Last February I mentioned being distracted by my favorite FM stations in metro Philly. Here are the tuners I've been tuning with. 😉
Vacuum Tube
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| Sherwood S-3000-II |
This mono FM tuner courtesy of J-Rob got me started exploring the airwaves of the area. It blends perfectly with the mono hi-fi installation in our mid-century-modern themed living room. Aside from MCM aesthetics, it made me realize that there are a couple of noteworthy FM stations in our area, which inspired me to restore my out of commission FM MPX tuners and acquire a few more.😉
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| Scott LT110B |
I acquired this tuner from Angela Instruments while working there as a tech in the early 90s. It was later aligned and tweaked in the workbench of the late Tom Cadawas. When it started having issues pulling stations a couple of years ago, I boxed it up. I recently unearthed it and traced the issue to a cracked solder joint in the antenna terminals. This tuner is the most modern sounding of the three tube tuners - tonally reminiscent of the Yamaha T-2, but with narrower stereo separation.
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| Dyna FM3 |
This Dyna FM3 factory-wired sample died during my sojourn in Manila. I discovered that each section of the quad filter capacitor all read "0" uf! After replacing the quad capacitor it performed back to factory specs - darker in timbre than the Scott, similar tonal balance to the Sherwood. A tube lover's delight!
Solid State
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| Yamaha T-2 |
Back in the early 80s, I bought my NAD 3020 from a fellow in the NYC metro area who was listening to WNCN on this tuner. It left an indelible mark in my memory since I never thought FM broadcasts could sound that good! Alas, I couldn't afford it then, so when I found this at a flea market, I grabbed it! Radio X Tuners (highly recommended) tweaked it to equal or exceed factory specs. It lacks the tube warmth in the midrange but goes deep in the low frequencies with extended and airy highs. Stereo separation is superior to any of the FM tuners in this survey.
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| Kenwood KT80 |
I remember seeing this KT80 tuner with its matching KA80 integrated amp at a closeout sale back in the early 80s at Harvey Electronics' West 45th store in NYC. Slim-line was the fashion statement of the era. It may be a notch below the Yamaha T-2 sonically, but still very listenable.
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| NAD 4300 |
I got this NAD 4300 tuner because of the AM section, which, unfortunately, is unlistenable! However, the FM section is pretty good. It sounds at par with the KT80, if not better, in the frequency extremes but not quite in the T-2 class. It offers 8 presets + a tuning knob, which almost feels like a true weighted knob/dial string assembly.
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| Kenwood KT880D |
I almost didn't take the KT880D seriously due to its late 80s digital age/jet black/slim-line styling + modern comforts of preset buttons, auto tuning, etc. My ears can't get attuned to the dry and analytical sound. But I'm keeping this (or not?) because it pulls in the most stations and does the best job of squelching FM background noise/hiss.
Coda
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| Stellar Labs 30-2435 Omni |
All the tests were done using either of these two antennas. The Stellar Labs Omni is mounted on a mic stand while the Winegard HD6010 is in the garage attic. I haven't tried them outdoors because I'm afraid of heights. 😆
If we play the numbers game, the S-3000-II, LT-110B and FM-3 are no match in terms of sensitivity, selectivity and stereo separation (note: the Sherwood is mono) compared to any of the solid state designs above. Even when properly aligned, tube tuners are prone to drifting. However, tube tuners offer fatigue-free listening and FM background hiss and birdies are a lot easier to psycho-acoustically tune out.
All these tuners would have been obsolete if I didn't live in a metropolis that still offered quality FM broadcasts. Here's to my favorite local FM stations: WRTI, WPRB and WXPN! 🍻🍻🍻
