Tuner Mods

M

maxsnafu

New Member
I'm new here so please be indulgent if I'm repeating something already widely known: There is a frequent contributor here from the upper Midwest who has done Audiophile and Selectivity (where applicable) mods to the following tuners for me.

1.) Nikko Gamma I
2.) Pioneer TX-9500 II
3.) Marantz 150 (He did two of these)

I cannot overemphasize the quality of this fellow's work and the magnitude of the improvement in performance he was able to squeeze out of these units. He is now reworking a Kenwood KT-8300 for me and I can barely contain my
eager anticipation of its return. Since I do not have his expressed permission to divulge his identity that will be left up to him.

My point? I strongly recommend anyone who has a vintage tuner that you'd like to have working significantly better than the day it was made (and light years better than most of what is being made now) consider this fellow. If your vintage tuner has not been modded by him you truly have no idea about how well it can perform.

Most of you probably know who I am referring to. Others should feel free
to contact me off list for specifics.
 
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maxsnafu said:
I cannot overemphasize the quality of this fellow's work and the magnitude of the improvement in performance he was able to squeeze out of these units. He is now reworking a Kenwood KT-8300 for me and I can barely contain my
eager anticipation of its return. Since I do not have his expressed permission to divulge his identity that will be left up to him.
Click to expand...
I'm eager to hear details about the KT-8300 upgrades and mods you are having done, as I plan to have mine overhauled at some point (soon I hope!). Are you basically following the suggested mods recipie discussed at www.fmtunerinfo.com, or are you having other work done as well? The KT-8300 is definitely a keeper!
 
Welcome aboard Hank...

Pretty much finished up the 8300 this morning. Listening to it now and letting it burn in.

X
 
I'll jump on the PunkerX bandwagon, and I'm classless enough not to ask permission to divulge his identity. :D

Anyway, he worked some of the kinks out of my Pioneer TX 9500 a while back. I've now got a great sounding and very sensitive tuner that will keep me happy for quite some time.

Hey Punker, I recently picked up a really nice TX 9500 II for a song, and if I ever get the $$$ together, I'm going to sent it your way. It works great, but I'm thinking it will sound that much better once it leaves your bench.
 
whell said:
Hey Punker, I recently picked up a really nice TX 9500 II for a song, and if I ever get the $$$ together, I'm going to sent it your way. It works great, but I'm thinking it will sound that much better once it leaves your bench.
Click to expand...

Personally, I'd sell the 9500 II and stick some additional money onto the 9500. May not have two IF paths, but it has discrete output components instead of using the damn Pioneer audio/muting chip, that's impossible to find or update. Like the 9500 over the 9500 II for fidelity any day.

X
 
Punker X said:
Personally, I'd sell the 9500 II and stick some additional money onto the 9500. May not have two IF paths, but it has discrete output components instead of using the damn Pioneer audio/muting chip, that's impossible to find or update. Like the 9500 over the 9500 II for fidelity any day.
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X is probably right. But with that said, you can squeeze a heckuva lot more performance out of a 9500II. On X's recommendation for parts, I completely recapped mine and just finished upgrading the signal path resistors. It's a whole lot better than it was. Maybe not up to some others, but I believe it was worth the effort.

Buy a 9500 too...then you can join us other sick ones in the tuner collector's brigade!
 
Kt-917

Im about to send my KT-917 off to P-X for a complete overhaul and upgrade, largely because I've hard the same great things as have been said here.

P-X, I haven't forgotten, I'm just slower than molasses. So far, it's made the trip out of the storage area and is sitting on my conference table waiting for better boxes to come. :thmbsp:
 
hpsenicka said:
I'm eager to hear details about the KT-8300 upgrades and mods you are having done, as I plan to have mine overhauled at some point (soon I hope!). Are you basically following the suggested mods recipie discussed at www.fmtunerinfo.com, or are you having other work done as well? The KT-8300 is definitely a keeper!
Click to expand...
I'll begin with a little history. I sent Mr. X the first tuner he did for me
essentially giving him carte blanche to do whatever in his opinion would improve the sonics and selectivity of the unit consistant with keeping
it listenable in the "Narrow" mode. (I'm midway between a pure DX'er
and an audiophile.) I also asked for a couple of changes that I don't think
he really considers important or necessary. It was not an expensive tuner and the whole exercise was an attempt on my part to ascertain whether
or not he did good work--if he'd blown it, I'd just write it off and move on.
Well, a middlin' tuner returned to me a darned good one for a fair price.
The KT-8300 he now has had already been modded to a certain extent but
had problems. What ultimately, the replaced parts will end up being, I really
don't know and don't care. My basic philosophy is if an improved part can be used, put it in. Replace potential land mines like electrolytics with reckless
abandon. Use higher value components (caps, resistor-wattage) where appropriate and yes, pretty much the sort of things TIC recommends. Some of the mods are tried & true and some are scientifically unproven but I'd
rather err on the side of doing unnecessary things than omitting worthy ones.
I'll let you know the extent of the work when I find out myself.
 
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