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I made a post the other day in the vinyl forum and somebody mentioned listening to the radio and it got me thinking about getting a tuner even though I hardly ever listen to the radio. I have a tube system and thought that if I got a tuner it would have to be a tube tuner.
Well, I hit the thrifts and didn't find any tube tuners (of course) but I saw a NAD 4020a tuner. I decided to plug it in and in the middle of the store with out an antenna attached to it it pulled in a stereo signal. I figured that was a good sign and decided to purchase it.
I took it home and plugged it in and tuned in the classical station. It sounded pretty good but I was getting quite a bit of background hiss. I found my Terk AF-1 antenna and attached it to the tuner and it sounds great.
Now I can listen to the radio while I continue my search for a tuner with tubes in it.
Chad
Follow Ups:
To quote the late Pat Paulson..."Picky picky picky!" Good grief and good luck. I thought I had problems.
Swiller
You should check fmtunerinfo.com. There's a lot of info there mainly on solid state tuners but a good amount on tube ones also. And there's a lot of info on using and improving them.
Your idea that a tuner can be tested without any antenna at all, makes me wonder how much you understand about getting good sounding results from a tuner, particularly one with valve RF stages.Valve tuners are far less sensitive than SS, and thus need to be driven far, far harder to get to full quieting (10-20 times more signal), and are even less good at picking out stations close to each other on the dial. They need all the help they can get. They can sound marvellous when they are fed right.
Omni-directional antennas won't help much on the last problem. Amplified indoor antennas are very prone to amplifying all the EMI/RFI coming from home appliances, TVs and PCs. And the tuner can go into front end overload and become noisy. Click below.
You may get lucky if your most desired station is physically close to you and 'alone' on the dial.
To guarantee the best possible sound from a valve tuner on all desired stations you will need a directional antenna, and likely a rotator. Factor it into your budget.
FM stereo just is directional, it is built in to the system.
When people write in here to describe the improvement from a directional antenna, they all note the striking improvement in sound quality.
FM is in some ways my best source. I am fortunate that we have a national Classical/Jazz network of powerful transmitters, purist sound and miking, and lots of live acoustic broadcasts of local and visiting groups. In the last four weeks we've had two direct broadcasts from the Vienna Phil who were on a national tour. Better sound than any recording I have.
To deal with all the mountains we are surrounded by, my antenna array includes a long/wide-band VHF antenna* with a good tight pattern and enough forward gain for both the valuable stations. * It was made by Antenna craft for Tandy, 3 decades ago! Luckily we have one big tower with all the TV and FM transmitters on it, and the direction to it is reasonably unobstructed, if over a ridge.
[ Another review page ?
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/278294-REG/Terk_Technologies_AF1_AF_1_AM_FM_Q_Amplified.html ]
Warmest
Timothy Bailey
The Skyptical Mensurer and Audio Scrounger
And gladly would he learn and gladly teach - Chaucer. ;-)!
'Still not saluting.'
http://www.theanalogdept.com/tim_bailey.htm
Edits: 10/10/11
I live in an apartment and don't have the luxury of installing a large antenna on the roof. I am well aware of the failings of my Terk antenna however, it cost $5 at a thrift store and was handy.
I'm not sure what your problem was with me wanting to buy the tuner because it was able to pick up a station in stereo with out an antenna attached. I suppose I could have found a receiver, some RCA cable, speakers, speaker wire and an antenna and hooked everything up to see if it worked.
The radio picks up every station I want to listen to and sounds great to boot.
Chad
Lots of people seem to think the tuner is SO important it's as if antennas don't matter. Some so much as to get quite dig-heels in about it. I now know that you aren't one of them.Depends on how many stations you really want, but reading the rhombic article (here In AA's FAQ) which covers indoor DIY items made from twin ribbon and pinned to the ceiling, is worth your time. IMO.
Materials cost is slightly higher than $5 but not much, and performance is equivalent to a long exterior yagi type.
:-)!
Warmest
Timothy Bailey
The Skyptical Mensurer and Audio Scrounger
And gladly would he learn and gladly teach - Chaucer. ;-)!
'Still not saluting.'
http://www.theanalogdept.com/tim_bailey.htm
Edits: 10/21/11
It would be nice to have a roof mounted antenna. Since I posted this I upgraded my pre to a MX110Z. Unfortunately, the tuner doesn't pick up a well as the NAD. One of the stations I listen to doesn't come in well in stereo, but alright in mono. I'll have to try one of those DIY antennas.
It's not that bad of a deal because I generally don't listen to radio. If the stations aren't filled with commercial, it's pledge drives. Also, most of the public radio stations are news during the day and music at night.
Chad
The Australian Braodcast Commission which has 4 digital TV channels, one bing 24/7 news. TV3 is for kids and closes about dinner time <. TV@ is for reruns and repeats.
It has two mono radio networks, local stations, and Radio National. Some are on FM and all are wide audio bandwidth. Ther staions in major centres have many miles of reach on big AM transmitters
There are two national FM networks, each with BIG main transmitters and babies for smaller places with clout. One for the yoof, compressed and just like a commercial FM rock station, compressed and all that, but more politically (in)correct and satirical, and focussed on Aussie musicians. You acn listen on line, it's called TripleJ.
Then there's ABC Classic FM which I listen to a LOT. Mostly classical a bit of Jazz and some World and MoR for drive-times. NO commercials but a fair few promos. No Dynamic Range compression, no Eq, no processing. LOts of live real stereo acoustic concerts. Better than CD.
The there are local community licensees and one of ours her in Canberra does use a bit of compression, but does lots of music, blues, folk, classic R&R, etc etc.
So it's worth having a really good tuner with good wide audio-BW AM. And good antennas for both.
Does the 110 have a polarity or phase switch 0/180. Mac pre tuners often do.
Warmest
Timothy Bailey
The Skyptical Mensurer and Audio Scrounger
And gladly would he learn and gladly teach - Chaucer. ;-)!
'Still not saluting.'
http://www.theanalogdept.com/tim_bailey.htm
Tube tuners are NOT "set and forget". Proper alignment (usually by a professional ) is essential. Change a tube ANYWHERE in the RF/IF chain and realignment is required.
A Dyna FM3 in good condition is probably your best bet in a tubed tuner. The FM3 is good sounding and not especially costly.
The "Big 3" of tube tuners are the Marantz 10B and McIntosh models MR67/MR71. All are expensive. BTW, a Harman/Kardon Citation 3 is quite nice.
Eli D.
The FM tuner 'bug' is another fun part of the audio hobby. I was set on tube tuners, but find SS can sound better in stereo (not so much mono).
So far the best sounding SS tuner I owned is the Kenwood KT-990D and it has a sensitive front-end for weaker FM signal reception. Go to fmtunersinfo.com for more info.
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