crooner
Tube Marantzed
Intrigued by this post By fellow AK'er Bastek, I bought this little guy last night at my local Fry's for $99 plus tax.
The smaller footprint is ideal when space is at a premium. My rack is already populated with tube gear, digital rig and turntable. Didn't have a spare shelf for a full sized component.
I was able to place the Sony on top of my subwoofer and still have plenty of space for the remote controls and the PC powered speakers that I use for DX 24/7 monitoring.
The XDR-F1HD was connected to my outdoor APS-9B antenna which is raised approximately 35 feet off the ground. I also have an infrared wireless remote controlled Channel Master rotator on the mast.
First impressions are very positive. This little radio is a marvel for DX work. It features RDS, helpful for ID'ing distant stations. It also offers extremely sharp selectivity due to the DSP engine based IF curves. Unprecedented at this price level.
Adjacent channels can routinely be received with no splash or other kind of interference, even with powerful local stations.
Sensitivity is also above average, with DX appearing in previously empty frequencies.
The Marantz 10B, a DX champ in its own right, was also capable of receiving the same amount of adjacent channels. Except for 91.5 KUSC, a classical station from Los Angeles. It could barely get it, but with tons of interference from a local powerhouse at 91.7. The Sony was able to receive it quite cleanly.
In selectivity, the Sony is comparable to the Onkyo T-G10 (T-9090II) in super narrow mode. But without the increased THD caused by conventional narrow ceramic filters.
In the heavily congested FM spectrum of the San Diego area, it is not infrequent for cheap tuners and radios to crossmodulate or create images of the strongest local stations. Not so with the Sony. Again, unprecedented for $99.
The Sangean HDT-1X which I previously talked about in an older thread, also had excellent selectivity due to the DSP IF filtering, mandatory for HDRadio reception. However, the price of $250 wasn't the greatest value out there. The big box, empty inside, also dissuaded me from keeping it.
The little Sony is quite attractive with DX performance unheard-of for such a low price. It has minor quibbles, like the lack of a stereo indicator for analog. Also, you cannot switch manually to analog from a HDRadio signal. The unit runs a little warm, like an older TV cable box.
But I can't really fault it, for all the good things that it offers. For the DX enthusiast, it is without peer, specially at the price.
If you are looking for a nifty, modern, little tuner for 24/7 DX work, this is it. Mine's a keeper!
.....Oh, and in regards to sound quality, I haven't hooked it up to my main rig yet. I am no expecting great things in this department. But connected to my little PC speakers, it sounds very pleasing and detailed.