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have a good working McIntosh MR78, and am considering replacing it with a MR7083 to get the convenience of the presets and the other conveniences such as search.
I'd like your thoughts regarding these two with respect to sound quality comparison, ability to lock onto channels, and any other comparisons you are able to provide.
Thanks!
Follow Ups:
Here is a review on the MR-7084 which may be helpful; this issue of the Audio Critic has lots of good general info on FM:
http://www.theaudiocritic.com/back_issues/The_Audio_Critic_23_r.pdf
For some reason the AA thread
Comments on the McIntosh MR 7083 AM-FM tuner
is under preamps but compares it to the MR-77.
You may want to search for MX-130 reviews; I remember finding positive ones before I bought mine. Have fun!
Wow! Great article on the MR7084, and a great issue on FM in general. Aczel is no fan of the MR7084. I also saw the MR77/MR7083 comparison in the amp/preamp section of AA. This tends to confirm my concerns that I'd be stepping down a bit in sound quality.
Thanks, Openmind.
Edits: 03/28/12
I put my MX-130 back into my system and compared it to my modified MR-77. On a strong jazz station with an IBOC-free signal, the MX-130 tuner section sounds good. A/B switching shows the MR-77 to have better retrieval of ambience; live recordings sound like instruments in a room. The MX-130 may have a little more frequency extension or just be a tad brighter. Alas, on a station plagued with IBOC, the MX-130 is very noisy where the MR-77 is not. I matched the loudness as closely as I could for the A/B comparisons. The MR-77 might do better through the fixed outputs; the ambience retrieval of the MR-77 really shines on classical recordings. Purely subjective judgement FWIW; I don't have the measurement instrumentation for a truly scientific comparison. Have fun!
You may not get a reply as the MR7083 has not had a lot of press. So, I will add what I know. The MR-7083 is a good sounding tuner. I only heard it, never owned it.
It is reported to have a more sensitive receiver vs the MR78 that is known to be a good sensitive & selective tuner. The MR-78 may be more pleasing sonically per one owner, but it just depends how sensitive your are to the small details.
As for myself, I am nuts over needing the absolute best sonics from a FM tuner that will rival a good CD player on the right FM stations. After about 30 tuners with mods, I think at least IMO I found the two best FM tuners for great realistic & natural sound.
"IMO I found the two best FM tuners for great realistic & natural sound."
...and the results are (drumroll).......
Modified H&K Citation 18 and a modified Scott LT-112B. Both have discrete SS amplifiers vs op-amps. The Citation has a more selective IF, but the Scott has not caused me any issues yet. Both have reasonable hot RF fronts ends. yet, both are not as good as the more selective tuners out there.
The Scott surprises me as the discrete multiplexer should not perform as well as it does. I owned a few that are close after mods though.
If offering alternatives, I'd suggest the Philips 673 (silver) or 6731 (black). The unit beat out my MR77 after careful listening over months rather than days or weeks. Plus, if interested it has one of the best AM tuners out there and the tipping in my decision to dumpt the 77. The 77 sounds better than the 78 though is not as good a dx'er. When I bought the 77, new, I took several weeks to compare them for purchasing purpose and as a dealer listened to each for some years side by side on a number of very decent now vintage systems.
The Philips is a surprise tuner as the company is usually under the radar. On the TIC, it was rated as something like #6. While the 77 was way down the list b/c the list criteria was biased towards a dx'er and the 77 is not one.
Comparing the specs on Roger Russell's page http://www.roger-russell.com/ it looks to me like the MR 7083 matches the tuner section in the MX-130. The MX-130 is a full A/V preamp but obsolete now (no HDMI, old Dolby). The good news is you can find a bargain MX-130 for that reason. The MX-130 is a very convenient preamp and also works with Harmony remotes, as did my C-41.If you keep the MR-78 please consider the Modafferi modifications. I love the sound of my MR-77 especially with the mods. For a second opinion please see http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue35/mr71.htm.
It's been a while since I did a shootout between the MR-77 and the MX-130 but the MX-130 has more IBOC noise on one station with three HD radio sidebands. This may not be a problem for you. Good luck!
Edits: 03/27/12 03/27/12
~!
The Mind has No Firewall~ U.S. Army War College.
The 78 like many dx'ers traded sound quality for the dx'er crown. The 77 was clearly better sounding but some seem to think the 74 may be the best sounding of the Mc ss tuners even though it did not use Richard's filters. When I auditioned them before buying my 77, I agreed the 74 seemed to have a slight edge but decided the 77 was for me as it was the newest and best at the time and I bought in that newer was better syndrome. Never a regret. I did try the 78 and was disappointed but, I did not need to DX as every station I listened to was local.
The 75 can be found in the MX117 {I owned 78/MX110,MX117,C-33}
I thought the 74 was the nicest looking.
I still miss the MX110.
The Mind has No Firewall~ U.S. Army War College.
I've never had an MR-78 in my system but I don't need the supernarrow bandwidth. I've tried out seven different tuners in my system and so far the MR-77 is the champ. I was surprised to find a Blair-modified Scott 370-B a little quieter but at the expense of soundstaging. I think people have underestimated how much channel separation we need; when you hear one that really has separation, the imaging and ambient details improve. Have fun!
Edits: 04/09/12
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