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I would like to pick up a used to FM tuner to listen to the local
college jazz shows. And I will probably just use an inside antenna.
I would prefer solid state, analog or digital tuning is fine. No remote
is fine as well. What models should I look for around $100?
Thanks,
Bill
Follow Ups:
In the SS arena at $100 a Scott LT-112B is hard to beat for the money and has a great vintage appearance. The Scott has a hot tuner section and sounds good (no crappy early op-amps in the audio chain). The Scott LT-112B was the industry standard at FM radio stations and commercial repeater sites back in the 1960s.
Another no brainer is the Sherwood S-3000 V series tube type FM stereo tuner or the S-2200 tube type AM-FM stereo tuner. At $100 may be difficult to find in excellent cosmetic condition.
Onkyo T9 is an excellent analog tuner.
When they discover the center of the universe, a lot of people will be disappointed to discover they are not it. ~ Bernard Bailey
I ended up buying a vintage Sanyo Plus model from GatorJim listed in the Asylum classifieds. I had some of the Sanyo Plus stuff back in the day and I really liked it.
I can't wait to get it and try it out.
Thanks again for you help.
Bill
Under $100, the best sound you're gonna find, in my hardly humble opinion , is one of the mono Sherwoods. If you don't need extreme sensitivity (and they ain't bad in that regard, just not top-end), the overall sound quality you'll get just won't be touched in a solid state tuner except those of the top echelon (which you won't find for a C-note).
In fairness, Sherwood, Scott and (even) Fisher made better than average tuners and receivers even after they moved to solid state.
In terms of cheap solid state tuners, look for a Kenwood or a Yamaha analog tuner from the late 1970s. The latter (at least the lower-end ones) are almost embarrassingly unsophisticated in design/engineering -- but they do sound good. A CT-610II will probably set you back about $30. It'll impress no one... but it will sound pretty darned good.
The Yamaha CT-800, CT-810 and CT-1010 are all notably better, but also more expensive. That said, my CT-1010 was $75 in good working order, and is a pretty competent and very respectable sounding ss tuner.
(that's the guts of a CT-1010)
Onkyo and Sansui made a bevy of fairly nice analog tuners over quite a few years, too.
I won't offer any digital recommendations, but that is only because I really don't have enough experience to offer any even possibly meaningful opinions.
all the best,
mrh
The CT610II if you never open it is very satisfying. I enjoyed mine until I opened money and saw what, looks like a am-fm portable radio stuffed in a deceiving huge case. Since then I have been admittedly biased against it but, also in all the downsizing shootouts, it and the matching CA610II amp continues to make the cut though at no time were they near the top of the heap. Just good enough to continue. For the integrated amps/tuner group the only remaining contenders are they and the Sherwood S9500c and S3300 amp and tuner. All other consisting of some 2 dozen pairings have left the house.
Don Brian Levy, J.D.
Toronto ON Canada
I agree. I listen to FM while I work, consequently spent a lot of time trying different tuners and for my tastes the tube tuners I have tried sound better than the SS ones. Sherwood, Scott, Fisher all have models within your budget that you might like.
Maybe someone can help with this. There is an Onkyo tuner that sells for less than $100 used that is known as a sleeper with very nice sound for the price. What I can't recall is the model number.
I have one and still enjoy it very much.
"Man is the only animal that blushes - or needs to" Mark Twain
Edits: 12/20/14
+1
When we became Onkyo dealers these, the matching amps and the TX xxx series receivers had just come out. There was something about the looks, front panel hue and sound that was also memorizing. They lacked detail, color the sound, did not have a wide sound stage and in general were near the bottom of the audiophile ladder. With all that, universally the sales staff loved them and almost all grabbed the TX999, TX666 or the tuner and largest amp. As for customers, the spouses seemed to LOVE the faceplate hue and found the sound pleasurable that when we later got feedback many comments included that the spouses were now using the stereo during the day. Whatever it was, the sound was just enjoyable.
Sadly, or rightly so, the next generation dramatically altered the voicing to more closely match what Yamaha later termed the Natural Sound. In comparison, while I had to admit objectively the sound attained a higher level of audiophile quality I missed the older sound. Some described it as somewhat of a tube sound but, the closest I could come that would be a new Dyna ST70 mated with a PAS3x.
The tuner was not a dx hottie by any means but a very solid performer. In the past when the questions been asked, it has been one of my suggestions. It and the matching amp look and sound wonderful for those Saturdays at the Opera and you can listen 24/7 with no fatigue. We mated them with the smaller ARs, KLH amd Wharfedales. They did not do as well with the OLA. Seemed to exaggerate that mid range suckout they have.
Don Brian Levy, J.D.
Toronto ON Canada
me, too, come to think of it...
It is a pretty decent tuner with an impressively "hot" AM section.
In the photo above, I was listening to WBZ-AM 1030 kHz in Boston (about 120 miles distant) mid-day, warm weather (i.e., worst-case for AM reception, even for a 50 kW clear channel station). The Select-A-Tenna helped, of course... but the signal was quite listenable & stable even on the built-in ferrite rod.
Nice lookin' piece, too -- rather unique "bronze-faced" cosmetics for its time (ca. 1975 or 76). None too common, though... I'd love to have one of the matching integrated amps. Onkyo made some very nice ss integrated amps in the mid to late 1970s.
all the best,
mrh
The impressions, along with the range of selling prices (used) are listed. Perhaps looking at the list will refresh your memory.
Thank-you for the link. It might be the 4310, but I sure don't trust my memory on this, particularly because this is the same number as a very good Scott tuner, but it is definitely one of the 4xxx series.
The background of this is a recommendation from a friend John Lazart who passed away a few years ago. His entire career was in hifi, his last job was as Grado's sales and marketing. We would talk hifi and he would mention this Onkyo tuner which I never had the opportunity to hear. He said it was a real surprise, inexpensive, with a very nice sound.
An expert who had one liked the Onkyo 4017 which apparently trades under $100. Onkyo also made a 4310. The Scott 4310 is one of the ultimate tube tuners, on my win-the-lottery shopping list!
Give me a break, there is a Kenwood KT990D for sale on this site and it is by far a great looking, super performer and it is being sold cheap. I compared it to the tandbergs, carvers, yamahas, pioneers, etc. It is a winner, used to have them all finally kept a Kenwood KT 727L
Kenwood has always been good with tuners considering it's heritage. What bothers me is your attitude in suggesting the Kenwood may be a better choice.
I for one, never seemed to enjoy any of the Kenwood enough to plunk down the cash. Can not explain why. I did not get the Onkyos myself as at the time I had a stack of 10Bs, 20/20Bs, 19s, and almost a complete collection of the McIntosh tuners and tuner/preamps as well as the Sony STR6060 sitting around. I also had a number of tuners, separates, receivers and amps kicking around nib or NOS.
Don Brian Levy, J.D.
Toronto ON Canada
Fredtr asked about Onkyo tuners, but couldn't remember the model number. I sent him a link to the list of Onkyos listed on the TIC, so he might be able to refresh his memory. What's that got to do with Kenwoods?
+1 - A 990D for under a hundred bucks is a great deal on a wonderful tuner.
HA
Based on your needs almost any tuner will do. Look at the local for sale ads such as Craigslist and try to stay with local pickup. If nothing local, look up say a KLH 18 tuner. Reasonably priced, very decent audio and pretty much bullet proof. Others include the Sherwood S3300, Yamaha CT610, Sony TA1055, Onkyo 4055, Philips Lab Series 185, and most any Lafayette tuners.
There are brands such as Marantz, Pioneer, Sansui and Kenwood that many times demand premium prices because of name recognition and not as much quality.
Don Brian Levy, J.D.
Toronto ON Canada
Here's some suggestions which will reinforce some already made and possibly add a couple.
Kenwood KT-7500
Marantz ST-6000, ST-17U
Denon TU-660, TU-380, TU-767
Sony ST-J75, ST-SA50ES, ST-J60
Harmon Kardon TU-915
I think I'd shy away from the tube units, they do sound very good when operating correctly but finding one that doesn't need work is quite rare.
Good Luck and Enjoy.
HA
Marantz ST-6000, Scott 312, Sherwood 2300, NAD 4150, Pioneer TX-6800, Kenwood KT-6500. In tubes, Dynaco FM-3, Scott 350, Sherwood 3000 (be sure to get a true stereo unit). The web site listed below is encyclopedic.
The Kenwood KT-7500 tuner is a very good also. I picked one up through the Asylum Trdaer a couple years ago for a bit over $100.00.
Check the Asylum Trader often; if you see something interesting, check out its performance at the Tuner Information Center.
I forgot the Sony ST-J75 which has fans and often sells under $100. I did an Ebay search from $90 to $100 and found:
Carver TX-11, Denon TU-660, Scott LT-112, Harman Kardon Citation 23, and Heathkit AJ-1600. You can find a lot of good tuners at this price point.
I agree with Openmind that the Tuner Information Center is a great resource for tuner performance information. Find a few you like the performance and looks of, then start scouring ebay, audiogon, and the Asylum trader.
I've had great RF performance, and decent sound from a Yamaha T-80 (I own two of 'em), which I got for about half what you're looking to spend, if I remember correctly.
I just checked, and there's a Yamaha T-85 on ebay at the moment, with an opening bid of $50. According to Tuner Information Center the T-85 is even better than the T-80. No affiliation with the seller, etc.
Good luck finding what you want.
It's driven up the price of some thoroughly mediocre (without significant tweaking) tuners and passed by some of the best sounding of the lot.
Just my opinion, of course. I care much more about how they sound than about their sensitivity and selectivity. The latter can often be fixed, in most locales, with a good high-gain directional antenna mounted as high as practical and aimed down the throat of the desired station.
Conversely, IMO, nothin' fixes lousy sound that doesn't involve a soldering iron (if even possible)...
all the best,
mrh
Sorry about the late reply.
As with most things on the Internet, I try to use TIC as a reference, not as gospel.
Regarding prices, again, the Internet has been a detriment there. I remember picking up a mint Dynaco ST-70 for $100 (with Mullards), finding GE 6550 tubes for $5, etc. at ham fests. But that was pre-Internet.
We now have vast resources of information (both factual and fictional) at our disposal, but the cat is out of the bag on what's good and what it's worth. No more finding 50¢ LPs at garage sales, at least for me.
Totally agree. I am sparing you my rant against that site (already typed but not posted!). You are being polite. Knowledgeable and even slightly experienced people can rip that site's info apart, all the points you touched on and more.
I truly get the impression that site is designed to enable people to sell "rare" crap that they've gotten cheaply and "modded" for much more than it's worth.
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