Having been a Radio Broadcast Engineer, I have listened to many tuners over the years. I’ve also had the opportunity to listen to Modulation Monitors. These are basically tuners which give you a visual indication of the transmitter’s modulation, and an audio sample; but since they sample the air signal right at the transmitter output, there is no multipath involved in the signal, giving the engineer the truest visual and audio sample possible. Many times I would place numerous tuners side by side by these modulation monitors, and A - B the audio, comparing the two. Using this A - B comparison method, still to this day, the best tuner I’ve ever heard was the (still very affordable) Yamaha T-85. The Technics ST-9030 was also always one of my favorites.
If you’re not familiar with the term exciter, it is the heart and soul of an FM (and AM) transmitter; and just like audio equipment, some exciters have better audio reproduction than others. One exciter that was noted for it’s very high quality analog audio performance was the BE (Broadcast Electronics) FX-50. An exciter generates the radio frequency (that you tune your tuner or radio to), and handles the audio portion too. The rest of a radio broadcast transmitter is just a big amplifier, which amplifies the exciter output.
If you’re into tuners, and you’re not already aware of it, this website will be very helpful:
FM tuner info.com
