Quote:
Originally Posted by TOGA
Are all tuner with digital display the same?
Ok most or all have digital freq display, but are all late models also Digital inside ?
Thanks.
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Yes, most modern tuners (say, from 2000 till now) are fully digital and do not sound very 'hifi' (unless, of course, you think your car's stereo is great). They are usually based on one of a few large "radio on a chip" ICs that have everything 'radio' built on the one large substrate. Once opened, the tuners are amazing empty boxes.
Sony made one that was/is held in high esteem by some (I was totally underwhelmed with mine) that was only about the size of an old 'pocket' transistor radio of yore. A couple of folks have figured out various mods that they claim makes it a real performer.
Today, the two truly 'high end' tuner makers are Accuphase and Magnum-Dynalab. McIntosh has stayed in the tuner business throughout, but their wares have not been that highly regarded by "FM folks" since the MR80.
The golden era of tuners was ~1970-1990 and there are some great tuners from that era (I've probably owned 30, or so), several of them being tube tuners.
The market for FM tuners is small due to the bad programming/broadcasting done by so many commercial stations these days. I'm fortunate to live in a region where we have three excellent stations. May not always care for the programming, but their broadcasts are generally very well done.