[kyrill]

Is it true that because of diff. de-emphasis  (50 uS/75 uS) US tuners cannot be used in Europe?

[orthobiz]

How about
http://www.classicaudio.com/forsale/pio/TX9500II.html

No affiliation but at least it's been cleaned, aligned and looked at.

Paul

[doug s.]

kyrill,  what do you mean when you say you need a tuna w/digital out?  the accuphase t1000 is the only tuna i know of that will output a digital signal that can be sent to a dac for proper playback.  meridian made a few fm604 tunas that had this feature, but they're no longer made.

if you mean you want a newer hd-capable tuna, then i would recommend the sony xdr f1hd - half the price of the sangean, and most folks who have compared, prefer the sony.  check out this recent thread for opinions/info about it  from me, and others:
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=63466.0

imo it is definitely listenable on a high end stereo set-up - if you place a tube buffer stage between it and your preamp.  but, a good analog tuna will still be a bit better...

doug s.

i need a tuner as well just to keep me inform of musical developments. The better internet music stationa ( Pandora  and a like) are forbidden outside US.

but i need a tuner w ith digital out even with analogue stations
 is the Sangean  HDT-1 doing that and is it listenable on a high end stereo setup?
Kyrill

[doug s.]

a 50us tuna used in n america, w/its 75us standard, will sound a bit bright. as the treble will be slightly boosted.  wice-wersa w/using a 75us tuna in europe, w/its 50us standard - its treble will sound a bit dull.  but, don't let this stop you from cross-shopping - many tunas have adjustable de-emphasis, and those that don't, are usually easy to change, by swapping out only two caps in the mpx circuit.  you would need schematics for this, or info from someone who knows the circuit of the particular tuna...  if you had old-fashioned preamp w/tone controls, the deemphasis wouldn't really matter - the tone controls would take care of it...

i have bought quite a few tunas from europe, and successfully changed their deemphasis from 50us to 75us.  i have only two that i was never able to figure out...

doug s.

Is it true that because of diff. de-emphasis  (50 uS/75 uS) US tuners cannot be used in Europe?

[kyrill]

thx doug

you are my Godfather of tuna's ;P

i strongly prefer digital out as my preamp is completely digital ( DEQX) so it convert analogue in to digital anyway.
I know about the Accuphase "monster" also a monstrous price >5000 US dollars

SO digital out  will be a mere wish

I have however an older REVOX tuner in house the A76


it needs repairing  and bringing up to date. I think i will follow that route

[doug s.]

kyrill,

i have never heard the a76, but it is supposed to be an excellent performer when working right.  i have owned revox b760 and b261 tunas - these are superb performers.  refurb and mods should make you happy.   

doug s.

[MLS]

I second the Sony HD tuner.  I got mine from Amazon for @ $87 shipped.

[doug s.]

I second the Sony HD tuner.  I got mine from Amazon for @ $87 shipped.

stick a tube buffer between it and your preamp.  sure, the buffer will likely cost more than the tuna itself, but it's well worth it.  you can get a yaqin buffer on ebay for ~$100 or less, if you're patient, shipping included; or if ya don't wanna take that risk, grant fidelity will sell ya the same thing for $150...

doug s.

[carusoracer]

Hey Dougs!

Can you name some of the older vintage tubed Tuners or good Vintage SS .
Cheers

[doug s.]

Hey Dougs!

Can you name some of the older vintage tubed Tuners or good Vintage SS .
Cheers

if you are on a budget, you cannot beat a properly operating tubed sherwood s3000ll or newer for sonics.  most series ll and lll's are mono; get an outboard mpx decoder.  some have them built-in.  later iv's and v's in the 3000 series have the mpx built-in.  these tunas offer sonics about as good as you will find at any price, tubed, or s/s, imo, and excellent reception, as far as tubed tunas are concerned.  they won't be nearly as good reception-wise as the better s/s iterations, tho.  other excellent sounding tubed tunas that are a relative bargain include the dyna fm3, fisher fm90x & fm90r, stromberg carlson sr445, paco st45, leak troughline ll and lll, eico hft90.  these are all mono (except for the dyna), and need a mpx adapter to receive stereo.  wintage tube mpx adapters are good, but pricey.  all these tunas except the s-c and dyna offer decent (for tubes) reception, imo.  modern s/s mpx decoders are hard to find, but offer better performance than the wintage tubed mpx decoders, imo.  bob fitzgerald, over at the fmtunerinfo site and yahoo forum has mpx kits that are excellent; he will make you one if you don't wanna diy, and have the patience to wait for it.  mac tubed tunas are also good, but overpriced, imo - the sherwoods, for example, are better sounding, as are the s-c tunas.  same w/the scott tubed tunas - nice, but a bit spendy; the sherwoods are nicer.  the newer (relatively) fisher tubed tunas are also supposed to be excellent, but i don't have 1st hand experience...

for an excellent s/s tuna that won't break the bank, the mitsubishi da-f20, properly refurb'd and modded, is an excellent choice.  you can usually get one for $200-$300.  the only thing i don't like about it is it does not have a hi-blend circuit, which allows stereo reception that has soundstaging slightly reduced, to reduce noise.  it's either stereo or mono w/this guy.  my fave tuna at reasonable price is the hk citation 18, when modded/refurb'd.  these are quite rare, tho - hard to find.  this tuna will stand up well the the wery best, imo, including the spendy sansui tu-x1, for example, even after the tu-x1 has been refurb'd and modded.  another rare (on this side of the pond) tuna that plays w/the big boys is a modded sony st-a6b.  other killer tunas that are on the pricey side include sansui tu9900, philips ah673/6731, sansui tu919, revox b261 & b769, accuphase t100, t101, t109, t109v, rotel rht10, pioneer f26 & f28.  tunas that are fantastic, yust the tiniest bit behind the uber-tunas, and wery affordable include sansui tu517/717/719, creek cas3140, denon tu850, nikko gamma 1, hitachi ft8000, marantz st-17, sumo aurora and sumo charlie, rotel rt2100, pioneer f91, philips 185/1851, technics st-9030, sony st-s730es, nakamichi 430, yamaha t1, kenwood l-07tll, heathkit aj1600, jvc fx1100bk.  these can had for $50-$300.  i am also partial to my onix bwd-1 w/soap-2 power supply, but it's usually as expensive as the better tunas, and performance is more in line w/the ones yust listed.  i like mine cuz of its simple ergo's, and it's the first really excellent tuna i ever bought.  another excellent tuna is the aiwa 9700, a fantastic tuna; i suspect it's another one that, like the hk 18, will be about as good as it gets, w/o breaking the bank; but this, too, is wery rare on this side of the pond.  (they are more common in europe.)  i am not familiar w/the best kenwoods (kt600, kt917, l-02t), but they are supposed to be fantastic.  the typical better kenwoods (like the kt8300), are over-rated, imo, unless modded - then they are excellent.  the kenwood kt5020 is a cheap-looking digital black box that has gotten rave rewiews, but i have never tried it.  the accuphase t1000, a new tuna w/digital out, wery pricey, is supposed to be a step above the wery best, including the sansui tu-x1, kenwood l-02t, etc...  if you go to the yahoo fm tuner forum and its sister tuna site - fmtunerinfo.com - you will find others that folks think are excellent - i have tried a lot, but i can't try everything!.     these others include yamahas, onkyos, pioneers, to mention a few...

doug s.,
so many tunas, so little time.

[stereocilia]

Kris,
Did you not know I have a tuner I'm not using?  It's a marantz st6000.  It has a remote, presets, and everything.  I'll even bring it to you.