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The value of a good FM tuner?......, now and in the future...

For most of my adult life, FM radio has been an introduction to new music and artists.  With some stations, in some towns I have lived in, the quality was good and the music was good....Jazz, Classical and more.

My question is, what is to be the near term future of FM.  Is streaming of audiophile quality?   Online stations through my computer is not for me, my computer is not audiophile quality sound.....can Magnum or anyone make a unit that can make "online" of audiophile quality.  Like a good lp or disk, the source is what all of the electronics have to work with. ......so, what it the future source for FM or the like?

Thanks
whatjd
tostadosunidos's avatar
tostadosunidos
1,198 posts
 
I prefer listening to my tuner to streaming the same program.  It has more body.  On the other hand, while it's great for classical the commercial rock stations sound like garbage (same stations are listenable in the car)
cleeds
6,258 posts
 
I bought a McIntosh MR-80 around 1980 for $2000 - the equivalent of more than $6500 now. I'd never spend that kind of money on a tuner today, but I still have the Mac and it still performs like a champ. It does require periodic service (every 12 years or so) and I don't listen to it as much as I once did, but I still think it's worth having a good tuner. There are still some bright spots along today's FM dial, although not nearly as many as there once were.
unsound
7,362 posts
 
Before the COVID pandemic, in this part of the country every Sunday we could get excellent quality live feeds of top notch concerts and operas. For that alone,  it’s worth having a good tuner. And good used tuners can now be had for the price of decent pair of used interconnects. Which is kind of amazing.
whatjd OP
1,139 posts
 
unsound ,  thanks for your input.  I hope there is a future and a good future for radio/FM music.  Perhaps I am just an old audiophile, but radio has been such a part of my music history and love.  In my business heyday I knew several Jazz artists, players and singers.  It has been such a part of my life that my travels to NYC, Kobenhavn, Chicago and others have more memories of Jazz than of the business reasons I went there in the first place.  Buying Danish Modern furniture for my store back in "the states" left almost no impressions compared to the Jazz bars at 2 in the morning.  It was amazing the quality of live music I could see at that hour.  It is said that NYC is a city that never sleeps, and that may be true, but in my experiences Kobenhaven can give NYC a run for its music venues. 

turnbowm
353 posts
 
I'm fortunate to get good reception from KUSC (91.5FM) on my Magnum Dynalab FT-101A. Quality classical music 24/7 with NO commercials is as good as it gets.
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