Is The FM tuner obsolete?

I've been lucky to live near some great college and/or public radio stations, like WRAS in Atlanta, KUT in Austin and WDET in Detroit; so, as others have pointed out, your ability to access a good local station has a major impact on this question. I'd compare listening to satellite radio in the car to watching football on the NFL "Red Zone." How do you resist A) nothing but highlights  and  B) no commercials? So, your question exposes the potential danger of extinction in certain areas.

What has given me the most hope about local radio is my recent discovery of WDET's newest show: "Don Was Motor City Playlist." That show's podcast can be accessed from either WDET's website (wdet.org) or Spotify. The only caveat is that the WDET website only archives the 2 most recent episodes, while all of the episodes (the show started in April of this year) are available on Spotify. Anyone old enough to remember "free form FM radio in the 60's & 70's" should enjoy this show. The fact that Don is a master storyteller who is also hilarious certainly makes this a memorable and must listen experience.

akg_ca

The OTA direct fm analog signal is a superior high quality and uncompressed reception signal that is CD quality or a notch above depending on atmospheric conditions….IFF you have the quality build equipment to handle it AND proper signal reception through a proper external stand-alone fm antenna .

I’m into FM but that is simply mistaken. First, all broadcast signals are subject to some compression, if only to prevent overmodulation. Most stations go far beyond minimal processing, and fine tune things such as Orban or CRL processors to create a unique or "punchy" sound.

FM also can’t deliver CD quality because of the 19kHz stereo pilot tone that has to be filtered form the signal. Most FM tuners struggle to deliver above 15 kHz.

Don’t get me wrong - I’m among those who still appreciate fine FM sound. But, as with all formats, it has its limitations.

I still have my  Kenwood KR 9600 receiver from 1978 .  The FM tuner is probably the best part on it, lol. 

I'ts been in storage mostly for 25 years but still sounds good. Only issue is a power off cycle pop on the A speaker channel .    Thinking i need to sell it .

The radio is on 24/7.

My magnum dynalab ft 101 a with the Etude upgrade from MD has been my favorite component. Bought it new and it’s not going anywhere. Have MD’s ST-2 antenna and the sq from this tuner is amazing.

Just had the tuner section on my restored Marantz 2230 brought back in line. Sounds quite good, albeit not as nice as the MD. As was said above, the receiver saves my tubes as the radio is on all day

I do love an all in one for the simplicity, but just not convinced of the SQ.

A MAC7200 with a tuner/DAC would be a swell lifestyle set up.

We are in a somewhat remote area, in the middle of the sea. There is a classic rock & a classical station near me. They have good quality sound. There are a couple others with OK sound.

The classic rock station has gotten worse with song selection. They play Steve Miller abacadabra, rather than his better songs. It also seems like their playlist has changed to incessant Billy Joel, Hall & Oats, Don Henley and Elton John.

I have a Magnum Dynalab MD-102. Excellent tuner with big caps inside. With the right station, it sounds glorious.

We are moving to another place in this area that has a great classic rock station, and other stations.

If you have a good station with good sound quality, a good tuner can be an essential source component.

My MD-102 provides excellent uncompressed analog goodness, given the right station. With reference quality interconnects into my VTL tube pre, I am often shocked at how good it sounds.