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Which tuner to get and getting the most from it. Thank God, for the radio!

RE: A couple quick noob questions for radio

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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