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Anyone have any hands-on experience with the 47Labs Model 4730 Midnight Blue FM tuner which was just evaluated by Art Dudley in the Sept. 2014 issue of Stereophile?
I'd like to hear a real owner's opinion as I'm really interested in this highly desirable piece of audio jewelry.
Follow Ups:
SO, let's hearken back to the original thread, BEFORE it got "hijacked".
Anyone own one / want to comment???
Or have the posters scared you away?
Charles
nt
all the best,
mrh
So which expensive tuner with a famous designer is Art Dudley "dissing" in that review? Sequerra still makes tuners but not the analog showcase that made them famous. Bongiorno is deceased. Richard Modafferi is alive but hasn't worked at McIntosh in years. Must be one of those British guys...
From the review:
Since I can think of no other currently manufactured tuner that is equally desirable—and, yes, my reckoning includes a notoriously expensive beast whose famous designer fails to inspire my confidence...
Opinion on their products certainly seems to be mixed. I don't know who their designer(s) is/are, though.
all the best,
mrh
I was extolling this new product (and, mind you, I really am pleased to see the introduction of a new production analog tuner, I really am!) in response to a thread at AK.
Went back to look at the Stereophile write-up to refresh my memory -- and I noticed the rather crude looking cabinet work on the first photo in the column (linked above). Looks like a spray-painted Hammond box :-(
That's OK for homebrew but rather inexcusable, I'd opine, for a $1500 commercial, "boutique" product. That said, I'm gonna give 47Labs (famed for their aesthetic sense as well as sound) the benefit of the doubt and assume Art received a preproduction/"beta" sample!
Here's hoping!
all the best,
mrh
The thing that impresses me most about it is ....Nothing.Cabinet? (I hope it *is* a pre-production unit
Tuning dial: can you say Scott?
Insides, Any bottom of the line Japanese tuner can at least equal it.
Sound, I don't know
I bet specs are middling also, but as said before, at least a new tuner has been released.
$1500? Ouch.
I'll stick with my 1B and Sansui TU 717
Serving up content-free posts on the Internet since 1984.
Edits: 09/04/14
It might sound great, but it's kind of hard to believe that, as a radio, its performance will be "high end" (sensitivity, selectivity, capture ratio, s/n)given its apparently rather modest hardware configuration.
That said, and all things considered, while it's not inexpensive, it's not ridiculously expensive, either -- given the likely very small production volume.
If 47Labs had a different design aesthetic, perhaps they would have done what Yamaha did with their CT-610II tuner (another three-gang FM tuner) ca. 1978 ;-)
Despite the rather cheezy design, the CT-610II actually sounds better than the average cheap/generic solid state FM tuner of its era. I certainly couldn't complain for $30 (purchased mostly to complement my CA-610II -- seemed somehow right to have the pair).
all the best,
mrh
This FM tuner seems to fit the bill rather nicely.
If a thing's worth doing, it's worth doing well
(Proverb)
One of the best, if not the best tuner I ever owned. The 673 is not screaming expensive on the outside but the boys really knew how throw the parts into it and get it to perform. When I got mine the prices were still fairly low, low enough to buy just for that magnificent am tuner.
Don Brian Levy, J.D.
Toronto ON Canada
(top of the stack)
When it says "Philips Philips Philips" on the label, you will like it, like it, like it on your table, table, table (with apologies to the old Libbys' ad).
all the best,
mrh
(FINALLY found these scans!)
all the best,
mrh
Mine is still ticking after all these years. What I like about them besides being sounding neutral and true to the source, is the ability to pull signals anywhere cleanly and clearly as long as you give it the highest elevation that you can possibly attain.
Right now I'm only using a rabbit ears and I can listen to my favorite FM station at 300 km. away. Fortunately, I'm living in an area with an elevation of 3,000 ft. ASL.
If a thing's worth doing, it's worth doing well
(Proverb)
I have the same pair. Yeah the tuner does better than the guts suggest it would. The amp is just on the edge of making the grade for me but something about it continues to be bothersome. I have 2 of the amp's and neither get over the hump. I have been thinking about taking one and digging into it to see if I can kick it up a bit. I do not use the tone control and associated amp that has the bypass switch so just doing the other sections could make a difference.
The tuner sounds okay and as I listen to only a few locals not being a 5-ganger is fine. It does need bulbs throughout, though.
Don Brian Levy, J.D.
Toronto ON Canada
I don't find it hard to believe. That little Sony took the tuner world by storm a few years ago. It has RF specs as good, or better than my McIntosh MR-78. Sound quality is another matter though. Edit: I own the Sony XDRF1HD too, before anyone asks.The point is that tuner technology has come a long way, and you can get a lot of RF performance in a very small package.
I'm like you though. I still prefer a "full sized" tuner.
Edits: 08/30/14
... the 47 does. Three sections -- that's not a recipe for high performance .
all the best,
mrh
I hadn't given the variable capacitor much thought, admittedly, with regard to performance differences between the two.
I also agree with you regarding the point you make in another post in this thread, regarding some attention being paid to FM by a current manufacturer. It's nice to see.
Maybe not for dx'ing but a lot of very excellent sounding tuners including I think at the time all or almost all tube tuners use the 3-ganger. More is not necessarily "better". For instance with most tuners, the more I.F. stags usually detracts from the sound while adding to marketing driven specs.
Don Brian Levy, J.D.
Toronto ON Canada
You KNOW what I listen to...
all the best,
mrh
I have the same tuner and have to admit that it ain't all that bad but after opening it some time after my initial listening and seeing the guts, I got totally turned off. That thing is like a bully, all air. They could have at least mapped the pcb to fill the cabinet and spread the parts out to look like it was more than a pocket radio.
Their marketing group hit it right. Make it big, 2 meters, very smooth tuning, good feel of controls and make it look like a serious contender. Same for the matching 610II amp. In their defense, so far they have made every cut to downsize but only by the skin of their teeth. I have 2 of the amp's, 1 with some issues that likely will become an experimenter.
Don Brian Levy, J.D.
Toronto ON Canada
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