analog tuners (vintage) suggestions?

Berndt · « **on:** 10 Oct 2006, 07:42 pm »

I have some great FM stations locally.
I have a luxman T-02 that is my best playback source now.
After buying a olive musica I thought it would be my best source but my 75$ B&O TT sounds better, and the 50$ luxman tuner sounds best.
I would be interested in finding a better tuner, magnum dynalabs was suggested, but is there a holy grail list of vintage tuners?
(That sound as good as their hype?)
The SF craigslist has quite a bit of used equipment, if I just knew what to look for...
Thanks in advance, Bill

robert1325 · « **Reply #1 on:** 10 Oct 2006, 07:46 pm »

my dad has an old tandberg 3011A , it sounds very good

woodsyi · « **Reply #2 on:** 10 Oct 2006, 08:13 pm »

Bill,

Here is a lot of reading for you. http://www.fmtunerinfo.com/
I have a Bill Ammons modded KT8300 that I will let go for a good price if you are interested.
You are lucky you still have a lot of good stations. I don't really any more.

jon_010101 · « **Reply #3 on:** 10 Oct 2006, 08:28 pm »

If willing to try tube tuners, I'd look into an H. H. Scott. I have a stock 350C filled with low-end ceramic coupling caps and it sounds as good or better than my Denon TU 850, and is nearly as sensitive. Perhaps a fully-restored Scott 310E or 350C would do the trick for you.

A Scott 4310 is a "holy grail" tube tuner... but they tend to go for as the same $$$ as a Marantz 10B, and are much rarer.

Wayner · « **Reply #4 on:** 10 Oct 2006, 08:43 pm »

The Dynaco FM-5 or AF-6 would also be excellent picks. Their specs beat most of todays FM tuners. Get them on *bay for 50-75 dollars.

W

Berndt · « **Reply #5 on:** 11 Oct 2006, 12:49 am »

After spending the afternoon reading about tuners, I feel like I am just scratching the surface.
I just want to add I listen to the local indy jazz station and it comes in clear as a bell, with the bunko dipole that you get for free.
I feel like I must be line of sight with the tower.
I am wondering though, if you have premo reception with no competition, it boils down to the output amplifier, right?
Do tube out amps do anything special?
Maybe the cheapo Luxman I have is better than a 50$ tuner should be? A synergy anomoly with my system?
I think about a bit deeper soundstage, and a fuller bass than my low bucker.
What can I expect from a better tuner, realistically?

Doublej · « **Reply #6 on:** 11 Oct 2006, 11:24 am »

Not exactly. My understanding is that it has a lot to do with the quality of the convertors. Post a request for opinion on the fmtunerinfo yahoo group with your Luxman model to see if anyone has thoughts on it.

I had a cheap 20 year old Hitachi tuner and thought I could get better sound with a "highly regarded" tuner so I bought a highly regarded tuner and had a repair shop go through it. $150 later it sounded very very close to the 20 year old never touched Hitachi.

So then I had the brilliant idea of asking the question about my Hitachi and a few people said it was a highly underrated tuner.

ZLS · « **Reply #7 on:** 11 Oct 2006, 12:22 pm »

See samsaudiolabs I can verify the quality of thier work

woodsyi · « **Reply #8 on:** 11 Oct 2006, 02:13 pm »

Quote from: Berndt on 11 Oct 2006, 12:49 am

After spending the afternoon reading about tuners, I feel like I am just scratching the surface.
I just want to add I listen to the local indy jazz station and it comes in clear as a bell, with the bunko dipole that you get for free.
I feel like I must be line of sight with the tower.
I am wondering though, if you have premo reception with no competition, it boils down to the output amplifier, right?
Do tube out amps do anything special?
Maybe the cheapo Luxman I have is better than a 50$ tuner should be? A synergy anomoly with my system?
I think about a bit deeper soundstage, and a fuller bass than my low bucker.
What can I expect from a better tuner, realistically?

You won't know until you try one.

I heard less noise, better imaging and cleaner tone after the mod on my tuner. It also required an attic placed antenna. If you already have clear reception with no competing signal at that frequency, you are just darn lucky. Once you get clean stereo signal, I think the rest depends on your taste and budget.

Thebiker · « **Reply #9 on:** 11 Oct 2006, 02:24 pm »

I have to second the idea of a Scott 310E. I had one that I re-tubed and used routinely until about a year ago. I was pulling a clear signal from Boston's 102.5 WCRB classical station and I life about 60 miles north of their tower. I sold it to a friend because I was only using it about once a month.....mistake on my part.

Berndt · « **Reply #10 on:** 11 Oct 2006, 03:51 pm »

Rim, you are such a tease...
Man, what is the deal with yahoo user groups?
I think I am joined but where do you post?
Am I the only one who struggles with yahoo groups?

Mortsnets · « **Reply #11 on:** 11 Oct 2006, 04:14 pm »

Have you seen this asylum thread?
http://www.audioasylum.com/forums/tuner/messages/5132.html

Doublej · « **Reply #12 on:** 11 Oct 2006, 05:53 pm »

To join requirese approval from the group owner, so even though you may have submitted the application you are not in until the owner says you are in...

avahifi · « **Reply #13 on:** 11 Oct 2006, 06:05 pm »

For what it is worth, I have a Dyna FM-5 solid state FM tuner available that appears to be in pretty good original condition. It needs a good antenna, but appears to be stable and clean and even all the dial lights work.

Frank Van Alstine

warnerwh · « **Reply #14 on:** 15 Oct 2006, 04:22 am »

I can't imagine a tuner for the money that will outperform, or even come close to matching, a modded Kenwood KT 7500 or Sansui Tu 717. If you really want the best sound, something rivaling cd quality, this is the route to take. For under 500 bucks you can have one of these tuners modded.

The most knowledgeable tuner base on the net is the Yahoo group fmtuners. These people know tuners inside and out, how to fix, mod and which ones respond best. The two tuners I listed above aren't the only candidates but are plentiful. The era from about 1975 to 1980 is the best place to look. I wouldn't mess with much else myself and there's a great variety to choose from. Take a look at the vintage tuners and see which one you like best. Here's a place that also only discusses vintage tuners at audiokarma.org:

http://audiokarma.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=115 Lots of good knowledge here also.

The Kenwood Kt 7500 that Jim Rivers, one of the people who run fmtunerinfo.com, modded for me still surprises me. Everything you can say about cd sound is rivaled by this tuner. The Kenwood Kt 7500 can be purchased for 75 bucks on Ebay. The Sansui Tu 717 will cost around 200 or just over a bit for a stock tuner. Most people like the looks of the Sansui's better, including me. I may have the Sansui Tu717 in my vintage system modded. I'd still not sell the Kenwood. I also like the looks of the Kenwood Kt 8300, Kt600 and the highest end Sansui's from the mid/late 70's.

If you buy something like a modern Magnum Dynalab tuner you're going to want to spend alot of money, say at least 1,500 or more for a used one to match one of these modded vintage tuners. I have a friend who's very disappointed he paid 800 bucks for one as his old Denon was as good. He paid 40 bucks for the old Denon alot of years ago. The performance of one of these modded vintage tuners is world class from their reception capabilities to the sound quality. There's also a guy on Audiogon who sells modded tuners, I think he's username is Eckzel or something close to that. His prices seem fair enough.

Here's a place that can do the mods and he's very reasonable: http://www.radioxtuners.com/
The only drawback is you have to get in line. This can take a couple of months but is well worth it in my opinion.

If you don't have a rooftop antenna that would be a good idea. With any tuner you should have at least a decent antenna. Even the 25.00 Radio Shack Yagi will outperform all the indoor types, even those costing multiples of the 25.00.

If you can't afford to have one of these vintage tuners modded at very least just have it aligned and some new caps in the audio path replaced. This won't cost much and will do a world of good. Also remember your average tech cannot align an analog tuner properly. It takes certain skills and equipment that is rare. If you want any more info PM me.

When discussing the new champ of the tuner shootouts, the Accuphase, I told Jim Rivers it must be as good as anything even our vintage modded Kenwoods. He said " I didn't say the Accuphase was THAT good." Just to give you a perspective of how good a vintage modded tuner is

ZLS · « **Reply #15 on:** 15 Oct 2006, 04:38 am »

Sams Audio Labs is having a sale on Tuners. Sam Kim does excellent work.

Tubes 4 Ever · « **Reply #16 on:** 21 Oct 2006, 03:49 pm »

aa Dynalab Magnum's Simply the very best

Val · « **Reply #17 on:** 21 Oct 2006, 05:37 pm »

I found a like-new Kenwood KT-7300 for $100; it already sounds pretty good but I will eventually send it to APS for their $350 mod package.

warnerwh · « **Reply #18 on:** 28 Oct 2006, 04:41 am »

You may want to try Radio X. His prices seem better and work is excellent. There is a wait. In either case if you think the stock 7300 sounds decent, wait til you hear a modded one. It's WAAAYYYY better. I know for a fact as I had a stock Kt 7500 and a modded one. All I had to do was flip the antenna switch so it went to the other tuner as well as the selector switch on my preamp to change tuners.

The difference is night and day or huge or any other superlative. The modded tuner sounds so much better it's like a Corvette against an old VW bug.

When your tuner is done you'll have under 500 into it. It will perform at a level of new tuners that cost four figures with ease. I'm not impressed at all with the Magnum Dynalab tuners I've heard. I've not heard their top of the line but for that kind of money I could own several of the best tuners ever made and have them modded.

The late seventies Sansui 9900 is gorgeous. Unfortunately I'm not the only one to think so. They're also a great tuner bone stock and prices reflect it.

Let us know how your tuner mod goes. If you can do it yourself the info is on the fmtunerinfo.com website. PM me if you want any help.

Cheers

rcarlton · « **Reply #19 on:** 29 Oct 2006, 11:46 pm »

A vintage tuner I'm using is a McIntosh MAC-1700. The tuning section uses tubes. Very nice

.