In Reply to: RE: A couple quick noob questions for radio posted by Awe-d-o-file on November 21, 2014 at 09:01:11:
Awe-d-o-file has a great answer -
I'll add a bit more context-
Typically the left end of the dial - public and college stations have less compression, and can offer a clear signal that is actually being broadcast at the licensed frequency-
Many of the commercial stations will, in addition to compression of the signal, push the broadcast signal - after compression - this is a bit like running your amps at or near clipping - except these are the signal transmitting amps - so the compressed signal gets some additional "flavor" in the broadcast - additionally some stations will 'over broadcast' which is to say broadcast their signal over a frequency range rather than at a specific frequency - EG: the station is licensed at 104.5, but they actually transmit between 104.1-104.7. this makes the Multipath dirty and wrecks havoc on adjacent stations - especially distant stations.
A tuner alignment can - especially for a tuner that can be aligned - offer great improvement in the sound quality and tuning ability - mostly because of the latter.
the other option is to tune the antenna both physically and directionally to the desired stations.
The Tunerinfo website is a wealth of information - and IIRC, the NAD tuners are well respected.
Having said this - FM is NOT a wasteland - there are some excellent stations that provide some wonderful signals that can be of quite a high quality-
Have fun
Happy Listening
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Follow Ups
- RE: A couple quick noob questions for radio - 6bq5 10:34:28 11/21/14 (2)
- certainly not a wasteland - texanater 12:18:42 11/21/14 (0)
- RE: A couple quick noob questions for radio - Awe-d-o-file 10:38:57 11/21/14 (0)