Tuna anyone?

[Inscrutable]

Anyone remember FM?  Just picked up a vintage tuner (Sansui TU-717).  Will check it out stock, then send in for alignment and probably mods.  Also have my eye on a couple TU-9900's and watching the horizon for a 919 ... at which point the 717 will be up for adoption.

Any of youse guys still listen OTA?

[Bemopti123]

The highest quality analogue front end for me was and still is a MCintosh MR-78 picked off from Ebay around the year 2000.  I paid 1K on an auction for what the guy claimed to be a mint MR-78 and out of a van carton, on a Winter money I saw it.  We did an exchange.  According to the guy, who was Russian btw, he said that living in a town 1.5 hours away from NYC, there was no point in having a super tuna.  He also offered some other MCintosh gear, amps, preamps and the like.  Not familiar with other Mc gear, I let it go with the tuner.  

The tuner has a bold, robust sound that is pleasant to listen to.  I doubt that its presentation is "studio grade" or accurate, but what distortions it produces, it makes a so so station alive with its presentation.  

I only listen to one station in NYC, NPR for classical, soundtracks, Jazz etc...and news.  

Tunas rule and the programming is FREE.

[WEEZ]

I live in the boondocks, so quality FM programing is limited where I live.

HOWEVER... I'm open to recommendations for a good quality 'modern' tuner. Are Magnum Dynalab tuners worth the cost?

I'm not interested in reworking an older unit...(I don't think)...but maybe I could be convinced.

I'm open to suggestions....

WEEZ

[Inscrutable]

Weez

You may want to rethink the modern thing. As I posted in 'That 70's' thread, IMO tuners are the only component that has degraded since then.  With the advent of internet radio among other things, demand is down and you can pick up good vintage tuners at very reasonable prices.  There are a number of guys out there who restore and upgrade - again, for reasonable prices (you can do an alignment and cleaning for under $100 and a pretty full upgrade for around $500).  

Check out this link for more than you ever wanted to know, including links, reviews, and rankings.

What OTA programming is available in your area, unfortunately, is an area I can't help you with - but you might be surprised what you could pull in with a good antenna/placement.

[Carlman]

I was thinking of buying a tuna for my setup... It has to be a McIntosh though because I'm a snob like that... ha.  So, I was wondering if the older ones... like an MR74 would be a better option than a new one like the MR85....

Anyone have any advice on McIntosh tuners?

-C

[WEEZ]

Inscrutable, thanks much for the link!  Lots to read....

WEEZ

[richidoo]

Hey Inscrutable! You have good taste... Another TU-717 lover here! Awesome radio. I had an old Marantz tuner for a while, but it wasn't doing anything special for me. So I read http://www.fmtunerinfo.com/ and looked on EBay for what was available. I am driven by looks, so I went for the Sansui. Got it for about $250. Quick power up test with static on tuner and volume knobs and terrible misalignment and wire lead antenna still sounded better than the just cleaned and aligned Marantz by a long shot. So I sent it to Ken at Stereo Surgeons in CT. He said he does about 5 Sansuis a week! He thinks the 717 is the best value in tuner right now. He did an excellent job fixing it up and reworking some know problem areas, like replace dial lamp with modern bulb. Converted the antenna twist screws to a real F Connector. Sent me alignment before and after specs and even put new feet on it. He also replaced some caps with Black Gates. Total was about $400 including shipping. It sounds as clear as a CD, better actually. It looks beautiful and fills the house with music all day long. He is thorough, very knowledgeable and has a great reputation as a tuner guru. I would recommend him with one caveat: Be prepared to leave it there a long time, and don't expect it to return until you call and ask for it, maybe a few times depending on your nervosa level. Getting rich is not his goal. Working on radios in a stress free take your time manner is Ken's way. This is all disclosed on his website, but I still had a hard time believing it! He had my radio for 'several' months. After the work, I had trouble with hum from antenna ground looping through to amp. He helped me understand what was going on in a very detailed and long personal email.  I was able to fix it easily with a transformer.

I put a Radio Shack FM antenna with 5 foot mast and gable mount up on the highest peak of the house. I get line of site to many FM stations and full blast signal strength on everything.

We have WCPE one of the best classical stations in the country only 25 miles from here. Other than the compression they use on everything, it is pretty good source. Not too much dentist music. At night they get into some decent listening stuff. It streams for free on the net, but naturaly that doesn't sound as good.. A couple decent jazz stations too, one is in Durham, WNCU. I think it is only 10kW and 40 miles away. I get it crystal clear, all night modern jazz from syndicated show Bob Parloccia. Even the car radio can't pull it in from here. I get stations in the cracks that I never knew were there, maybe they aren't anywhere close. WEEZ, you may be surprised at what you would recieve with a decent antenna. Mine is just $25 clunker with no rotator. I learned a lot about antennas, lightning, grounding, hum, etc. It was a fun project. My wife hates helping with the the 40 ladder. She is sooooo good to me.

WEEZ, if you wanna try radio easy and cheap you can try my Marantz. It is ST400. Sells on EBay for close to nothing. But mine is already cleaned and aligned by theanalogstore.com and has new input RCAs. It does not have a F connector antenna input, but does have 75 and 300ohm antenna screws. My local Radio Shack had one yagi style "FM antenna" in stock even though they are discontinued now. You might get lucky and find one, they are cheap and work good.

I would go the same route again, would not buy new. Especially after reading comparos on fmtunerinfo.com. Vintage is the best for less.
Rich

[Inscrutable]

Rich,
Yes, after doing some homework I came to the conclusion that the 717 was the best bang for the buck and readily available.  I chased a couple 919's but didn't catch one at the right price.  I was going to send this one off for mods at some point - perhaps sooner rather than later if it is going to take forever. I had done some homework on modders, and Stereo Surgeons came up, as well as Sam's and RadioX.

Carl,
I had an older Mac tube tuner ($25 yard sale pickup) but (stupidly) sold it years ago when the tuning string broke and I didn't have the patience to replace it. Can't remember the model, but it was built in the late 50's.  
Probably can't make any valid comparisons from memory with totally different equipment and circumstances.  I do remember enjoying it.

[Carlman]

Almost and sort of.. but no.
It's sitting right next to my current/temporary/primary system... The antenna is on the roof.. But the coax is run to the unfinished (still) basement. My new goal is first quarter '09.  I'll be doing a lot of work that should fund finishing the basement by March/April at the latest.

It's ready for sheetrock so I'll probably do that at the end of Jan, then work towards the rest in Feb and March.  THEN I'll let you know how it sounds.

-C

[Carlman]

Mine sounds great, Doug, thanks again!   I have no doubt it's better (sounding) than the refurb unit.  They kept all the factory junk parts..

I have a hum issue I need to resolve with the double-grounding created by the roof-mount antenna.. which is easy to fix.. I just haven't bought the little gadget Rich suggested.  (Jensen decoupler?)

That link is great!  If nothing else I can see the markings for my own reference.

BTW Did you keep the Piega's? or did they move on? 

-C

[rollo]

Looking good doug. Well the Tuna is up and running. A Sansui TU 9500. RG59 and a rooftop antenna. all is good.


charles

[Triode Pete]

RG59 and a rooftop antenna. all is good.


charles

Don't forget that same FM antenna will pick-up the best HDTV channels as well. I have my antenna (btw - only one in my neighborhood!) for my MR-78 tuna and I use it as a back-up for my DirecTV... the picture from the antenna is better than the satellite...What's cool about digital (Digital TV that is), is that you either get a perfect signal reception or no signal at all...no more "snowy" pictures...

[tmazz]

Pete,

I have nothing but a rooftop antenna and the picture I get from over the air Digital TV is better than my next door neighbor gets form the same channels over Cablevision's io service.

Tom

[tybee]

Doug,

I currently use a Sansui TU-D99X, a very slim digital tuner from the 80s, which sent two M-D tunas packing because they were outclassed sonically.  I have been thinking of having this tuna modded, but I would also consider another small footprint tuna as real estate in my system is at a premium.  I purchased this tuna for less than $100 after reading the shootout reviews over at Tuna Information Center.  As described in stock form, this tuna does image very well and has a nice balanced sound.

Can you offer any options for a great sounding, smaller footprint tuna ( less than 17" wide and less than 4" tall)?

[richidoo]

ps - why don't the links to my a/c pics come up in the thread when i use the foto icon?

AC doesn't allow submarining for pics. It used to serve the AC banner but now with new software it just says no. You can use the "Additional Options..." link to embed the pic file into your post.

Don't worry about the rain, doug - grownups here.

Hey doug, have you heard this new Sony tuna, XDR-F1HD?