best instincts.  Again, I appreciate each of you taking the time to address my issues.  A special thanks to Ortho, a fellow AVA  enthusiast.

Rick

[lonewolfny42]

yup, fm can sound pretty amazing, if ya have a station w/a quality uncompressed signal.

Hey doug, where are you located that you can find a quality station ? Not many around here in NY.  Thanks !!

[doug s.]

yup, fm can sound pretty amazing, if ya have a station w/a quality uncompressed signal.

Hey doug, where are you located that you can find a quality station ? Not many around here in NY.  Thanks !!

hmmm...  most folk i have heard from in nyc say there's a plethora of quality fm there.  perhaps not pop music, but that's the case all over the usa, imo.  

i am outside of wash., dc, & my fave station is 89.3, wpfw.  they play jazz, latin, caribbean & african music.  also have great (real?) news, as they are a pacifica radio affiliate.  they take *no* corporate funding, unlike other "non-commercial" stations that in fact take lots of corporate funding and do lots of "mini" ads.  in any event, the sound quality is outstanding.  you can listen on-line at wpfw.org, but the sound quality on-line obviously sucks.  

other stations around here that i like include 88.5 wamu & 90.9 weta; these are your typical npr stations, w/wamu concentrating on bluegrass, & weta on classical when they're not doing news.  103.1 wrnr is an excellent commercial pop music station w/no playlists, but unfortunately their location & tiny signal make them out of my range for the most part.  as is 89.7 wshc, the non-commercial shepard college wva radio station, which plays an incredibly eclectic mix of new music.  and the sound quality is actually quite good - seems they cannot afford to spend the big bucks on the fancy compressers/limiters/etc, that the big boys have, which mucks up the sound so much!  

to find stations near you that you may not be aware of, this is an excellent site:
http://www.radio-locator.com/

regards,

doug s.