Fm tuner


I am looking to upgrade my fm tuner. I now have an old Rega Radio.

i listen mainly to classical,wfmt in Chicago and listen to that station as much as I do my vinyl and cds.

as I live close to Chicago receiving weak stations is not an issue.

i have recently upgraded to a Rogue Sphinx v2,kef LS50s and a rega p6.

im not really up on the latest technology so I think an fm tuner is all I really need.

any suggestions or thoughts will be appreciated.

allan
wino55
I recommand Leak Troughline 2 or 3 as the best I ever heard. 2 conditions : 
1- a very good signal 
2- a very good restauration. I shipped mine to " London Sound" and Mike Solomons did its magic that is nothing really magic except his great knowledge of this marvel and all I can now is

"Music Maestro"!!!.

In my opinion and my own system it is better than Tandberg 3001A, Naim NAT 101 and 01, Sequerra Ref.
For those of us who prefer classical music and, like me, live within range of a good FM station that broadcasts such music, high quality FM reception is essential. And, while the advice that you’ve received is well intended and basically sound, it is certainly NOT technically current. To briefly appreciate this refer: http://www.biline.ca/audio_critic/audio_critic_web1.htm#sony.
Also here: https://www.cnet.com/products/sony-xdr-f1hd/review/
And here: https://www.cnet.com/products/sony-xdr-f1hd/review/

I acquired my own (new) Sony XDR-F1HD FM tuner in late 2008, for $50, in a closeout sale. Sony ceased production of this product at about that same time, presumably because too few consumers understood or appreciated the merits of high definition (HD) FM broadcasting. However, you are frequently able to find Sony XDR-F1HD tuners for sale in the used e-commerce marketplace. For me, finding this product was an important windfall because I live (on the central coast of CA) within range of a local repeater that transmits the HD FM signal from KUSC (Los Angeles), the last remaining full time, non-commercial, public radio station in the U.S. that’s dedicated exclusively (24/7) to classical music. And KUSC does this with live on-air program hosts, using the full 96 Kbps bandwidth of their HD allocation, assuring their listeners of the finest possible transmission fidelity. The result can be absolutely glorious audio, but that won’t persist for long unless you also do something about the serious internal heat rise that’s implicit when using this product. For full info, see: http://www.ham-radio.com/k6sti/xdr-f1hd.htm

As the above report cites, it’s vital to address the XDR-F1HD heat build-up problem. In addition, there are numerous other improvements that are well worth making on this tuner because its ultimate performance potential is so outstanding. And here’s the guy that can do that: http://www.xdrguy.com/sony-xdr-f1hd-audio-performance.html This man is truly a talented craftsman. For $300, he installed two hi-end fans (noiseless), replaced all of my fried electrolytic caps, provided an optional HD lockout, upgraded the output jacks, replaced the worn and erratic control buttons, replaced the dim LEDs on the LCD display board, provided a super-cap to prevent loss of memory during power outages, and optimally realigned the RF front end. In addition, he installed a new analog audio stage that eliminates the high frequency falloff that was previously inherent in the stock design. And now I own the finest FM tuner ever produced. There’s nothing better, at any price. The RF performance is amazing, and the audio quality of the classical music that I receive from the live KUSC broadcasts is superb, and completely free of any noise at all times. This is a course that’s well worth following.
I've owned the following tuners- Onkyo T9090II, Dynaco FM3, Magnum Dynalab MD105 and McIntosh MR78. I also had an MR71 in my home for a few days but it wasn't working right.

The T9090II was the most sensitive, somewhat dry sounding, the FM3 the least sensitive, with a bloated mid bass and rolled down treble. The I owned an MD105 for a while and thought it was quite good, and now I have the MR78 which so far I would say is the best tuner overall I've owned. I find its multiple filters and selectivity are genuinely useful. Note that the MR78 has been recapped. 
vtvmtodvm06-24-2017 6:45pm
For those of us who prefer classical music and, like me, live within range of a good FM station that broadcasts such music, high quality FM reception is essential. And, while the advice that you’ve received is well intended and basically sound, it is certainly NOT technically current ...
I acquired my own (new) Sony XDR-F1HD FM tuner in late 2008, for $50, in a closeout sale. Sony ceased production of this product at about that same time, presumably because too few consumers understood or appreciated the merits of high definition (HD) FM broadcasting. ... And KUSC does this with live on-air program hosts, using the full 96 Kbps bandwidth ..
"HD Radio" is digital radio technology, but it isn’t "high-definition" and developer iBiquity always insisted that the "HD" designation didn’t stand for "high-definition." That’s a good thing, when you consider you’re listening to 96 kpbs bandwidth at best, which is far short of CD quality, which is 1,411 kbps.

If you are close enough to the transmitter, HD can deliver a low noise signal which will be much quieter than a conventional signal received by cheap FM tuner. But if you use a quality FM tuner connected to a proper directional antenna, there’s no comparison at all. That is one of the many reasons that HD radio has failed in the marketplace.