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Tuner Information Center...gospel?

I am sure many of you know this site. It seems way too many people are taking the shootout opinions as gospel.

Obvious Kennwood bias. Units that are nothing special being rated as something special....ie: Technics ST-9038 and Sansui TU-717(ok, but flat, thin, old sounding).

For what it's worth I have owned most of what this site has in the top 30, and none are better than the Magnum MD-108 (with the exception of the Accuphase 109v).

Most of the top rated older tuners sound like that...old transistors, old(and not very good) capacitors,aluminum internal wiring, Zinc RCA jacks...etc...guys and gals these do not make for high end sound.....if so, go buy some old Sansui or Kenwood amps...you wouldn't because they are outdated sonically. Then the newer Kenwoods that are rated highly...all have cheap op-amp based audio cicuits....again, these are not audiophile parts.

If you have watched the price of older tuners...and these Kenwoods...the site has had much impact on the re-sale prices of these tuners....people are putting way too much faith in one person opinions (which is what the shootouts are).

The Mitsu 20 and the Sansui 919 are very,very good...esp. if aligned and newer caps, wire and RCAs are installed. But better than the top Magnum........nope.

Also, tuners like the top two Linn, the top Naim, and others, are not among those listened to.

All this said, I do like the site, and there is much useful information and I do like the fact that this site may have made people more interested in tuners. If you have a great FM station in your area, or a few of them, then having a good tuner is a great investment. There is useful info on the site, but the shootouts are just one person's opinion.....so do some of your own listening and don't take anyone's opinion (including mine) as anything more than that.
whatjd
whatjd OP
1,139 posts
 
Viridain,...interesting approach.
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whatjd OP
1,139 posts
 
Sorry, guess my dislike for that shade of blue-green may have had influence,..more a fan of verdigris.
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sedond
1,391 posts
 
jim rivers is yust one guy in a small room w/a very good, but not cutting edge rig. which is pretty-much made clear on the shootouts site. while i do agree with some of jim's findings, i don't agree 100% w/all of them. (same goes w/the ricochets, which is a nice counterpoint to the shootouts.) but, yust like anything else in audio, the shootouts are only a starting point, not the "gospel", as you put it. use your own ears.

also, realize that jim's absolute fave tuna is a modded kenwood kt-7500. buy one for ~$100, pay someone $200-$300 to mod it if ya cannot diy, & be in tuna heaven. (i owned one of these, modded to the hilt by bill ammons - one of the best tuna techs, & they *are* outstanding, but not *my* fave.)

another point, regarding the shootouts, & how close in sound the better tunas really are, is to consider what jim says about the pioneer f-91, which ranks mid-pack in his group:

"...In a large room, in a big sound system, I might choose this Pioneer over the L-02T...."

but, regarding the md108, based upon my own limited experience w/md tunas, & what other folks w/more experience than myself have said about them, i *do* believe when jim says the mitsubishi da-f20 (which i own), is better than the md108. ;~) the md108 uses a car-stereo chip; for $6k they coulda really made a helluva tuna imo, instead of yust a wery good one. and, no, i am not one of those who gets upset when my personal gear is slighted - the da-f20 i own is *not* the main tuna in my rig. mebbe if i mod it... ;~)

doug s.
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