Wanted, AVA FM-5 Super Tuner or Super Tuner Two

Brett Buck · « **Reply #20 on:** 24 Jan 2009, 04:04 am »

Quote from: oneinthepipe on 23 Jan 2009, 11:10 pm

I would like an AVA tuner, which I think is highly unlikely, since they are so rare that Frank had to advertise for one. I was looking at Scott and Fisher tube tuners, which I read can be very good if properly serviced. However, will there be any analog FM in a few years?

That's a good question, the answer is "probably", but commercial radio is rapidly going out of business, so you might not have much of a selection.

Brett

dB Cooper · « **Reply #21 on:** 24 Jan 2009, 05:25 am »

Some areas have next to no selection right now. I live in DC, a major radio market. Apart from the commercial "fuzak" station, there is exactly ONE station in the whole market that plays jazz and blues, a few hours a day and maybe overnights. I have a grand total of about $150 in a restored and upgraded Dyna FM-3 that was given to me as a reclamation project by a co-worker. I previously owned an AVA SuperTuner Two, the sound quality of which thrashed the Magnum Dynalab I foolishly bought to replace it. Given the dearth of quality source material, there probably aren't any big ticket investments in tunas in my future. The FM-3 doesn't match the transparency or detail of the AVA, but it is very listenable.

martyo · « **Reply #22 on:** 24 Jan 2009, 12:29 pm »

If you stream, www.wdcb.org, here in the Chicago area, is a jazz station that really is almost all jazz. Each night there is a 2-3 hour show that features different genres of music, and an old "those were the days" radio shows on Sat. afternoons. BUT from 6am to 6pm daily is jazz. All the dj's are active jazz musicians, it's all I listen to.

Wayner · « **Reply #23 on:** 24 Jan 2009, 01:27 pm »

Maybe Frank knows the answer to this one, but doesn't HD require the analog carrier wave to be transmitted? That would suggest that they can't do away with analog without reformatting the entire concept. I don't pick up any station that is just HD, it goes into analog and if it detects HD signal in the carrier wave and it's strong enough, it switches to HD.......

Wayner

gjs_cds · « **Reply #24 on:** 24 Jan 2009, 01:36 pm »

Quote from: oneinthepipe on 23 Jan 2009, 09:12 pm

Does anyone know what the future holds for analog radio? I think that the UK is requiring stations to broadcast in digital by 2017. I would like to get a tuner, but I don't want to buy anything if there won't be any analog broadcasts in a few years. The tuners that I have been considering are already a couple of decades old, so I assume that they would still be working in another twenty years.

This is my concern, exactly. It's only a matter of time before the government takes that bandwidth spectrum away and takes it to auction. (Like what they're doing w/ the TV spectrum.) I picked up two Dyanco FM-3s as 'fix-me-up' projects, but now wonder if that wasn't a mistake?

(I've also got the Dynaco tube-pre-amp, thinking that I'll upgrade it w/ Frank's kit at some point. Tenure can't come quick enough; I want my life back.)

Tom Alverson · « **Reply #25 on:** 24 Jan 2009, 05:46 pm »

Quote from: Wayner on 24 Jan 2009, 01:27 pm

Maybe Frank knows the answer to this one, but doesn't HD require the analog carrier wave to be transmitted?

Wayner

No, the analog is not needed, it just gets in the way of the digital signal. Although they used to call it IBOC (in band on channel) the majority of the digital signal is the the adjacent channels above and below the analog signal (for both AM and FM systems). The digital signal must be 30dB below the analog to reduce interference to other stations trying to use those adjacent channels. If they decided to go all digital, there would be no frequencies to "auction off", they would just put a full power digital signal on the analog channel and probably quit using the adjacent channels. If they tried to do that right now it would be suicide for the radio industry with so small a percentage of digital tuners in use.

Wayner · « **Reply #26 on:** 24 Jan 2009, 05:53 pm »

OK Tom. That makes sense. I thought I read somewhere that it was on the carrier wave.

Thanks for clearing that up.

Wayner

avahifi · « **Reply #27 on:** 27 Jan 2009, 03:23 pm »

I got the FM-5 with the second generation AVA circuits up and running last night, with a bunch of new upgrades. Wow! It is really musical. I am listening to the only classical station in the area right now and oh my the string sound!

Thanks so much rlee8394. I need to do something nice for you.

If any of you can locate an AVA Dyna FM-5 with a good working front end assembly, I can make them pretty awesome for you too at a reasonable price.

Regards,

Frank Van Alstine

timjthomas · « **Reply #28 on:** 27 Jan 2009, 05:30 pm »

I spoke with Frank this morning and whatever was playing sounded very good -- and that was over the phone!!

rlee8394 · « **Reply #29 on:** 27 Jan 2009, 05:36 pm »

Frank,

I'm glad that the upgrade went well.

Ron Lee

avahifi · « **Reply #30 on:** 28 Jan 2009, 01:10 pm »

I got a chance to play the newly updated AVA FM-5 tuner for a few minutes at the monthly Minnesota Audio Society meeting last night. Thanks much for the members patience in staying a few minutes late to give it a listen.

I would like to hear from anyone who was there and see what their impressions were. They have a very nice overall "house" setup of ARC electronics and Magnapan speakers. The main subject for the evening was listening to members' favorite records and CDs. Lots of very nice material was played.

Frank Van Alstine

avahifi · « **Reply #31 on:** 28 Jan 2009, 08:24 pm »

I got my new Sony XDR-F1HD tuner running this morning, just came in from Amazon for $85 and free shipping.

Pretty decent musically, better than I had expected, but not in the ballpark with the updated AVA FM-5. Pretty good AM sensitivity, important because I am a long way from FreshAire radio and Stephenie Miller.

The Sony does seem to have more front panel info available though, it seems there are limits as to what you can do with a string and a pointer.

I also tacked a CC Craine simple "T" antenna to the wall behind the system. It works better than the amplified one I had been previously using.

Frank Van Alstine

oneinthepipe · « **Reply #32 on:** 28 Jan 2009, 08:27 pm »

Frank:

Thanks for the review of the Sony. If I can't find anything else, for $85.00, the Sony seems like a good deal.

Dan Kolton · « **Reply #33 on:** 28 Jan 2009, 10:43 pm »

I certainly concur with your review of the Sony, Frank; and my upgraded FM-5 isn't even as good as yours.

gjs_cds · « **Reply #34 on:** 28 Jan 2009, 10:50 pm »

Quote from: avahifi on 28 Jan 2009, 08:24 pm

I got my new Sony XDR-F1HD tuner running this morning, just came in from Amazon for $85 and free shipping.

Pretty decent musically, better than I had expected, but not in the ballpark with the updated AVA FM-5. Pretty good AM sensitivity, important because I am a long way from FreshAire radio and Stephenie Miller.

The Sony does seem to have more front panel info available though, it seems there are limits as to what you can do with a string and a pointer.

I also tacked a CC Craine simple "T" antenna to the wall behind the system. It works better than the amplified one I had been previously using.

Frank Van Alstine

Hey Frank--since FM-5s are so hard to come by (in good working order), any chance you could mod the Sony to improve performance? (Further, it's only a matter of time before they dump analog radio anyway--sell the bandwidth for government profit.)

Toka · « **Reply #35 on:** 28 Jan 2009, 11:26 pm »

Some info/suggested mods for the Sony are detailed here:

http://ham-radio.com/k6sti/xdr-f1hd.htm

Not a whole lot of room in there to really play with, alas.

avahifi · « **Reply #36 on:** 29 Jan 2009, 12:08 pm »

I skimmed through most of the Sony XDR-F1HD tuner articles suggested, thank you for the link.

I was a bit bemused to see that they all have the same interests in common; detailed evaluations of the tuner's ability to receive stations, but almost nothing on the ability to provide true high fidelity playback.

As Dan Kolton can tell you, our emphasis on getting a high quality musical signal out of the tuner seems to be useful as he compares the old AVA FM-5 we just updated for him with his Sony unit No "audiophile" parts or internal wiring used, just good audio engineering ideas applied, in this case with outstanding results.

What we can get out of an FM tuner as compared to all of Sony's engineers makes an interesting listening comparison.

At first glance I see nothing useful for the Sony's audio performance. I will have to order the service manual to see if there are any useful audio upgrades economically possible.

Regards,

Frank Van Alstine

plaf26 · « **Reply #37 on:** 29 Jan 2009, 11:02 pm »

I've got an early "Modified by Frank Van Alstine" FM-5 (pre-Super Tuner, etc.). Appears to have original boards with components, esp. capacitors, added. Trouble with it and my previous Heathkit AJ-14 is annoying sizzling sound heard in the background when listening to the (now) only classical station in our market (the sound of microwave links?). This has been a problem for years.

About a year ago, I modified an FM-1 (with FM-3 multiplex board) using FM-3 Zone's parts. Nearly electrocuted myself in the process

, but surprise, no sizzle! I could listen to the thing for hours on end, when I had the hours.

Last summer I got the little Sony. No sizzle here either. Plus, I could listen to classical on HD2 instead of Garrison Keillor on Saturdays (sorry Keillor fans). Plus smooth jazz is available again in our market on HD2. I can hear increased high end when the unit switches from analog to digital. But can't pick up the Easy Listening station about 75 miles south of here, though it comes in on the car radio. Maybe a roof antenna would help.

What I want to know is, is my old FM-5 upgradeable as the Super Tuners are, and, if so, would I still be saddled with the sizzle?

avahifi · « **Reply #38 on:** 30 Jan 2009, 12:41 am »

Sorry, our new ideas only work with FM-5 tuners with AVA board sets installed. They do not apply to the original Dyna circuit boards.

Also, the sensitivity is a function of the original Dyna front end quality which is pretty variable. Our work requires a good front end (which is not economically serviceable).

If all else fails that little Sony digital tuner I just got is a pretty decent performer.

Frank

dB Cooper · « **Reply #39 on:** 30 Jan 2009, 03:59 am »

Another low cost decent-FM option is the audio out on the Kloss (Tivoli) Model One FM table radio- although it was a better deal at $99 than $119.

If you get a free FM3, like I did from a co-worker on a clutter clearing project, that's a good option too