D.a.b. Or Analogue Tuners?

Bit depressing that letter in the current hifi news about ALL FM radio programs these days being subject to digital compression- even R3!

Apparently, certain live R3 shows were previously broadcast uncompressed but this was recently stopped.

 

not a sausage! I will have another look and may be contact a few people.

 

I suspect I am typical in having something which passes for a tuner in the shape of the ubiquitous Denon TU260L-MKII picked up cheaply. I don't assume for a moment that it's anwhere the Linn Kudos or NAT-02 I listened to 10 years ago but different home, different aerial set-up and different broadcasting environment makes comparisons pretty worthless.

I can never quite bring myself to take a chance on a Magnum Dynalab in case FM is short-lived or in case the difference in sound quality is not as vast as has been painted, the Leak Troughline presents a dichotomy of opinion from superb to you-have-to-live-next-door-to-the-transmitter.

Smart money might be on the latest Sony or Denon hybrids although it seems the FM performance will not be noticeably better than I already have. The Marantz ST-7001 just might be a smart move.

Then we have the 70's uber-Tuners, from Japan mainly, as picked up by folks like Tony L and allegedly one of those hidden secrets, until you try bidding on eBay or wonder if you're picking a lemon rather than something sweeter as there must be some to choose and some to avoid amongst the similar-styling.

The main problem seems to be that most comments are of the I-just-bought-this-it's-great kind which doesn't give a lot of perspective as folks don't seem to write a lot about how they have found different tuners to perform. Dem or home-dem opportunities are not generally realistic either rendering it all as a bit of a lottery.

So every few weeks I think about improving the tuner and I go round a wide circle of everything I have just written. Then, one of life's events takes priority and distracts me for a while and I do nothing. Then it starts again.

I bet I'm not the only one.

 

To put into perspective........my current tuner pure 701

I've owned
sansui t80
nytech ct252
quad fm4
quad 66 tuner
quad 77 tuner
denon tu260mk1

the 701 falls down around the 260 in performance ..this with a loft mounted aerial. The quads provide the best sound but now most stuff is compressed and is brought down to the level of dab ...a deliberate move ?

But the tuner is mainly used for rolling news 5live .....so the dab is well ahead of the am reception.

Music wise radio 3 has gone down hill quality wise but can still be quite good .......

Another reason for the dab tuner is I can feed a digital signal to my quad 99 to using the dac and preamp functions. This gives a far better sound than the stand alone performance of the unit.

 

Indeed, here’s mine…



It is a 1978 Denon TU-850. There is tons of great tuner information over on www.fmtunerinfo.com. They really know their stuff.

Tony.

 

tonyl that looks awesome,what a baby oooh...

 

What you've got to remember is that Tony's room is now sloped at that angle due to the extreme weight of that tuner, he placed it on the other side originally, but several joists gave way.
You wondered why many people think Tony's system rocks, the Denon is the reason why


Seriously I've heard it and it sounds great

 

i actually sold some back then, but that condition is awesome,

 

I can totally believe you! And being relatively vintage it will be all analogue, I guess.

 

i have more analogue tuners, one i have to sell is the yamaha ct 7000, black facia dbony top, long live analogue i say.

 

It is in truly amazing condition – it was described as 'mint' on eBay and it is. Completely unmarked, even the top case, i.e. it's never had anything stood on it. Initially it was a little grubby and nicotine stained but a quick scrub with the ever trusty Servisol Foam Cleanser 30 and it now looks like a new one. A bargain, £67 plus P&P IIRC.

Very. True battleship build quality, lots of internal pics of one here (link at bottom of the page).

Tony.

 

You've got to hand it to Tony L. He runs PFM, a used record business and still finds the energy to contribute to threads like this on other forums.

A true enthusiast... well done Tony.

Darren

 

hi tony, in the near future i might need to get my vinyl collection sold, can i get in touch with you, regards nando.

 

Certainly - I'm alway interested in vinyl!

Tony.

 

I'm hoping that analogue (and I) are good for another 20 years. I'm about to pick up my 'completely-revamped-by-Tim-de-Paravicini-including-a-new-stereo-decoder' Leak Troughline 3 FM tuner. Can't wait.

Regards
Steve

 

OOh I'm salivating on your behalf

 

Nothing has changed my view that far too few posts about radio are truly helpful rather than self-appreciation. I wish more folk would post like Zanash did about the tuners they have and have used and what they have liked-disliked about them.

Surely it can't be that hard to describe.
- Why is Tony L's Denon TU850 good, because it's built like a battleship, is in rare but fine condition or because it shows up a lot of other tuners?
- Is a Troughline really that good or vastly over-rated if you live more than a few hundred yards away from the transmitter?

How does the sound of these compare with Magnum Dynalab, classic Sansui, Marantz and a typical spread of price points and tehcnologies as can be seen i the latest HiFi-World. You can't describe the difference to someone form going to say a Rega 2 with cheap MM cartridge to (picks random example) Spacedeck/Spacearm/£500 moving coil through respectable phono stage. I still don't know whether some of the tuner epiphany I read about is of this magnitude or just pride of ownership rather than performance.

I probably need to try one or two at home but assume those days have gone, obviously so with retro kit. I don't suppose any dealers offer this kind of thing?

 

It is a pleasure to own and use due to all of the above, but what makes it a good tuner is it’s spec. Tuners are simply tools for receiving radio signals, therefore a sensitive, selective tuner with a good S/N ratio is likely to be a good one. A no-compromise 5 gang, 5 filter monster like the Denon will grab and quietly hold onto signals that elude cheaper tuners. Coupled with a decent roof aerial it sounds stunningly good on live R3 broadcasts, as can pretty much any decent tuner, the TU-850 just does it a bit quieter and cleaner than most.

The Leak, like Quads, Naims and other UK tuners are less sensitive and selective than the Japanese super-tuners of the 70s. Some like the Troughline and more expensive Naims are truly superb sounding tuners, but the decision as to whether they are for you depends to a large degree where you live in relationship to a transmitter.

To me the only real choice is between a Troughline and a 70s Japanese super-tuner. The Naims and better Magnum Dynalab models are stupidly expensive and look poor value by comparison.

With the Japanese tuners just buy at the top of the range, all the major brands made at least a 5 gang, 5 filter tuner and this is what you want. How much they sell for these days depends largely on the aesthetics with Marantz, Pioneer and Sansui commanding the top prices as they look so damn cool. If you want a real bargain Sony are worth keeping an eye on, they made some stunningly good tuners, but they tend to change hands for peanuts as they are less aesthetically pleasing than the above, look out for a ST-5000F or ST-5090SD.

Tony.

 

The reception is fine - I get 5 major stations without even plugging an ariel into my troughline 3.

Perhaps it doesnt pull in as well as the best of them, but I dont think you'd have a problem with a roof ariel unless you live miles from a transmitter.

You need to replace the stereo decoder to get top quality sound. This costs £80-£400 depending where you go and what you get.

With a modern stereo decoder a Troughline will take on the best in terms of sound quality. It's a valve sound - with warmth and body - which many prefer to many of the very transistor sounding alternatives.

In short then, Troughlines are amazingly good when fettled, but you can't just buy an old one with the old decoder, have no ariel and expect miracles.

Even when you add in the cost of a modern stereo decoder they are cheaper than most people pay for even a cheap cd player or turntable.

 

You can apply an analagous argument to all hifi components. And the source limitations of FM radio mean it can never be as good as, say, CD. But as with vinyl it's good enough for the programme to be the priority.

Paul