Can any one rank the quality of the tuner on the sansui receiver

[Vaksil]

ן got the 7070 and his tuner nice but I looking for receivers that the tuner is really excel!!
If someone can rank this old but fabulous equipments I will really appreciate.
Please notice I am interesting only about the receivers an not the independent tuner.
Thx

 

[kevzep]

Best tuner in a Sansui receiver in my opinion is in the G22000/33000, next best is the tuner in the G9000.

 

[Sansuiman]

8080/9090 Turner is good, slightly better than 7070, as would be expected for upevel models. I've found the 5000/A/X to be surprisingly good when aligned correctly, considering the vintage. Will concur with Kev on the G9000, have not had the privilege of auditioning a 22/33000 so can't speak to it personally. G-9700 seems to be a really good one too, based on my limited exposure to one a few years back, when I owned one briefly.

Interestingly, the QRX-8001/9001 have tuners that are average despite being top of the range receivers. I think they omitted a high performance tuner on those models (not that it is bad, but not quite what one would expect) due to cost constraints mostly.

Needless to say, the top end tuner performance usually was found in the separates, starting with the TU-9900, then the TU-919 and pretty well peaking with the TU-X1. I don't know where you are located, but I have to say the St. Louis, MO radio market is terrible these days.

We have one jazz/blues station run by a nearby university with marginal reception for most of STL proper, and a low power FM translator for an HD radio classical station that is well programmed, if you can actually pull it in. An outside antenna is almost required to do either of these justice. We have KSHE-95 FM which is a legendary long time classic/album oriented rock station (50 years and running) that is sometimes listenable, but often intolerable due to heavy repetition and too much new rock in the playlist.

Outside of that, both the AM and FM bands here are generally a wasteland of conglomerate corporate radio with voice tracking shallow, predictable playlists and 20+ minutes of commercials an hour. I point this out only to convey why I no longer much concern myself with tuners, even though I own some very nice ones. A damn shame what has become of terrestrial radio here, really. Hopefully you have something better In your locale to make a nice tuner worthwhile.

 

[Vaksil]

Thank you kevzep. But the 22 & 33 are really rare and also very very expensive, so if take them out of the equation and ask for the best tuner for value from the G9700 and down.
Please remember that I have 7070 and I want other receiver with superior tuner.
I have option to buy G7700 , is his tuner is superior to the 7070?

 

[Vaksil]

Hi sansuiman, Share the same feelings about the FM radio broadcasting. It the really the same situation here in Israel. But radio is running in my blood. And I wander the stations around the day picking my favorate programs for each hour

 

[kevzep]

Thank you kevzep. But the 22 & 33 are really rare and also very very expensive, so if take them out of the equation and ask for the best tuner for value from the G9700 and down.
Please remember that I have 7070 and I want other receiver with superior tuner.
I have option to buy G7700 , is his tuner is superior to the 7070?

The G7700 tuner is a hybrid Analogue/digital tuner, I know these very well. They are indeed an excellent tuner, and surprisingly so.
I would say the performance is excellent and much better than the 7070 tuner.

 

[ghazzer]

Is there an index anywhere that lists the number of "gangs" for tuners? IIRC the number of gangs is an indicator of tuner "strength", but not an absolute ranking.

You can read more about gangs in the AK Tuner forum.

You should also read Dr*Audio's sticky about cleaning analog tuners, located in that forum. Carefully following his instructions has significantly improved the operation of tuners for me, especially my original 5000-. Most of our home environments are not "lab clean" and the air has cooking oils, smoke, and a myriad of other contaminants floating around. These things can (and will) settle on the fins of the tuner disks and alter the capacitance of the tuner. This usually does not improve the performance of the tuner.

Cleaning your tuner(s) is something that I definitely recommend.

 

[Hyperion]

Is there an index anywhere that lists the number of "gangs" for tuners?

Check out http://www.fmtunerinfo.com/

and specifically http://www.fmtunerinfo.com/index.html#technical - Gangs and Filters

But also http://www.fmtunerinfo.com/sansui.html

 

[ghazzer]

Thanks John, and shame on me for not being specific. I intended to limit the question to tuners built into receivers, such as the 7070 of the OP.

I have added your links to my list of reference sites.

 

[kevzep]

The G7700 has only a 3 gang FM front end, but it seems to pull in stations as good as the 4 Gang in the G9000...
It depends how many gain stages there are in the front end too.
Also remember one gang is for the Local Oscillator so cant really be counted as a Gang as such...

 

[Robisme]

The G7700 has only a 3 gang FM front end, ..

Four gang.

Rob

 

[kevzep]

Four gang.

Rob

Nope 3 RF one Local Oscillator. If you want to split hairs and be trivial about like you always seem to do when I post something then you can call it 4 if you must.

 

[Robisme]

Well then, I guess the Sansui literature is incorrect. The brochure states four gang variable cap.

If it is not, and Sansui was incorrect, please educate us instead of belittling me as you always do.
(like when I suggest adjusting digital tuners and you sling names)

And not splitting hairs, just want the OP to have accurate info.

Rob

 

[kevzep]

Well then, I guess the Sansui literature is incorrect. The brochure states four gang variable cap.

If it is not, and Sansui was incorrect, please educate us instead of belittling me as you always do.
(like when I suggest adjusting digital tuners and you sling names)

And not splitting hairs, just want the OP to have accurate info.

Rob

Seriously, I should not have to do this but as you wish, here is your education.

I said,

The G7700 has only a 3 gang FM front end

I did not say it had a 3 gang tuner, I was referring to the front end, which does not include the Local oscillator since we were talking about tuner sensitivity..

 

[Robisme]

Well, then it's all very confusing. Sansui states that the front end has a four gang cap. I always thought that meant four gang tuner. So it boils down to semantics.

Thanks for the "lesson".


Rob......out

 

[ghazzer]

Technically, Kev is correct.

This is why I try to read a post ~3+ times before I attempt a reply. The Human mind tends to read/see what it expects, rather what is actually there, which I have done on numerous occasions. If this were not true we wouldn't be fooled by optical illusions so often.

Technically, I believe that the G-X700 series has an analog tuner, plus a circuit that digitizes the tuned to frequency for the fluorescent display. All of this thanks to the "magic" of the very hard to find MSM5540RS chip.

 

[kevzep]

Well, then it's all very confusing. Sansui states that the front end has a four gang cap. I always thought that meant four gang tuner. So it boils down to semantics.

Thanks for the "lesson".


Rob......out

Of course they say 4, because there are 4 gangs on the Air Cap, only 3 used for the RF front end and one used for the local oscillator, in marketing terms it sounds better to say 4 than 3 right, more is better in marketing world, the average person isn't necessarily interested or concerned how a tuner works in that much detail, so Sansui say 4 gangs...
When you're down to the nitty gritty in terms of RF performance, then how many RF gangs and RF stages there are in the front end is most definitely of interest in terms of RF sensitivity and selectivity.