I am surprised that doug s. hasn't chimed in yet. He usually has about 10 tunas around his place. I do have a Bill Ammons modified KT8300.
chime-chime!
yes, i have a plethora of tuna chez-sedon. actually, rim, i have more than twenty, presently. time to "thin the school"?
i have quite a few i could part with, at all different ranges of quality/price - $50-$3500.
including a mint & refurb'd/modded sansui tu-9900. somewhere in the middle, tho not what i would consider "reasonable".
it's one of the best tunas ever made, imo - up there w/the tu-x1, & far nicer looking. i'd consider any offers over $1000. i have a mint refurb'd & modded sony st-a6b i'd let go for $600. i am listening to it presently, as i am typing. seriously killer - sound
and reception. (the last two of these i say on ebay sold for $400 & $500 never serviced.) then, there's an akai at-v04 that i would sell for $50. killer reception, good sound. and a sony st-80f for $40. good reception & very good sound. and a klh 18, completely refurb'd & aligned - $120. good reception, very good sound. and an extremely rare denon tu-900, completely refurb'd/aligned - $250. excellent reception, very good sound. (these normally sell for that, w/o service, but one of the wood end-caps got damaged in shipping - i reversed them both so the damaged end is at the back, so it looks decent on the rack, but the now-front-facing back of the caps isn't as nice as the fronts.) and a completely refurb'd aligned modded sansui tu-x1 that i would sell for $3500. i have mixed feelings about letting this beast go, but i sure could use the cash. (mebbe i'd keep the tu9900 if i sold this one?) and a refurb'd modded dyna fm3 for $175. excellent sound, ok reception - you need a good signal for this one. and, i will likely have a mint refurb'd modded mcintosh mr74 f/s, but not for a few months - i am considering send it to terry dewick for the work - i really wanna hear it w/mods first!
as-is, i rate it good reception, decent sound. (i think the s/s mac tunas are extremely over-rated for sound, i have no idea why they command such a premium. the mr74 & mr77, are known by avid tunaphiles to be the best sounding macs, tho -
not the better-known mr78.)
re: the new sony f1hd, it is a really decent sounding tuna, on analog stations, and decent on hd stations, too, but not as good as w/analog. unfortunately, you cannot force it into analog if the station is broadcasting hd, but there's a mod out there to allow you to do this. (and a few other mos, as well.) if you have a marginal station - one that is noisy in stereo, but quiet in mono, for example - this diminutive little box will give you the best sound of
any tuna out there. it's about the best tuna out there, reception-wise, imo, regardless of price.
but - you absolutely need a tube buffer stage between it & your preamp for serious listening - otherwise its sound is a bit sterile, & will have you thinking about doing something else, after a while. kinda like some cd players?
w/a tube buffer, it really is nice...
doug s.
