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Philly FM Radio and FM Tuner Redux

This post is principally directed to members who live in the Greater Delaware Valley/Philly/South Jersey area. It's actually a two part question.

The first part of the question pertains to the number of quality classical and jazz radio stations (hi-def if there is such a thing) that broadcast in the area. To the best of my knowledge, I am only aware of WRTI 90.1 FM. Are there others?? If so, haven't gotten out a lot ... so I don't really know.

The second part of the question will now become more relevant in light of responses to my first inquiry. I suspect that there may not be too many more hi-def FM radio stations that broadcast here. Maybe 2 or 3 in total, ... or maybe just one -- WRTI. :(

The second part of the question is if I wanted to add a quality FM tuner to my rig, any obvious suggestions. I checked the Forum archives ... there must be hundreds of tuners that were on the market at one time or another. Two brands that seem to have been mentioned many times are the Tandberg 3001A and the McIntosh MR-78. Lots of MR-78 listed on eBay and A'gon. Just a couple of Tandbergs.

So, on the one hand, I'd like to pick up a tuner that will do a very good job, but on the other hand, being proportional to the reality that there may not be many radio stations that broadcast the type of music I want to hear.

Thanks and sorry for the long post. It's getting to be a habit.
bifwynne
lowrider57's avatar
lowrider57
5,411 posts
 
I've looked for classical stations other than WRTI and never found one. I found this via Google, it's HD only and I have no idea of it's signal strength.

http://wwfm.org/
fleib
1,124 posts
 
There's really no such thing as hi-def broadcast radio. HD stands for hybrid digital and refers to the digital wave that rides on the FM carrier.

There is a good resource for finding out about vintage tuners here:
http://www.fmtunerinfo.com/

In the old days WRTI used to be 24/7 jazz radio. The classical station was 95.7 (I think). They changed their format and RTI picked up their DJs and started daytime classical broadcast. There was a smooth jazz station around 106. They might have moved on the dial or changed format, I don't know. Pretty slim pickins, although RTI is good sometimes.
Regards,
rcprince
3,068 posts
 
You might want to consider a Magnum Dynalab model as well, there are a good number of them available and they are excellent tuners. And if you don't have your computer nearby your rig, you could also consider getting one of their internet tuners, that would greatly increase the number of classical stations you could get.
bifwynne OP
2,206 posts
 
Thanks Lowrider and Fleib ... you'd think that living in Philly is like being in a third world country. Sheeezz.

One station ... that's it!!! Hardly worth looking for an FM tuner for just one station. Might as well do a wireless hookup from my car radio to my stereo rig.

Well if I was so inclined to burn money, what are your thoughts about the MAC MR-78 or Tandberg 3001A?
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