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My small collection of tuners...

65.8.90.14

Posted on January 11, 2015 at 15:38:31
J. S. Bach
Audiophile

Posts: 9570
Location: Chester, SC
Joined: November 28, 2001
Contributor
  Since:
June 29, 2004
...:
Luxman- T-240
Kenwood- KT-419
Kenwood- KT-2001A
Kenwood- KT-7500
Sansui- TU-517

As you can see, not extensive nor top-of-the-line units although I suspect that the 517 is the best of the bunch. The 2001A is not listed on the TIC; when I sent that model number in to the list, I was told that basically it was not good enough to be included.


Later Gator,
Dave
Find more about Weather in Chester, SC

 

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I dunno - the 7500 in good tune might be the big winner, posted on January 12, 2015 at 08:19:44
mhardy6647
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Posts: 15995
Location: New England
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  Since:
October 23, 2016
You do, of course, know that you have almost enough tuners... you need... a few more.

:-)

One word, Benjamin. Sherwood. You Sher Wood benefit from a Sherwood (or two)...

DSC_6480
DSC_9935

PS Your comment about TIC's response to your little Kenwood synopsizes my gripes about that site better than I myself could do.

(yeah, it goes without saying: I am a snob too -- but my snobbishness takes a rather different tack than theirs. If it sounds good, it is good -- so I declare)

all the best,
mrh

 

I would add that the attitude to valve tuners is almost as dismissive, posted on January 12, 2015 at 14:19:17
Timbo in Oz
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Posts: 23221
Location: Canberra - in the ACT - SE Australia
Joined: January 30, 2002
IME the RF/DX side is over emphasised on the site.

The value of a valve tuner to me is the sound when driven damned hard.

The RF stages just are not wide-band and therefore are not as susceptible to EMI/RFI as most SS tuners will be.








Warmest

Tim Bailey

Skeptical Measurer & Audio Scrounger


 

As Timothy said, posted on January 12, 2015 at 14:23:21
Awe-d-o-file
Dealer

Posts: 21037
Location: 50 miles west of DC
Joined: January 10, 2004
tune in, turn on,drop out....or something close. With all those tuners you are capable of that!


E
T


ET

"If at first you don't succeed, keep on sucking till you do suck seed" - Curly Howard 1936

 

so - in light of the responses so far..., posted on January 13, 2015 at 03:22:10
mhardy6647
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Posts: 15995
Location: New England
Joined: October 12, 1999
Contributor
  Since:
October 23, 2016
1) Which one sounds the best to you?

2) Which one has the best reception characteristics at your location, as you are using it?

THOSE are the two most important characteristics, in my utterly un-humble opinion :-)


Thanks for posting your list; please post some photos if and when you like.


all the best,
mrh

 

RE: so - in light of the responses so far..., posted on January 13, 2015 at 07:30:16
Awe-d-o-file
Dealer

Posts: 21037
Location: 50 miles west of DC
Joined: January 10, 2004
Yes! Inquiring minds want to know. He lives in flat Florida where FM and TV reception can be a joy with a good antenna......as long as it doesn't get hit by lightening.


E
T


ET

"If at first you don't succeed, keep on sucking till you do suck seed" - Curly Howard 1936

 

In all honesty, none have been turned on in over a year;..., posted on January 13, 2015 at 10:10:45
J. S. Bach
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Posts: 9570
Location: Chester, SC
Joined: November 28, 2001
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  Since:
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...;in fact I do not believe that the 7500 has ever been powered up by me. The 517 was the last to be used. The 2001A actually did alright for listening to a football game or casual "backround" listening; contrary to the TIC. I picked up the 419, and later the 240, for basically the same reason for when I was talking on the phone to a sports/music-minded friend; it has presets that made it easy to switch between listening to the sucky Dolphins and another broadcast Gary and I were talking about.

The 517 was the only one that I got (in an antique mall; priced $125, offered $100, it was accepted.) because I knew that it was supposed to be a good tuner. I used that for NPR's "Pipe Dreams". But due to really carpy signals where I live, I finally gave up on radio. There is a religious station next to the station the carried "Pipe Dreams" whose bandwidth was so wide the it basically made my station un-listenable. There is another station up in West Palm Beach that carries "Pipe Dreams" that I can receive fairly well (a better antenna would help; but, as I stated above, I have given up on radio) but its scheduled broadcast times do not coincide with my listening times. Now, if I want to listen to "Pipe Dreams", I stream it from the computer.

As to why do I have the tuners if I do not listen to them? Well, why do any of us have the stuff that we do?


Later Gator,
Dave
Find more about Weather in Chester, SC

 

RE: so - in light of the responses so far..., posted on January 13, 2015 at 10:19:34
J. S. Bach
Audiophile

Posts: 9570
Location: Chester, SC
Joined: November 28, 2001
Contributor
  Since:
June 29, 2004
...:
"...He lives in flat Florida where FM and TV reception can be a joy with a good antenna..."
You would be so correct; if there were any worth listening to down here. A good portion of the stations here have gone talk or foreign ethnic; Spanish, Creole primarily and I do not understand either so I never tune them in.



Later Gator,
Dave
Find more about Weather in Chester, SC

 

'zackly, posted on January 13, 2015 at 18:57:19
mhardy6647
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Posts: 15995
Location: New England
Joined: October 12, 1999
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October 23, 2016
Better to have a tuner (or three or four or ten) and not need it... than to need it and not have it! :-)

I do listen more than occasionally to VPR on the S-3000V. Had it on for a while today, in fact.

FWIW, I don't like streaming radio for a multitude of reasons (limited bandwidth on our current DSL out here in the boonies being, perhaps, the primary one).

all the best,
mrh

 

RE: My small collection of tuners..., posted on January 22, 2015 at 19:38:48
Brian Levy
Audiophile

Posts: 2438
Location: Toronto
Joined: June 5, 2000
If you dig through TIC you will realize it's focus was on the dx capabilities of tuners with sound quality not the material criteria. Hence great sounding tuners such as those from Sherwood will never be listed. They are all 3 gangers designed for sound and not reaching out 500 miles. I followed TIC as I found it interesting but as I was more interested in sound quality found I concurred only with their rating of the Philips 673/6731. Ultimately, the Sherwood S3300 ss tuner was the winner, though in my system.
Don Brian Levy, J.D.
Toronto ON Canada

 

Sansui TU-217, posted on February 18, 2015 at 09:44:23
Lee of Omaha
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Posts: 1800
Location: Omaha NE
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We had a TU-217 for a while (sold about a year ago, so this is not a solicitation). I figured as the bottom of the line it wouldn't be much.

While it wasn't particularly sensitive (which I think is the least important factor) it sounded surprisingly good. Feed it enough signal and you've got a nice tuner.

 

RE: I dunno - the 7500 in good tune might be the big winner, posted on February 22, 2015 at 13:17:05
sony6060
Audiophile

Posts: 1465
Location: USA
Joined: August 8, 2014
Another tuner to add to your collection are the Fisher KM or FM series stereo tube type tuners.

I install superior coupling capacitors and a general overhaul. I also roll tubes for a 'world class' sounding tuner. I do not believe anyone besides myself rolls tuner tubes for best sound. And, the Fisher multiplexers are absolutely top notch and receive a few upgrades too.

A precise alignment wraps up the tuner for best sound.

 

Another thought, FM in Australia is almost as bad, but here in Canberra we have two good , posted on February 23, 2015 at 22:14:55
Timbo in Oz
Audiophile

Posts: 23221
Location: Canberra - in the ACT - SE Australia
Joined: January 30, 2002
stations. very little compression etc. So FM is a major source for us.

IT is IMO a very great pity that probably NONE of those tuners has a switchable AC mains input. Between 240V/50 hz and 120/60hz.




Warmest

Tim Bailey

Skeptical Measurer & Audio Scrounger


 

RE: Another thought, FM in Australia is almost as bad, but here in Canberra we have two good , posted on February 24, 2015 at 10:27:40
sony6060
Audiophile

Posts: 1465
Location: USA
Joined: August 8, 2014
The Fisher tuner mentioned above is a fine tool to gage top quality vs less quality stations. Some FM stations were unlistenable on the Fisher, but were ok on my car radio.

 

IMEvalve front ends have some advantages in this day and age.ave two good , posted on February 25, 2015 at 02:49:22
Timbo in Oz
Audiophile

Posts: 23221
Location: Canberra - in the ACT - SE Australia
Joined: January 30, 2002
They do need to be driven hard to get quiet, but their ability to cope with wide-band EMI and RFI, to either side of band II, without going into overload, is a big plus. And you have a valve line-level stage to boot.

Note that the sound quality we get from a given station will sometimes depend on the interaction of its transmitted frequency, the IF stage, and the EMI and RFI frequencies where you are receiving the signal.

I wrote about my experience of EMI / RFI with my valve 'tuna' a good while back.





Warmest

Tim Bailey

Skeptical Measurer & Audio Scrounger


 

RE: IMEvalve front ends have some advantages in this day and age.ave two good , posted on February 25, 2015 at 06:35:39
sony6060
Audiophile

Posts: 1465
Location: USA
Joined: August 8, 2014
The Fisher 6DJ8 RF amplifier tube provides reasonable sensitivity and is far from deaf. Typically my Fisher tuner receives high power FM stations with full quieting 30-40 miles away on flat terrain using an indoor rabbit ear antenna.

Of course a MOS-FET front-end will provide a higher signal to noise ratio for those 500-1000 watt college stations.

I like the Scott LT-112B with a nuvistor front-end as a compromise audio quality/long haul FM tuner. The Scott is fully discrete without op-amps and sounds good. Audio wise the modified Fisher can approach CD sound on the right FM station.

 

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