Are tuners getting worse?

I suppose that this is true. I have offered examples of older Kenwood, Yamaha, Sansui and other manufacturers popular in the late 1970's and early 1980's. I can state that in comparisons with my favorite all-tube tuners (Fisher FM-200-B, FM-1000, Marantz 10-B and McIntosh MR-71), they still sound impressive and are much more "musical" than most other more modern tuners, with the exception of the most expensive models out there these days (ie Magnum-Dynalab, McIntosh, etc). You have to realize that in most current FM broadcasting, the signals are highly manipulated and, in most cases, the program material itself is not always of the highest quality. There are also fewer and fewer stations broadcasting classical recordings or live performances these days, at least where I live (SF Bay Area). I hope this has helped! Richard Links Berkeley, CA

I never thought about tuners getting worse,but I have several examples. We have a large antenna with a rotor just for recieving local TV an crytal clear FM. Our older (80s)analog tuners lock on with no fade. our high dollar AV digital reciever amp will sometimes lose a station. I must be old fashion,that old analog tuner with backlit scale is really great to look at. (9500 PIONEER)

Yes indeed. My listening room is in the lower level in my home and my tuner is a Pioneer 6500II. I can get any and ststions that are availably in my area with no problem using a 300 ohm ant.

Sorry to disagree, but I don't think tuners are getting worse. For me there are four reasons radio seems to sound worse then in the past: 1. Much more RF-pollution (mobile phones are the worst source); 2. Cable: I used to work for a couple of radiostations, and invariably the sound picked up with a 'normal' antenna was better than through cable (my tuner's got two, switchable, antenna-inputs. That makes comparison easy...); 3. Processing at the radio-stations: each station has it's own, distinctie sound-character. Things get worse when they tailor there sound for reproduction; 4. Radio is, on its best, always a medium with a limited bandwidth, a lot of noise and not much stereo-separation (compared to CD), so, switching form a CD to radio will always be a big difference. Maybe DAB will improve things, but I personally don't see it'll become a succes. Anyway, I wouldn't spend to much on a tuner, just pick something that'll fit within your budget, and don't forget to spend some money for a decent aerial, preferably not one of those camping-gadgets with a built in antenna-amplifier...

Very good point. There is so much more RF pollution that wasn't there 20 years ago. But A/V units made nowadays do not come equipped with the electronics necessary to weed thru the noise and pull in AM/FM stations. They put everything on one cheap IC. One of the better tuners I've always liked is the Kenwood KT6500. Doesn't really look like much but attach a $3 fm antenna and 3 inch piece of wire for AM and you'll have very few problems picking up stations. BTW, the best radio I have for AM is a transistor radio I found years ago. Actually uses a 9 volt battery so only have to change it once a year! Gets AM/FM and VHF channels 2-13. Use it constantly when outside.