hi martin,
i dunno how to say this w/o being sorta insulting, but i cannot imagine *any* of the tunas i've listened to over the past coupla years that *don't* sound better than the mr78. reception, on the other hand, is a different story. the mr78 is acknowledged to be one of the best out there.
mind you, i have never heard the mr78. ;~) *but*, i *have* owned an mr77, which i had completely refurb'd. and the mr77 & mr74 are acknowledged by mcintosh afficianados to be the best sounding mcintosh s/s tunas. even richard modaferri, designer of both the mr77 & the mr78, has stated a properly aligned mr77 will sound better than even a modaferri-modded mr78. this info was related on the yahoo fmtuner forum.
so, i base my opinion of the mr78's sonics on my experience w/my refurb'd mr77. the mr77 was the *only* tuna out of a couple dozen i have owned over tha past coupla years that i would *not* be happy to have as my only tuna for sonic bliss. it had a flat soundstage, and lack of detail. it *was* sensitive, tho.
my fave tuna, for both sonics *and* sensitivity, is my modded harmon kardon citation-18. this guy yust does everything right sonically, *and* it's a signal hawk. other tunas i would recommend for sonics *and* reception, (my personal "class-a" list), include the nikko gamma 1, technics st-9030, accuphase t101, rotel rt-2100, mitsubishi da-f20, sumo aurora, roksan caspian, pioneer f-91, philips ah673, modded kenwood kt7500/kt8300, sony st es730s. these are the ones that make my personal class-a ranking for both sonics *and* reception.
others that make the reception grade, but are a tiny hair off the pace sonically, include the sansui tu-9900/tu-517/tu-717/tu-719, refurb'd tandberg 3001a, yamaha t-2, onix bwd-1 w/soap-2, revox b261/b760. note the sonic differences here are so slight that they'd be noticable w/my "class-a" list *only* in direct a-b comparison. any of these i could *easily* be satisfied with for long term listening. the difference here really *are* tiny.
then, there's the tunas that i consider class-a for sound, but a hair off the pace for reception. these would include the luxman t12, sumo charlie w/rack handles (non-rack-handle units not being aligned by its designer james bongiorno), philips 185.
also, an important note. except for the tunas i have noted as being refurb'd/modded, all these have had no recent work afaik. a proper refurb/alignment could easily have a major sonic/reception impact on these (or any) tunas.
the mr77 i owned, tho wery sensitive, yust dint sound good to me at all. my modded mcintosh mr65b tubed tuna, on the other hand, sounds great - in my class-b category, knocking on class-a's door. but you better be able to *see* the tower of the radio station yure trying to get! ;~)
regards,
doug s.
i dunno how to say this w/o being sorta insulting, but i cannot imagine *any* of the tunas i've listened to over the past coupla years that *don't* sound better than the mr78. reception, on the other hand, is a different story. the mr78 is acknowledged to be one of the best out there.
mind you, i have never heard the mr78. ;~) *but*, i *have* owned an mr77, which i had completely refurb'd. and the mr77 & mr74 are acknowledged by mcintosh afficianados to be the best sounding mcintosh s/s tunas. even richard modaferri, designer of both the mr77 & the mr78, has stated a properly aligned mr77 will sound better than even a modaferri-modded mr78. this info was related on the yahoo fmtuner forum.
so, i base my opinion of the mr78's sonics on my experience w/my refurb'd mr77. the mr77 was the *only* tuna out of a couple dozen i have owned over tha past coupla years that i would *not* be happy to have as my only tuna for sonic bliss. it had a flat soundstage, and lack of detail. it *was* sensitive, tho.
my fave tuna, for both sonics *and* sensitivity, is my modded harmon kardon citation-18. this guy yust does everything right sonically, *and* it's a signal hawk. other tunas i would recommend for sonics *and* reception, (my personal "class-a" list), include the nikko gamma 1, technics st-9030, accuphase t101, rotel rt-2100, mitsubishi da-f20, sumo aurora, roksan caspian, pioneer f-91, philips ah673, modded kenwood kt7500/kt8300, sony st es730s. these are the ones that make my personal class-a ranking for both sonics *and* reception.
others that make the reception grade, but are a tiny hair off the pace sonically, include the sansui tu-9900/tu-517/tu-717/tu-719, refurb'd tandberg 3001a, yamaha t-2, onix bwd-1 w/soap-2, revox b261/b760. note the sonic differences here are so slight that they'd be noticable w/my "class-a" list *only* in direct a-b comparison. any of these i could *easily* be satisfied with for long term listening. the difference here really *are* tiny.
then, there's the tunas that i consider class-a for sound, but a hair off the pace for reception. these would include the luxman t12, sumo charlie w/rack handles (non-rack-handle units not being aligned by its designer james bongiorno), philips 185.
also, an important note. except for the tunas i have noted as being refurb'd/modded, all these have had no recent work afaik. a proper refurb/alignment could easily have a major sonic/reception impact on these (or any) tunas.
the mr77 i owned, tho wery sensitive, yust dint sound good to me at all. my modded mcintosh mr65b tubed tuna, on the other hand, sounds great - in my class-b category, knocking on class-a's door. but you better be able to *see* the tower of the radio station yure trying to get! ;~)
regards,
doug s.