Magnum or Fanfare Tuner. Which Sounds the Best?

They both sound great. I own the Fanfare and chose it over the Magnum because it came with the balanced outputs, remote control, and other ergonomics having little to do with sound quality. I wish that I could tell you that my tuner sounds way better than the competitive Magnum model, but I cannot. I will say that in my system the Fanfare seemed to have better bass than the Etude that I compared it with when I was shopping them both. That could very well have been a function of the Fanfare being able to better capture the station. The Fanfare is the better buy than the Magnum Dynalabs and I would say comprable to the MD-100, better than the MD-90, and better than the FT-101A. Good Luck

I have a FT101A Magnum Dynalab I scored here a while back for $400. Just like new, and sounds great. I haven't heard the Fanfare but most folks who've posted about them are happy as well. I don't think you'll go too far wrong either way. The 101A sounds better than a bunch of well-regarded vintage solid state tuners I've owned.

beemer

These may well be so similar sounding that cosmetics would be the sole deciding factor. Marv Southcott of Fanfare was in on the earlier Dynalab designs before jumping ship & founding Fanfare. I bought my FT101 from him right off the floor at a Chicago CES long ago.

you should try the Creek t43 some time. It's easily as good as the above, and retails for a paultry $700...used around $400 or less. Best tuner I ever heard for under several $K. Good luck

One thing you do want to keep in mind that no matter how good the tuner may be, the antenna can make or break it. If memory servers, its been awhile, there are $20,000 bows to go with the 6 figur priced violins or bass'. In fact, a lesser tuner with the better antenna may outperform the better tuner with a lesser antena. Its a generalization, but.... I own the Fanfare ft-1a and it is a nice tuner. But nobody in the area broadcasts well and I'm just using the whip fm-2g since I'm in an apartment, so I don't know its maximum potential. But my instincts sent me towards it instead of the magnums.