The best sounding FM Tuner is.....

ferrari,

i agree that the state of present commercial fm radio is pretty dismal. but all it takes, (for me anyways), is one or two decent public radio stations that broadcast a quality signal & play music i like, to make it all worthwhile for me. most of my "sweet-spot" listening is actually done w/fm playing.

re: xm, i have found it to be completely unlistenable, even for 30 seconds, in the "sweet-spot". it is barely tolerable, even as background music. its shrill, compressed, etched signal invariably gives me a headache after a while. i convinced a good friend who has it to try a tubed buffer stage between his xm receiver & his preamp. this does help a little, making it slightly less irritable as background music. but it is still completely unlistenable as a serious music source. so, i don't care *how* good the programming is. if i can't listen to it, it's completely worthless to me.

ymmv,

doug s.

The Magnum Dynalab MD 109,it smokes anything out there.I had a Day Sequerra for 2 years and I thought FM broadcast was really bad, but when I got the 109 I realized FM through the 109 sounded great,Tuners just stink.

Sedond. The radio stations in this area are pure crap and the few NPR stations here are not of the music variety.

As for XM it is a god send for me and have not had any sonic or operational issues with it. It comes in totally clear with great separation, and have not found it shrill,compressed or grainy.

Wish we had a decent NPR station near here. I had a great one in the Denver area that I now miss. Believe me if the Polk XRT 12 and the XM broadcast did not deliver as they do, I would just give up on broadcast alltogether. But thus far for me XM delivers.

strapper, i hope the md109 is a significant step up from the md108, which is handily beaten by a slew of older vintage tunas, costing *way* less - like $500 or less. (as is the sequerra, according to many folks that have actualy compared them to good vintage tunas.) personally, from my experience w/lesser m-d's, & from my experience w/several accuphase tunas, if i had the $$$, i would be spending it on the new accuphase t1000. still way-spendy, but ~half the price of the md109. i know i wouldn't trade my accuphase t100 for an md108, that's for sure! well, mebbe i would, if part of the deal was that i could immediately re-sell it! :>) the write-ups i have read about the latest accuphase t1000 have me drooling - sonics way better than *anything* before it, even the exalted sansut tu-x1, kenwood l-02t, etc. and that's even *before* you use its digital out into an outboard dac - then it gets even *better*. i may have to sell a bunch of my vintage tunas & get one! :>)

ferrari, i feel your pain, re: crap fm - there are only two or three stations in my area that make fm listening worthwhile for me. but, (and this is not meant in a derogatory way at all), i really question your system's resolution or your hearing, if you can actually sit in the sweet spot & listen to xm. while i haven't heard the latest polk xm tuna, several folks who have listened to it have told me that, while it's marginally better than older xm tunas, it is still only useful for background music, not serious listening, even if you use its digital out to an outboard dac. but, hey - it works for you, that's what's important, eh? :>)

ymmv,

doug s.

If I had decent stations around here, would not have gone the XM route as their would be no need to. However that is far from the case here. I find more tham acceptable for my needs, whether or not it is hi-rez or not, is a moot point for me. It gets the music I want to hear, when I want to hear it and sans the commercials and offers excellent taping of the air. I am not concerned in regards to my system or other members system. I find it fits my needs quite nicely and at 63 now, who cares what others think, it is not a remote concern of mine.

My point in offering the XM solution, was simple, if other members have less than stellar FM in their area. The Polk XRT 12 XM is a solid alternative. Beyond that, C'est le Vie.