APS-13 antenna

Tullman

Tullman

Well-Known Member
Well fellow audio nuts, I finally took the big plunge. After owning my Sansui TU 9900 for close to thirty years and my MR78 for 15 years, I now realize the true performance of these units.

Way back in the day I put up a cheap stationary radio shack antenna on a shack I was renting. The Radio shack antenna was ok but I couldn't rotate it. After I moved from the shack, it was strickly apartments that I could not install an antenna on, so I had to go with dipoles and rabbit ears. Later I purchased an Audioprism 6500 indoor antenna. The Audioprism is better than a dipole but nothing to get excited about. Honestly, my tuners without an antenna, really, were no better than my Cambridge Soundworks radio

Well.... I finally bought a house a year ago and just recently installed an APS-13 antenna with a rotor. The APS-13 isn't cheap at $220.00 and $80.00 for the rotor. I had to hire an installer, but I believe someone with a ladder and some good foot work could easily install this antenna. The installer attached the antenna to an exhaust pipe from the sewer. He said it was great because it is made from iron and he wouldn't have to put any holes in the roof. This is one benefit from living in an older house. Now days they use pcv pipe, which would not do the job.

Living in Boston, I kind of had my doubts that I would need such an antenna because of so many strongs signals. I was wrong. When I turned on the MR78 my jaw hit the floor.:jawdrop:

My MR78 with the Audioprism had trouble holding a stereo signal. Now, it holds stereo beautifully. The noise floor has gone down considerably. Even stations that I was getting a strong signal from before were much better sonically and had improved signal strength. I am getting stations that I never knew existed. Every direction I turn the antenna it's more new stations.:cool:
My MR78 has the Modiferri mod and I can finally reap the benefits from this mod. The same can be said for my Sansui.

I highly recommend the APS-13. I am getting plenty of bang for the buck. The FM music is definately better sounding than the digital music I am getting from my sattelite dish. If any of you have nice tuners and can mount an antenna where you are living, go for it. You have know idea what you are missing. Don't wait thirty years like me, if you can help it.

Here is a geek picture:
 
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We ran the cable from the antenna to the basement and then ran cable to four different areas of the house, so that I can switch to four different tuners.
 
Some fine lookin equipment. I jsut sold my MR78 this past spring. Quite the DX machine - I could receive stations well that didn't even show up on my previous Marrantz 2100 using the same antenna.

Just curious, though. Did the guy install a ground rod or are you counting on the vent stack to perform that function?
 
I forgot to mention the ground. The installer drove a copper stake 4 ft. into the ground outside my house. He attached the wire from the ground stake to a lightning block, which separates the cable from the antenna to the cable going into the house. Very professional. Lightning is something not to take chances with.

Thanks for the compliment on my equipment, it took many years and plenty of hard work to accumulate it.:)\

Why did you sell your MR78?
 
Originally posted by jmzzz01
That's the way to go with the ground. Sounds like the guy you hired knows what he's doing. A lot of people will attach them to the mast and then to the stake. The way you did it is the way to go. Tremendous power in lightning. Even with the ground it's not infallable.

About the Mac: I picked up, during the never ending quest to accumulate, investigate, and try out different things, a couple of tube tunners that actually sounded better - a Scott LT-110 and a Dynaco FM-3. Granted they are no match, not even in the same league, on a DX level, but smooth and clean all the way to the top. The MR78 is fairly acknowledged as having a rolled off top end, and one day my son brought over his old Eico and we A-B'd them. The Mac has powerful bass and good midrange, but his Eico has this "liquid" quality to the top end that is immediately noticable. Well, you could imagine how I felt after buying "The King" of tuners, at least historically (and cost-wise too). So I picked up the Dynaco on eBay and A-B'd them and it was better balanced, besting the Eico across the sound spectrum, except the very highest reaches. I love it, but after having the Mac grace the cabinet (no tuner looks cooler than that, with all the big black knobs - perhaps a Marrantz 2130), I was disappointed with the appearance of this small, plain tuner. I then decided to try a Scott. It's what I'm currently using, and sounds really nice. It has some of the DX qualities (sub-channel filter and and a stereo noise filter for hiss) and sounds just beautiful. I live in suburban Detroit and reception is not a big issue, but I love to listen to the radio, especially in the evening when reception is it's best, and the tube tuners seem to really shine. We've got a couple of college stations that are really progressive musically, so much better than commercial stations.

The Mac was a real beaut. I had a cabinet, both manuals, original boxes for tuner and cabinet, even the mounting template and hardware that was standard with them for in-wall installations. But , as in life, when one door closes, another opens. I suddenly had $1000 to invest in other audio equipment. The guy who bought it was from the Netherlands, and was so tickled. He's a collector and has a store.
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Hope you don't mind jmzzz01, it was just too hard to read.;)

Carl
 
600 pixels wide will keep everything straight.

Tullman, thanks for the review. I lived around that area for a few years myself and the FM was always exellent.
 
Nice antenna there Tullman. Also, you have some beautiful kit on that rack. Did I spy a KPS-25 at the top?

FWIW, here's my Galaxie 23 that I run into an Audiolab 8000T

Galaxie23.jpg
 
Remarks not having to do with a review are not tolerated in a review thread. Read the rules and start another thread if you don't like the review.


I left Trawlerman's pic in because I didn't think Tullman would mind. Any disagreements need to be taken up in an opinion thread. The reason for this is to encourage postings of reviews by not allowing thread crapping or hijacking. Feel free to start another thread and disagree all you want, just not in a thread that is a review.

Thanks,
David Thatcher
 
Originally posted by Trawlerman
Nice antenna there Tullman. Also, you have some beautiful kit on that rack. Did I spy a KPS-25 at the top?

FWIW, here's my Galaxie 23 that I run into an Audiolab 8000T

Galaxie23.jpg
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Thanks for the compliment and picture.
I Like your antenna! It looks really cosmic!:D Does that thing do television as well?

The Krell is a KPS 20i.
 
Nope. That antenna is just FM only.

Our TV band is way up into the UHF spectrum (around 500mhz + I think) so the elements are way too big.

I dont think I would get a picture if I plugged it into the TV as all the signals at those frequencies would be rejected. The antenna being a tuned circuit and all.

IRC, this antenna is cut to resonate at 98Mhz. My Audiolab and Sansui tuners really love this antenna but they show up the bad SWR cure something awfull (pretty flat overall 1:1 but starts to rise at 102mhz and goes to 1:3 at 108mhz and is same at the other end of band). I have a set of tweaks to even it out a little but have yet to find time to get the thing down to carry them. Now the weather is setting in for the winter it will probably be the spring before I get any work done on it now.
 
uhmm it's the 'antenna!' not the rack items, AND the 'music'

'a good tuner driven hard by a low multipath signal from a truly directional antenna' - from a good to great station is a serious source. I have three here in Canberra now, one doesn't use any processing (dynamic range compression or Eq). It also does live OB's of international groups - like Il Giardino Armonico.
FREE!

reproducing radio is a system problem and yr antenna is part of it. the better the antenna the better the sound.

the 'music' is gonna sound better than it did before the better antenna.

Tullman has owned two super tuners for a long time. He has only really heard the 'super' part since the big antenna, and Radio is good - musically and RF wise where he lives.

so, if you have good musical radio in yr receivable vicinity, then get an antenna set-up that will work, as your number one priority.

"It works perfectly well on the original T thing Timbo", which is hanging down the back of the rack, in with the AC mains leads.

NO it doesn't.

Timbo





well you won't know until you try it. and Tullmann had an external directional antenna before the Biggie.
 
:thmbsp:
Timbo in Oz said:
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Tullman has owned two super tuners for a long time. He has only really heard the 'super' part since the big antenna, and Radio is good - musically and RF wise where he lives.
Timbo

This is the truth! Again, it wasn't cheap, but well worth it, expecially with the tuners I have. It was like trying to drive a Mercedes on some cheap spare tire donuts.
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