Vintage Tuners - Page 6

Mike Gergen · 17th September 2009, 03:41 AM

For repairs/etc contact Mark at Absolute Sound Lab

http://www.absoundlabs.com

I worked for Mark 25 years ago. He's the best there is when it comes to tuners; a true artist.

wrenchone · 17th September 2009, 04:49 AM

Not really a a Sansui-phile. the 555 is the only bit of Sansui kit I've got. Really looking for someone who can competently align a vintage analog tuner.

hew128 · 24th January 2010, 12:21 PM

I have a Meridian 204, Audiolab 8000T, Luxman T-240 (sold my T-2), Sansui TU-D99X, Denon TU-1500, 2xQuad FM3 and a Marantz ST-385. Favourites are the Meridan, Audiolab and Quad's.

kevinkr · 01:40 PM

I have several tuners, and one I think very highly of is the Kenwood KT-8005 which is a 5 gang tuner that sounds very good and has excellent RF performance as well. (Single IF however)

I also have its little brother the KT-6005 which sounds almost identical, has 4 gangs and has good RF performance, but not in the league of the 8005.

Other recommendations would be the Mitsubishi DA-F10 - I have a not so mint one, near excellent RF performance, and two IF selectivities.

I've also got a McIntosh MR-71 (tube) owned for the last 26yrs or so, but while very nice I much prefer the KT-8005.

And a Fisher FM-50B (tube), poor on the sensitivity and selectivity, but quite nice sounding.

Tuners I have worked on in the past and like a lot would include the Fisher FM-200B, and the FM-100B. The Mitsubishi DA-F20 by all accounts is excellent and has been cheap lately. It's on my list to acquire at some point.

The FMtuner group on yahoo and The Tuner Information Center (TIC) are great places to get the score on a lot of different tuners.
Tuner Information Center - Vintage Stereo Tuners

jez · 24th January 2010, 02:23 PM

Must say I think the reputation of the Leak Troughline is rather exaggerated.
I have lots of them and have built several stereo decoders for them over the years of various designs. Whilst they are superb for their day and a lovely piece of engineering (by far the best around in the early 60's in the UK) I have never managed to get the performance levels that HiFi World magazine raved about....
The Leak Stereofetic solid state tuner is better in every area (IMHO) and they are still cheap and plentiful. Even this can't compete with my more modern Japanese tuner though.

indianajo · 2nd February 2010, 11:30 PM

I have a Dyna FM3, don't bother, it is a waste of money after 1970. I replaced it with a GE pocket radio about 1980 and never looked back- it is not prestigious, but it sounds better and has better reception without an external antenna. With the way electrolytic capacitors dry out, I'm now using a Sony Walkman pocket radio, it doesn't have the sensitivity of the GE though. I love my Dyna PAS2 preamp and ST70 tube amp, use my Dyna ST120 transistor amp despite occasional flame events, but the FM3 is retired to the basement permanently.

gemik · 9th August 2010, 11:19 PM

Hi Ray

I just bought the Revox 760 ( 225,- EUR)
and i need to know what capacitors you replaced in the signal path?
I have planned to replace the LM301's with OPA 627 and of course the electrolytic capacitors in the power supply (very important)
At the same time I will replace the capacitors C9+C15+C16+C31+C3+C10
to 2,2mfd - 100V polypropylene types

Sincerely

Gert Mikkelsen
Denmark

Quote:

Originally Posted by rayfutrell

I have owned a Revox B760 for 25 years and see no need to upgrade. Fmtunerinfo.com gives it high marks.

From an engineering viewpoint, the front end design is one of the best I have ever seen. Revox liked tantalum caps and used them in the audio signal path, so I replaced those where possible and upgraded the opamps on the audio board to NE5534s.

They do show up on Ebay but the price is usually bid up very high.

Regards,
Ray

rayfutrell · 13th August 2010, 06:41 PM

Hi Gert,

I replaced the tantalum caps where possible with polystyrene caps. I don't recall exactly where. I had a lot of polystyrene caps, up to 1 mfd. The problem was that the polystyrene caps are so much larger than the tantalum caps and they often wouldn't fit in the space on the pc board. For example, I have some 5mfd plastic caps, but they are about 25MM diameter by 75MM long, so there is no way they would fit in the space of a 5mfd tantalum cap.

Ray

gemik · 13th August 2010, 06:51 PM

Hi Ray

I hope you only replaced the ones in the audio section,
which i outlined in my question ?
I will receive my tuner monday :-))

Take care and thanks for replying

Gert Mikkelsen
Denmark

24th January 2010, 01:38 PM	#54
kevinkr diyAudio Moderator Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Boston, Massachusetts Blog Entries: 6	I have several tuners, and one I think very highly of is the Kenwood KT-8005 which is a 5 gang tuner that sounds very good and has excellent RF performance as well. (Single IF however) I also have its little brother the KT-6005 which sounds almost identical, has 4 gangs and has good RF performance, but not in the league of the 8005. Other recommendations would be the Mitsubishi DA-F10 - I have a not so mint one, near excellent RF performance, and two IF selectivities. I've also got a McIntosh MR-71 (tube) owned for the last 26yrs or so, but while very nice I much prefer the KT-8005. And a Fisher FM-50B (tube), poor on the sensitivity and selectivity, but quite nice sounding. Tuners I have worked on in the past and like a lot would include the Fisher FM-200B, and the FM-100B. The Mitsubishi DA-F20 by all accounts is excellent and has been cheap lately. It's on my list to acquire at some point. The FMtuner group on yahoo and The Tuner Information Center (TIC) are great places to get the score on a lot of different tuners. Tuner Information Center - Vintage Stereo Tuners __________________ "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence." - Carl Sagan Last edited by kevinkr; 24th January 2010 at 01:40 PM.

2nd February 2010, 11:30 PM	#56
indianajo diyAudio Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Jeffersonville, Indiana USA	dyna FM3 I have a Dyna FM3, don't bother, it is a waste of money after 1970. I replaced it with a GE pocket radio about 1980 and never looked back- it is not prestigious, but it sounds better and has better reception without an external antenna. With the way electrolytic capacitors dry out, I'm now using a Sony Walkman pocket radio, it doesn't have the sensitivity of the GE though. I love my Dyna PAS2 preamp and ST70 tube amp, use my Dyna ST120 transistor amp despite occasional flame events, but the FM3 is retired to the basement permanently. __________________ Dynakit ST70, ST120, PAS2,Hammond H182(2 ea),H112,A100,10-82TC,Peavey CS800S,1.3K, SP2-XT's, T-300 HF Proj's, Steinway console, Herald RA88a mixer, Wurlitzer 4500, 4300

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17th September 2009, 03:41 AM	#51
Mike Gergen diyAudio Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Elk River MN	For repairs/etc contact Mark at Absolute Sound Lab http://www.absoundlabs.com I worked for Mark 25 years ago. He's the best there is when it comes to tuners; a true artist.

17th September 2009, 04:49 AM	#52
wrenchone diyAudio Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Silicon Valley	Not really a a Sansui-phile. the 555 is the only bit of Sansui kit I've got. Really looking for someone who can competently align a vintage analog tuner.

24th January 2010, 12:21 PM	#53
hew128 diyAudio Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Singapore	I have a Meridian 204, Audiolab 8000T, Luxman T-240 (sold my T-2), Sansui TU-D99X, Denon TU-1500, 2xQuad FM3 and a Marantz ST-385. Favourites are the Meridan, Audiolab and Quad's.

24th January 2010, 02:23 PM	#55
jez diyAudio Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: n.e england	Must say I think the reputation of the Leak Troughline is rather exaggerated. I have lots of them and have built several stereo decoders for them over the years of various designs. Whilst they are superb for their day and a lovely piece of engineering (by far the best around in the early 60's in the UK) I have never managed to get the performance levels that HiFi World magazine raved about.... The Leak Stereofetic solid state tuner is better in every area (IMHO) and they are still cheap and plentiful. Even this can't compete with my more modern Japanese tuner though.

13th August 2010, 06:41 PM	#58
rayfutrell diyAudio Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: virginia	Hi Gert, I replaced the tantalum caps where possible with polystyrene caps. I don't recall exactly where. I had a lot of polystyrene caps, up to 1 mfd. The problem was that the polystyrene caps are so much larger than the tantalum caps and they often wouldn't fit in the space on the pc board. For example, I have some 5mfd plastic caps, but they are about 25MM diameter by 75MM long, so there is no way they would fit in the space of a 5mfd tantalum cap. Ray

13th August 2010, 06:51 PM	#59
gemik diyAudio Member Join Date: May 2010	Hi Ray I hope you only replaced the ones in the audio section, which i outlined in my question ? I will receive my tuner monday :-)) Take care and thanks for replying Gert Mikkelsen Denmark