[dB Cooper]

HD radio is garbage. I hear it all day where I work. The emperor has no clothes.

[rlee8394]

For those who have a Dynaco FM-3 tuner, here is a link to a guy who is making available some nice upgrades, including a new motherboard and faceplates. I've installed his capacitor board, LED backlight, and selectivity/sensitivity module with very good results. Give him a look:

http://home.comcast.net/~netminer/FM-3A.Html

[weirdo]

[i]It's just so easy to get a vintage tuner in nice cosmetic condition and have it modded.  Also I'm dead set against what IBOC is calling "HD Radio" which it certainly isn't.  You're Magnum is worth enough to get you a much better tuner. In the end I believe you will be glad you did this, I certainly am

[/i]

I'm sold on it. I'll be in contact with you when I do this if you don't mind.
regards, dk

[avahifi]

That link to the FM-3 sight looks really interesting and useful.  I e-mailed him the link to my old Audio Basics article on keeping the FM-3 working.

This is that link in case any are interested here.

http://www.avahifi.com/root/audio_basics/1990-11_fm3_keep_working.htm

Regards,

Frank Van Alstine

[dB Cooper]

Yes, it looks like there are several interesting items there- this guy must REALLY like the FM3. I presume the LED dial backlight would provide similar benefits here as the AVA LED pilot light upgrade did for the PAS. I know Frank recommends against solid state rectification for the FM3 though.
I am going to email the person b/c I want to know what exactly the "selectivity/sensitivity" module is/does, and what about his motherboard and the "oddball" parts like the spring loaded cap on the front end board and the coil that sits on the little wooden wedge on the MPX board.

[duggie]

hi all,

i am also an fmtunerinfo.com contributor, & a contributor to its sister yahoo tuner forum.  i also am hard on the m-d tunas.  what's been said about vintage tunas is certainly true, imo - many will sound better than even m-d's best, even before mods.  and at a fraction of the cost.  i have owned >80 tunas over the past few years (i still have >20), and i would take any of them over the md-ft101, for sure.  among them, i have owned a bill ammons modded kt7500 discussed here, & i agree that it *is* a fantastic sounding tuna.  but not in *my* personal top group.  mostly because its ultimate quieting was not as good as most of the others.  and, others have also noticed this about the kt7500 tunas.

re: the dyna fm3, i also own one that was extensively modified, but i was unable to get a good read on it, because it started acting up the second day i got it.     but, it's certainly worth fixing, which i am going to do. (or more accurately, likely have someone else do it!  )  one of the reasons i think it will be worth it, besides my initial impressions, and what others have said about this tuna, is what i read about it here:

http://www4.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=205144

and, also there is the fact that i have been extremely impressed w/a few other tubed tunas - the sherwood s3000 series, the stromberg carlson sr445, & the (extremely rare) sansui fm8.  all these sound world-class, imo, w/no mods whatsoever.  the ones i have, however, are all mono, & i used a couple of different mpx stereo decoders with them.  and, the sr445's sensitivity & selectivity is mediocre; you really need a strong signal to get good reception & sound with this one.  these inexpensive tunas, w/a mpx decoder, make me wonder why i am still holding on to my heavily modded, completely refurb'd mcintosh mr65b.  i guess i jut like tunas!   aa

speaking of good reception/sound, a quality antenna is extremely important, especially if you have difficult reception conditions.  you should definitely consider a roof-mount yagi if at all possible...

[rlee8394]

DB,
I believe the S/S module is a 10.7 MHz ceramic filter. I think I'm going to spring for the new MB, followed by the new black faceplate. He'll recoat the original knobs to match the new faceplate for $3.00 a piece. All in all, his prices are very reasonable IMHO.

[dB Cooper]

They certainly appear to be. The mobo is a great idea but wouldn't getting those IF filters off the old board be a beeyotch?

[tonyptony]

i am also an fmtunerinfo.com contributor, & a contributor to its sister yahoo tuner forum.  i also am hard on the m-d tunas.  what's been said about vintage tunas is certainly true, imo - many will sound better than even m-d's best, even before mods

duggie, I still have an old Yamaha T-2. Probably not up there in the range of classic tuners, but I'm wondering if you think it's one that's worth upgrading?

[duggie]

hi tony,

you're mistaken, imo - the yamaha t2 *is* one of the good ones.  some folks actually prefer it to yamaha's monster ct7000.  it's right up there w/the likes of the tandberg 3001a - i owned both at the same time, & the only difference was the tandberg had the tiniest bit more low-end bass.  something i would likely not even have known were it not for having a pair of vmps larger subs.     (now, a sleeper tuna is the hitachi ft-8000; this is a <$100 tuna that is the tandberg's equal, with slightly better ultimate quieting.)

if i had to choose between a tandberg 3001a & a yamaha t2, i would choose the yamaha hands-down:  better ergonomics, & much better reliability.  send that baby over to someone like bill ammons, joseph chow, or mike williams & it will *really* sing!   aa

i am also an fmtunerinfo.com contributor, & a contributor to its sister yahoo tuner forum.  i also am hard on the m-d tunas.  what's been said about vintage tunas is certainly true, imo - many will sound better than even m-d's best, even before mods

duggie, I still have an old Yamaha T-2. Probably not up there in the range of classic tuners, but I'm wondering if you think it's one that's worth upgrading?

[hifigeezer]

I have problems on many conventional tuners with IBOC noise caused by HD Radio interference.     I wouldn't buy any conventional tuner without researching first whether it will have IBOC problems.  It depends on your stations and your tuner.  FWIW I've seen one report from a guy with a Magnum Dynalab Etude who was happy with it until IBOC came along.  I had more IBOC noise on my FM-3 than on several other tuners.

I haven't heard any of the other recent AVA preamps but I have had an all-tube T8 in my system and thought it was good for the money.