A Tuner In Your System?

[Vintage Pete]

Originally Posted by quinlanmw

Dan...I can only speak for myself but I suspect I am not unique. I well remember experiencing a quality signal from a well produced station. I continually bemoan the paucity of quality programming available to me. And it's not like I live in the sticks--my home is in Northern San Diego County, an area with a population in excess of a million people.

I am able to receive plenty of FM stations with strong signals--I just have no desire to listen to them. My tastes are broadly eclectic--I can appreciate music quality across many genres, from jazz to classical to progressive rock and even hip hop. The corporate consolidation of radio broadcasting and its effect on programming has been discussed repeatedly in this forum so I won't rehash it.

I own a McIntosh MR85 as well as a MR74, which I had envisioned as the centerpiece of a vintage McIntosh system. The MR85 is powered up daily in my main system yet I rarely listen to it, only occasionally when I want to hear NPR. The MR74 is stored in a cabinet, collecting dust.

It pains me to say it but both tuners are worthless to me. Yet I cling to them with the faint hope that someday a tuner will again fill the house with that sweet analog sound.

Just kind of shrugging my shoulders as I listen at this moment to great sound coming from both my MR74 and MR78 tuners in two different rooms simultaneously...

As I've said before, I'll take any and all McTuners off anyone's hands who deems them as worthless....

[jdandy]

Originally Posted by quinlanmw

Dan...I can only speak for myself but I suspect I am not unique. I well remember experiencing a quality signal from a well produced station. I continually bemoan the paucity of quality programming available to me. And it's not like I live in the sticks--my home is in Northern San Diego County, an area with a population in excess of a million people.

I am able to receive plenty of FM stations with strong signals--I just have no desire to listen to them. My tastes are broadly eclectic--I can appreciate music quality across many genres, from jazz to classical to progressive rock and even hip hop. The corporate consolidation of radio broadcasting and its effect on programming has been discussed repeatedly in this forum so I won't rehash it.

I own a McIntosh MR85 as well as a MR74, which I had envisioned as the centerpiece of a vintage McIntosh system. The MR85 is powered up daily in my main system yet I rarely listen to it, only occasionally when I want to hear NPR. The MR74 is stored in a cabinet, collecting dust.

It pains me to say it but both tuners are worthless to me. Yet I cling to them with the faint hope that someday a tuner will again fill the house with that sweet analog sound.

Mike.......I understand the sentiment and the bemoaning of quality broadcast content. Of the ten or so FM stations I can tune clearly here in rural north Florida, only two are what I consider high quality programming. My favorite is the NPR station broadcast from the University of Florida, particularly their late night jazz programming. That alone makes my tuners worth their space in my system racks. We don't have to love everything the tuner captures, but when it does capture a quality signal with excellent programming it is truly worth the price of admission.

Not surprisingly, I have a lot of fun late at night just slowly rotating the tuning knob with the Mute circuit off to see what's out there that I can't hear during the day. It is interesting to discover distant stations, even when not necessarily getting clear reception. I do the same thing at night on my world band JRC receiver and my Icom communications receiver. Radio has always captured my imagination. Right now I am listening to Radio Havana Cuba on my JRC NRD-525 receiver. Lots of fun things are out there on the airwaves.

[quinlanmw]

Originally Posted by Vintage Pete

Just kind of shrugging my shoulders as I listen at this moment to great sound coming from both my MR74 and MR78 tuners in two different rooms simultaneously...

As I've said before, I'll take any and all McTuners off anyone's hands who deems them as worthless....

Good for you, Pete.

[quinlanmw]

Originally Posted by jdandy

...We don't have to love everything the tuner captures, but when it does capture a quality signal with excellent programming it is truly worth the price of admission...

Dan, I agree completely. I'd happily settle for one good station.

In the old days my tuner was front and center in my listening habits--if I was not listening to records or tapes it was always playing. I enjoyed discovering new music on a favorite station. I loved the feel of tuning a different station or adjusting the volume on a quality piece of equipment. It was a joy to tune a station that had been playing on the car radio and marveling at how darn good it sounded as the sound filled the room with that analog sweetness.

I miss it.

[Cohibaman]

After working on my brothers MR78, I really wanted a tuner myself. So....I just bought a McIntosh MR80. Can't wait to get it and clean it up!

[jdandy]

Mike.......SWEET. The McIntosh MR80 is a great sounding tuner. I have heard it many times at Pete's home (Vintage Pete).

[jimtranr]

Originally Posted by jdandy

What I find interesting and a bit sad is FM tuners are no longer considered a premium source component by the majority of audio enthusiasts. Tuners are regularly dismissed as nonessential, with some considering a tuner worthless.

Not true here (as you're probably aware, Dan), thanks to the presence of two quality within-reach stations--one classical, one jazz, both of them noncommercial and listener-supported, as well as an NPR-affiliated community college station with some very good music programming and another noncommercial classical station out of Portland that's now accessible via a recently-installed nearby repeater. So my MR 77's aren't gathering dust.

Have to agree, however, that it's sad to see some metro areas that on the face of it would appear to be logical candidates based on population size having to do without decent, quality-signal programming.

[tunes]

I've recently added a magnum dynalab 108t to the system. I've had a few magnum tuners over the years and regretted selling the last one a few years ago. Have jumped in to tunerland on a great used 108t at a great price.
Agree with the sentiments expressed that they can really shine with a quality station/signal.

[jdandy]

Originally Posted by tunes

I've recently added a magnum dynalab 108t to the system. I've had a few magnum tuners over the years and regretted selling the last one a few years ago. Have jumped in to tunerland on a great used 108t at a great price.
Agree with the sentiments expressed that they can really shine with a quality station/signal.

Chris.......Congratulations on your Magnum Dynalab 108t. That is one sweet tuner.

[tunes]

Thx Dan. Yes, i am pretty happy with it. The version i bought is silver faced, and without the digital option or the remote.
Chris