The best sounding FM Tuner is.....

Price/Performance ratio at about $200.00 used,I would pick the Yamaha T 1 or the Sumo Charlie,and for a third choice the venerable NAD 4020A.To do better than these will have to spend a lot more,for performance that is for the most part only marginaly better.

The Accuphase T101 I used to own was without a doubt the best tuner I or any of my audio buddies have ever heard. Here in Phila. PA when WRTI (90.1) went of the air at night I would get Howard Univ.(90.1) without any re-tuning. This was with a hunk of 300Ohm twinlead hung on my wall with a nail. I could kick myself for selling it. I got all hooked up in digital readouts. What a mistake.

I have a Merantz model twenty from the late 60's or early 70's. It has an osilascope tube that provides perfect tuning. The tube is about a $400 item used, the unit is basiclly the tube cost. The spec's on this and the 10b are the same. I know of no tuner that has ever matches these spec's. I'd intertain offers in that I too live in the Twin Cities, land of bad FM.

Magnum Dynalab MD102. It captures everything the airwaves have to offer. On the radio stations that take their transmission quality seriously the sound is superb. Turn the lights out you'd swear the broadcaster's voice is coming from someone right there in between your speakers. A good antenna is crucial however. The Magnum ST2 (also known as "The Whip") does a beautiful job. These guys are the Rolls Royce of tuners. If you've got the scratch check out the MD102 or at least the Etude.

i'm glad to read people posting about marantz. i bought a 2020 on ebay for about 70 bucks but didn't really listen to it because i had just bought a line stage with one set of inputs only. two days ago i hooked it up to my new preamp and wasn't expecting anything when suddenly i thought, holy crap this sounds amazing! and it does. what's up with THAT magnum/dynalab?? oh yeah, and i dont even have an antenna for it!!!!!