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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
tls49's avatar
tls49
1,351 posts
 

The fmtunerinfo site can be a little overwhelming, so I suggest looking at the rankings at the bottom of this page,

http://www.fmtunerinfo.com/shootouts.html

Surprising that the MR-78 is ranked #77, and a Tandberg 3011A is ranked #50.
fleib
1,124 posts
 
Bifwynne, I wouldn't put any real money into a vintage tuner unless you're prepared to get it serviced. Most techs aren't really up to aligning and modding a tuner. There were at least 2 versions of the MR78, a good tuner but apparently one version was better. The Tandberg has good specs but can sound a little brittle, maybe the one I heard wasn't 100%. There's a guy with 2 Kenwood L-07T on Audio Circle trading post and there's a Nakamichi ST-7 here, might be worth considering.

You should use that link in my last post. It's really a great resource. On the left - click on the manufacturer and get the low down.
Regards,
tls49's avatar
tls49
1,351 posts
 

I owned A Nak ST-7, and have had other tuners I thought sounded better. The description of the sound for it in the shootout rankings (link in my previous post) at #75 is spot-on.
lowrider57's avatar
lowrider57
5,418 posts
 
I listen to RTI 90.1 on a vintage Denon, made in Japan and it sounds very good. Buying vintage is a crapshoot, so glad I'm the original owner.
It's hardly worth owning a tuner in this radio-starved city.
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,483 posts
 
Also worth considering is many stations provide high quality internet radio streams these days in addition to over the air broadcasts.

From a technology perspective, internet streaming these days has a clear edge over traditional FM stereo broadcast technology IMHO. Like FM stations though, most Internet streams provided can vary greatly in terms of sound quality. Streaming rate/resolution is but one factor to consider. Higher bitrate streams are better in general, but not assurance alone of better sound quality. Its the overall implementation of the stream with attention to sound quality that matters. There are many very good ones to sample though these days.

I am an FM radio fan from way back, but I am finding more and more internet radio resources these days that I tend to prefer over what can be accomplished over air with local stations, except perhaps under the most ideal FM reception conditions and with a top notch quality FM tuner/receiver. Plus the variety of sources available over the internet is without equal. You can easily spend an afternoon just sampling through the various streams available.
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