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I have a FM-80 on the way to play with, & going to start collecting mono tuners as I can get em @ fair price. I have good strong local station I like. I have a MR-74, Tu217, Rotel 925, but no tube tuners & run all tube gear..I need to solve that problem *s* I DIY tube gear somewhat so I can some of the work.
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I have a 90R and one thing I had to update was the 'rootbeer barrel' caps on the ouptut. These 1959 caps leak and passed DC. You may want to check these when you go through the tuna.I don't listen to it very often but it is a nice tuner.
Thanks for the heads-up on the output caps. I have a cool lil Heathkit AJ-10 coming also..Love the double green eye gig....I have a good local station that please's me more than any digital source I have.including highly modded NOS DAC's & the such..So I am having fun with tuners at the moment.. I also like listening to FM mono made the best.
If so, I have one I bought (quite inexpensively) from Mike Urban. Nice tuner; densely packed chassis. I don't use it very often, though.
I used to use these, as well as the FM90X. I hope you have better luck with tube tuners than I did. They always crap out, in time.
Tubes get weak, parts drift in value, and alignments get needed. Then, to make things frustrating, the weak tubes may be preferable while aligning !
But, often, tube tuners have a sound that is very sweet. The FM80 was quite sensitive, and locked in stations well, for quite a while. They even lasted longer than the FM90Xs I have owned. I graduated to the REL Precedent, and now, the REL Green Giant. Those are not affordable, though.
If your budget is the limiter, you will still luck out, with some sleepers. For example, there are 4-7 tube tuners that are not valued high, that actually work well in the real world.
Recently, I stumbled onto a solid state Sansui TU-717, which has great stereo reception, compared to the Green Giant through a MPX unit. With tube tuners, on the less sensitive jazz/blues stations, I usually listen in thrilling dual mono mode. Happy Hunting !
I am listening to that thrilling dual mono mode this very moment...
... oh, what, is a REL "Green Giant"??Inquiring minds want to know!
In the late 1940s, REL issued three versions of this monster receiver. Yes, many actually came with amps onboard. They looked like communications receivers, in a large, light green case, some with cool wooden end panels.
The tuner sections used all loktal tubes(only 7 tubes)had two cool meters, and also used the guillotine permeability tuning, like the later Precedent. They were available into the early 1950s as THE monitor tuner to have. They even had a mobile unit, available to check reception in the streets and on the roads !
IMHO their sound and reception is even better than the golden faced, more valuable Precedent, when both are working optimally.
All in all, though, tube tuners seem to break down way too often.
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