What are the BEST FM Antennas HELP


I recently purchased Magnum Dynalab Etude and currently using a radio Shack fm-tv antenna with ok results.I live about 25 miles east of Pittsburgh area and looking for a audiophile antenna.Is there anybody that could help me?
Thanks Gary
garandar
Hi Gary; you may want to check out the Fanfare dipole ($85). If you have your own home, and don't mind mounting a 200" boom, go with the APS-13 from antenna specialists (see my review on AudioReview).

NO MATTER WHAT: You will need an antenna that it outside, mounted high, away from power cords and tall buildings/trees. FM travels accross the ground, and is "line of sight." If you are near (within 1 mile) of really tall buildings, you will really need the gain of an outdoor antenna mounted about 6 feet above the roof line.

FM is located just above ch 6 (TV) and wll below CH 7, so the radio shack antenna is about as good as you'll get indoors. There are some that offer "amplification," but that usually means amplification of EVERYTHING, noise included. There are exceptions to this; let's see if others chime in who are in a similar environment to you...

You have a very nice tuner; but it will require a proper antenna, no way out of it! I have been researching this for over a year; it is very complex once you get into the nitty gritty of it.

I would try the $85 Fanfare (Don't get the "other" one, which is a knock-off of the Fanfare), follow the instruction carefully - very carefully - and see how that works. IF it does not satisfy your needs, you'll need a directional antenna like the APS-13, which I love (It requires a rotor and a rotor box w/remote).

Good luck and let me know how it goes,

-Kurt
You are going to hate this but the Radio Shack FM only antenna (I forget the number) is as good as they get unless you are willing to spend say $ 350. I used a nine foot Channel Master for years until I read an article written by an antenna expert who said the Radio shack unit for $ 30 was much better. I will look for the web site if you are interested. He did give instructions on how to cut the ends of certain elements to make it more selective (which I have done).
So go spend $ 30 and be happy while I see if I can locate the web site.
As an ex-salesman at a high-end store, my experience has been that you can not improve on a signal that is'nt there- in other words, you did the right thing in buying a great tuner and putting the money in the right place but it's not worth the money or effort in buying powered attena's. Just try to go up with one you have, higher might get better results but it's not a guarentee, good luck