TUNERS..anyone?

By the way, unless I have several copies of the Stereophile with errors in it, the Meridian 504 was a Class B tuner. That said, I had the big brother to the 504 the 604. It was a very nice solid state tuner, a little time to get use to on the ergonomics, but none-the-less nice.

Hi David,

What they said...go with a vintage tuner (probably analog). They're relatively cheap and very good. I have a Luxman T-110 and a Revox B-260S...both are amazing (I also like an old, late 80s HK Citation tuner that I have too). You're tuner may not be the problem. I switched from a powered Terk FM antenna to my rooftop TV antenna, and the improvement was noticeable. The Terk provided a strong signal, but it wasn't a good quality signal...it merely magnified a bad signal. I would also keep in mind that there are so many things about FM broadcasting and reception that are completely out of your control. You have no idea what sort of equipment they have at the station...crap CD players?...old turntable with an old cartridge??...poorly maintained transmitting equipment??...a low power FM designation??...is their transmitter too close to your house, or too far away??...do they compress their signal a little or way too much (like most FM rock stations usually do)?? See what I mean?? Radio was a great idea, but it's become nothing more than a poor product ( a poor product using our so-called "public airwaves"). There are two or three companies that own most stations in the US...there is very little competition...and like most modern corporations, they'll welcome the profits, but they're hesitant to put that money back into their broadcasting equipment. The stations may be owned by some of the largest companies in the world, but the above post is correct...most college stations and NPR stations have much better equipment and it's usually maintained better too. I know several of our Viacom (CBS? Infinity?? whatever...) owned stations in Chicago share ONE engineer, and these are all popular, multi-million dollar, money-making stations. All rambling aside...I guess I'm suggesting that you try not to spend too much, because you may find yourself severely disappointed with the result.

With Stereophile what I think happened; was when the Rotel RHT-10 came out; the RHT-10 was so good, and the Rotel RT-990BX almost as good, that they knocked some Class A tuners down to Class B when listened to in comparison. So what you read depends on how old the issue is.

Correct me if wrong, but wasn't it Stereophile that compared the Fanfare FT-1, Rotel RHT-10 and one of the MD's years back? If I remember correctly, they liked all sonically, each having slight differences, as all tuners do, but they thought they were on par with one another; yet they gave the nod to the Fanfare for it's remote and presets.

Even though the signal we receive today, for the most part, is far from what could be, I enjoy using my tuner a lot and it is my most used source.

Hello David:

I see no one seem to mention anything about the Magnum Dynalab FT-101 (not the FT-101A version). I happen to own one, and may I say that I have been a happy owner for almost two years now. I will go out on a limb and say that my Magnum Dynalab has a pretty good bass response, and that it will go "toe-to-toe" with any of the vintage super tuners of yesterday in that department, and it will stomp the living s**t out of any modern tuner out there today with regards to sound quality, and also selectivity, sensitivity and FM quieting and separation.

My Magnum Dynalab FT-101 is a mid 80's vintage tuner (the first ones came out in 1985). It has a tight and well defined bottom end, a nice, clean midband, with a smooth and sweet sounding top end. And best of all, it is also reasonably priced. You should be able to land a used one for WELL LESS than $1,000.00 if you look hard ($400.00 to $550.00 should be the norm).

MAGNUMS ROCK!!!!!!!!!!!!! DON'T CARE WHAT NAYSAYERS SAY!!

Hope you land your "super tuner" real soon.

--Charles--