Trying to decide on a tuner (MR88/MD108T/MD90T SE with 105 Upgrade)
 

Hello everyone! I have been running myself in circles on trying to find a tuner for the last few weeks. At this point, I realized that I need to get the input of others.

The best option would have been to listen to them and decide, but given the state of the world right now, that seems very unlikely. So as much as I dislike buying something sight "unheard" it may be the only option I have.

I currently have mostly McIntosh gear for my 2-channel setup (Mcintosh MC452/C2600 driving a pair of Wilson Sasha DAW. My sources are Mcintosh MT-10, MCT450, Sony HapZ1es with the Modwright Truth Mod). The only source I am actually missing is a tuner. I am about 15-20 miles away from SF and in the hills, giving me pretty good reception without an external antenna. And being a Jazz nut, we have 2-3 good jazz stations in my area for which I am grateful, not the level of WWOZ of New Orleans but at least I have some options.

Anyway...

I have 3 options under consideration. A McIntosh MR88, a Magnum Dynalab 108T, and a Magnum Dynalab 90T SE. Now I realize they are not the same price normally, but since neither is being priced as new the MR88 and 108T are close enough in price that it is worth considering.

The Mcintosh MR88 is a show demo from Mcintosh, meaning that it is as brand new as a demo unit can possibly be: it was used for the show and then boxed up. It is being offered to me under at slightly under normal retail cost.

I will admit that I am not a huge fan of XM so I am unlikely to use that feature. And although AM is a nice feature to have, I am unsure how much I would use it, if at all. The McIntosh has an added bonus of being able to visually match some of my other equipment, which makes the designer in me happy, but if performance is substantially better even the designer in me will stand down.


The 108T is a floor demo in good condition, though not the level of the Mcintosh. It was a piece that was used, albeit gently, but it is obvious that this is not a new piece of equipment. It is being offered at a substantial discount to its normal retail price, but still more than the Mcintosh by a good $600-700.

THe 90T SE is the least expensive (very relative term for this hobby). It has been given a 105 upgrade, and is priced at half of what the others cost. From the economic standpoint it would make the most sense, but then I would always wonder what if I picked the higher end model? Though if there if there is enough similarity between the 108T and the 90T SE then perhaps that should be considered seriously as well.

I would appreciate any insight that could help make this decision easier.

I know a lot of people have reacted negatively toward HD FM, but I've found it to sound better than the standard analog using the analog/HD mix on my MR88. The HD sub-channels can be fun too, if you're not expecting the greatest quality. When I first got my MR88 I missed being able to control the noise filtering as I could on my MR-74, but the digital noise reduction does a great job and also at eliminating multipath. Every now and again I'll see what I can find on AM, the antenna does a pretty good job indoors IMO. You'll find a lot of great reviews on the MR88 here and I use mine regularly, although sometimes I get the urge to hook my MR-74 up just because it has that great retro look. Unfortunately I can't compare the MR88 to any of the MD tuners.

I owned the MD90 (not the SE) for a while. I upgraded to a MD102 not because I was disappointed in the sound, but because it allowed me to pull in an additional station or two. Living in NYC (Brooklyn), that's no small plus.

The MD90 was as smooth-sounding as I could have wanted. I liked it. I also like the 102, though I admit the tuner hasn't ben a regularly-used source for a while. But last weekend I turned it on for a while and was listening to WKCR (Columbia University) broadcast an old interview with Willie Nelson, and it sounded smooth as I remember, with the distinct impression that I was in on the conversation, not just listening to it in an abstract sense.

The usual suggestion is to buy the best you can afford and then live with it. Ask yourself how much you'll actually use the tuner, as part of the purchasing process. Also consider that MD uses JJ tubes in their tube tuners, and they match them in-house. I had JJ Hi-Performance Gold Pin tubes in my C2300 for a while, and I was impressed with their smoother sound over everything else I tried. The midrange was rich and the bottom was strong. JJs tend to be on the warm side.

If you go for a MD tuner, I can also say I found the folks at MD to be very helpful and very friendly. No complaints on that. Some prefer their sound over Mac tuners, and I can't speak to that. Finally, you don't get an AM option with MD tuners, if that matters.

The best on your journey.