The best tuner ever

javelin79

Active Member
Hi fellow AKer's I know I will get alot of heat for this. Of course there are some good solid state tuners out there. The Tx1000 from pioneer, the sanyo plus series tuner, yamaha has a few. But there is one out there that can be found both working and not working and needing some work. To put this short its the Dynaco FM3 tube tuner. The sound quality is unmatched compared to any tuner I have ever listened to. The sound is warm and spacial and the tuner can be aligned at home with no special tools required. No special equipment needed to do anything to it. Also the tuner section is incredibly strong. Weaker FM stations are brought in........in stereo. If anyone has opinions or can speak from experience lets hear about it.
 
The FM3 wouldn't crack my top 100, but opinions are just that. www.fmtunerinfo.com has one of the better comparative and peer reviewed shootouts. The Marantz 20B, 150, 120, and Sansui TU7900 readily top my three Dynacos, and all my receivers do as well, excepting the Sansui G5050 which needs work. The Dynaco was spec built to be a middling tuner for its day.

More arrows incoming.:scratch2:
 
Ahhhhhhhhhhh. Incoming!!!! The Dynaco was certainly designed to be an economical unit, if that's what you mean by "middling". It was the favorite of a great number of people primarily because of that warm and spacious sound. It is a sweetheart just like my Dynaco SCA-35 amplifier was. So, as for me, I wouldn't call the sound of the FM3 middling, only the price.

"Twanggggg":D
 
I'd like to find a REL "Precedent" just for the cool factor. No tuning capacitor, full-permeability tuning needs no AFC. It was exotic and considered "the ultimate" by many, even in it's day. Oh, did you want stereo? Sorry, hadn't happened yet when it was built...but as a laboratory instrument disguised as a tuner, it would have to rank high for "wow!" factor for me.

--Bob
 
I love my FM-3 too. I can listen to it for hours with no fatigue. It looks cool.

It's the best tuner in the world... for me, in this house, listening to this station right now. Because I am listening to it and loving it.

For anyone else, listening to anything else, is the best in the world? Don't know, don't care.

If you have a tuner that makes you happy, what else matters really?

snap. one broken arrow. anybody else ready to make peace?
 
AK Search is your friend:

Thread 1
Thread 2

But if you just wish to cut to the chase, here is your final, indisputable answer: :smoke:


TPT-3001A.jpg
 
Now it's time to put up the picture of the REL Precedent ...you know the drill. :D
... not that I have anything against it. In fact, I'm utterly fascinated by it. :nerd:

EDIT: Somehow I missed the post where it was mentioned already... a really interesting instrument.
 
The REL Precedent is the sine qua non as far as I am concerned. There are a few of them kicking around in New England.

In terms of good sounding and affordable, the Sherwood tube tuners are hard (maybe impossible) to beat. Scotts and Fishers are great, but have more cachet and are consequently pricier. No need to mention McInstosh :) Someday, someday...
 
I was one of the first to buy and build the FM-1 Dynatuner when they first came out. It became an FM-3 when I bought the multiplex adapter for it. That "warm" sound was due to a lack of high frequency response stemming from a -3db error in it's de-emphasis circuitry. It didn't have AFC, but certainly needed it, as it drifted for at least a half hour after turn on. I was never impressed with it and was happy to sell it, as it required repair several times. The later Dynaco FM-5 and AF-6 tuners surpassed the FM-3 in EVERY respect. That statement should bring the tweaks out of the woodwork.
 
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I have an FM-3. It sounds great. My Fisher FM-200b, slightly modded by my tech, walks all over it sonically. If I could control what the stations broadcast, I could happily live with the FM-200b as my only source forever.
 
Mine didn't look cool. It had the cheap thin brass front panel that model started out with. The later extruded aluminum panels looked a lot better.
 
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I'd never seen a tuning eye before the one I have. I'm not old enough to remember tubes growing up (though the family stereo had home built speakers biamped with dynaco tube equipment, later given by my father to one of my sister's now ex boyfriends).

Speaking of which, my FM-3 is most likely going back to my father as I help him rebuild his stereo. That tuning eye is cool. Mine's developed a hum, however, that I need to figure out.
 
I have owned these great tuners:

Realistic TM-1001

Magnum Dynalab FT-101

Kenwood KT-8300

Cyrus (early model)

However the best FM I have ever heard came out of a Pioneer (ready for this?) KP-500. Yes, the early Super Tuner car stereo. I set it up once on the bench with a 12 VDC power supply, an antenna and a pair of speakers, and WOW. I have considered this unit and a second set of speakers just for FM. Too bad it lacks a line level out...
 
Best sounding: Yamaha CT-7000, best overall package (sensitivity, sound, ease of use, features): Revox B-260 S with the RDS-module.
 
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