General Asylum: REVIEW: McIntosh MR-77 Tuner by jpchleapas

Model:	MR-77
Category:	Tuner
Suggested Retail Price:	$699 in 1978; $250-500 in 2002
Description:	Solid-state FM tuner
Manufacturer URL:	McIntosh
Model Picture:	View

Review by jpchleapas ( A ) on March 07, 2004 at 08:29:44
IP Address: 64.136.26.227

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for the MR-77

Picked this mint unit up for $399 with buy it now on the bay. Sent it straight to McIntosh Labs in New York for an alignment and to be brought up to original specifications. Total cost to refurbish it was $324. This also included at no additional cost a brand new double box from McIntosh Labs that it was sent back to me in. I also paid $112 for a new front face plate. There were a few small bubbles which are quite common in McIntosh glass face plates. The tuner is in like brand new condition with a perfect front face and no scratches on it anywhere. I picked up an original wood case and panlocks for it from Audio Classics for a decent price. Now on to the review. I have not stopped grinning at how good this 30 plus year old tuner sounds. I also own a McIntosh MR65-B tube tuner that is used in my apartment. The sound is not what I expected at all from a solid state tuner to be sure. It sounds very smooth with excellent bass and my Dad who I bought it for is very pleased also. Voices sound like voices and there is no harshness to my ears like I have experienced with some other solid state tuners I bought to audition in our stereo systems. The MR-77 now has replaced the 1961 Fisher FM-1000 tube tuner he was using. That is now awaiting its own turn to be restored functionally. We are using it with a Goddar indoor antenna. This is the weak spot but even so it pulls in more stations than the Fisher FM-1000. It is also much quieter, We have a huge Winegard rooftop antena that will go up in a month or so when winter is finally over and it is safe to go up on the roof. I would not hesitate to suggest this tuner model to anyone looking for a very nice sounding vintage tuner. As with all vintage audio expect to pay for an alignment, and a minor going through by a good tech. I have read that this tuner is reported to be one of the sweetest sounding tuners before I bought it. I agree with that statement now after listening to it firsthand. We are using it with a Conrad Johnson PV-11 preamplifier and a Conrad Johnson Premier 4 tube amplifier using 8 Mullard EL34 tubes. There are Herbie tube dampers on the tubes. His speakers are 6' tall 2-way horn speakers with JBL 2360A 31" x 31" biradial horns that have 2" TAD TD-4001 compression drivers. His bass bins are the JBL 4648A-8 that each have two 15" JBL woofers. His speakers are ruthless at revealing flaws in recordings. There is no horn shout to be sure with his horn speakers.

Product Weakness: As with any 30 plus year old piece of audio gear it will need to be aligned and gone through by a trained tech.
Product Strengths: This tuner produces very smooth sound. Piano sounds like a piano, voices sound real and it has good bass and overall sound quality is excellent to my ears.

Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier:	Conrad Johnson Premier 4
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	Conrad Johnsaon PV-11
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	Well Tempered Classis, Dynavector Karat 17d2, Denon HA-1000 head amplifier
Speakers:	2-Way JBL 2360A horns, Tad TD-4001 drivers, and twin 15
Cables/Interconnects:	Are you kidding, just oxygen free copper type
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	jazz, 60-80's rock, alternative rock and light classical.
Room Size (LxWxH):	12' x 16' x 6'
Room Comments/Treatments:	Will be moving to a larger room shortly.
Time Period/Length of Audition:	2 weeks.
Other (Power Conditioner etc.):	powervar
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner

Product Weakness:	As with any 30 plus year old piece of audio gear it will need to be aligned and gone through by a trained tech.
Product Strengths:	This tuner produces very smooth sound. Piano sounds like a piano, voices sound real and it has good bass and overall sound quality is excellent to my ears.