Your Favorite Top 10 tuners all time


Here is an alphabetical list of what I consider it deserve a nomination:

Accuphase all tuners
Audiolab 8000T
B&K TS-108
Carver TX-11a
Carver TX-11b
Denon TU-800
Denon TU-850
Fisher FM-1000
Harmon Kardon Citation 23
Hitachi FT-5500
JVC FX-1010TN
JVC FX-1100
kenwod kt-5020
Kenwood KT-1100
Kenwood KT-3300D
Kenwood KT-815
Kenwood KT-8300
Kenwood KT-917
Kenwood KT-990D
kenwood L-01T
kenwood l-02t
kenwood l-03t
Kenwood L-07TII
Kenwood L-1000T
Kenwoods 600T
Luxman T-117
all magnum dynalab tuners
marantz 10b
McIntosh MR 71
McIntosh MR 78
McIntosh MR 80
McIntosh MR-67
Meridian 104
Meridian 504
Mitsubishi DA-F20
NAD 4155
Nikko Gamma I
Nikko Gamma V
Onkyo T-4310R
Onkyo T-4500
Onkyo T-9090II
Perreaux TU3
Phase Linear 5000 series 2
Philips AH-6731
pioneer f-26
pioneer f-28
Pioneer F-90
Pioneer F-91
Pioneer F-93
Pioneer F-99X
Pioneer TX-7800
Pioneer TX-9100
Pioneer TX-9500
Pioneer TX-9500II
Pioneer TX-9800
Realistic TM-1001
REL Precedent
Revox B760 and B260
Rotel RHT-10
Rotel RT-990BX
SAE Mark tuners
Sansui TU-417
Sansui TU-517
Sansui TU-717
Sansui TU-719
Sansui TU-919
Sansui TU-9900
Sansui TU-D99X
Sansui TU-S9
Sansui TU-X1
Sansui TU-X701
Sansui TU-X711
sanyo t55
Scott 310E
Scott 335
Sequerra
Sherwood Micro/CPU 100
Sony ST-J88B
sony ST-S707ES
Sony ST-S555ES
Sony ST-S730ES
sony ST-SA5ES
Sumo Charlie
Tandberg 3001
Tandberg 3011A
Technics ST-8077
Technics ST-8080
Technics ST-9030
Technics ST-9038
Technics ST-9700
Technics ST-G7
Yamaha CT-7000
yamaha t-2
yamaha t-7
yamaha t-70
yamaha t-80
Yamaha T-85
yamaha T-900
yamaha T-930
yamaha T-950
Yamaha TX-1000
Yamaha TX-2000

If by mistake I forgot any tuner out, sorry for inconvenience. Anyhow this is a comprehensive list.
rmihai
Have Yamaha T-70,T-80,TX-400,TX-900;Pioneer F-99X,F447and Kenwood KT 8300.Of all of these I think the Yamaha T-70 has the best sound on my systems followed closely by the two Pioneers .The Yamaha T-80 the best reception followed closely by the KT 8300 and TX-900.The TX-900 is the quietest on weak stations.Top picks for me Yamaha T-70 with T-80 only beating the Pioneers because of it's reception.
System 1:Yamaha AX-700U w/4 JBL L100's
Yamaha CX-600U + Crown xls 402 w/2 Dahlquist DQ-10's
Yamaha C2 + Yamaha M60 w/2 Klipsch KG4's

System 2: Yamaha AX-700U w/2 JBL E50's + 2 JBL J350's
I must confess I have never heard most of the tuners in the top 10 but of the ones I have now more than a couple sound as good as my cd's.How much better would I appreciate?Most of these were had for under $70
i have listened to quite a few tunas over the past few years. i still own.. hmmm... “several”. ;~) here's my extensive audition list:
==============
adcom gft-1a
accuphase t100
accuphase t101
accuphase t109, joseph chow mods
aiwa at9700u
audiolab 8000t
b&o beomaster 5000
creek t-43
denon tu-850
draco micro cpu 100 (needs refurb)
eumig t-1000
fisher fm90r
harman kardon citation 18, stephen sank mods
harman kardon citation 18, mike williams mods
hitachi ft-8000
jvc fx-1100
kenwood kt-7550m bill ammons mods
kenwood l-07-tII, modded
kenwood kt-9900
larsholt signal master 8
leak trough line 3
luxman t-12
magnum dynalab ft-101
marantz 20b, complete refurb (inside a marantz 19 receiver)
mcintosh mr-77 refurb'd
mcintosh mr65b, stephen sank refurb & mods
meridian 204
mitsubishi da-f20
nec t6e
nikko gamma 1
onix bwd-1 w/soap-2 power supply
philips 22-ah-105 (euro deemphasis)
philips 185
philips 186 (euro deemphasis)
philips ah6731
pioneer f-91
restek d1 (euro deemphasis)
revox b760
revox b261
roksan caspian
rotel rht-10
rotel rt-2100
saba ts-2000
sansui tu-517
sansui tu-719
sansui tu-9900
sansui tu-x1, joseph chow mods (in transit)
scott 310-d
sherwood s-3000-III
sony st-s730es
sony st-a6b
sony st-a6b (both a6b’s need a refurb)
stromberg-carlson sr445
sumo aurora
sumo charlie
tandberg 3011a
tandberg 3001a
tandberg 3001a w/minor power supply mods
technics st-9030, modded
technics st-8600
technics st-9600
technics st-heathkit aj1600, bill ammons mods
telefunken ebu-3137-7 ballampfanger
yamaha t-2
fisher mx100 decoder
one thing audio mpx decoder
trio mpx decoder (needed refurb)
scott 335 mpx decoder
studio 12 mpx decoder, minor mods

the gear marked "needs refurb" and "euro deemphasis" hasn't been properly ewaluated. tho i suspect the philips tunas would qualify for top sonics, based on my experience w/them & w/the other philips tunas.

sonically, i would be happy w/*any* of the above, except for a few. these few are:
==========================
m-d ft101
adcom gft-1a
mcintosh mr77
kenwood kt9900 (bronze-faced kt8300)

what holds them back for me are lack of soundstage dimensionality - they are yust flat sounding.

sonically the top tier tunas for me are:
========================
accuphase t100
accuphase t101
accuphase t109, joseph chow mods
aiwa at9700u
audiolab 8000t
denon tu-850
harman kardon citation 18, stephen sank mods
harman kardon citation 18, mike williams mods
kenwood kt-7550m bill ammons mods
kenwood l-07-tII, modded
larsholt signal master 8
leak trough line 3
marantz 20b, complete refurb (inside a marantz 19 receiver)
mcintosh mr65b, stephen sank refurb & mods
meridian 204
mitsubishi da-f20
nikko gamma 1
onix bwd-1 w/soap-2 power supply
philips 185
philips ah6731
roksan caspian
rotel rht-10
rotel rt-2100
sherwood s-3000-III (mono)
stromberg-carlson sr445 (mono)
sumo aurora
sumo charlie
technics st-9030, modded
technics st-heathkit aj1600, bill ammons mods
telefunken ebu-3137-7 ballampfanger

if top sensitivity/selectivity is also an issue, the following are eliminated from this list:
==========================
stromberg-carlson sr445 (mono)
sherwood s-3000-III (mono)
philips 185
meridian 204
mcintosh mr65b, stephen sank refurb & mods
marantz 20b, complete refurb (inside a marantz 19 receiver)
leak trough line 3

perhaps "the cream of the crop", from this list are:
===================
accuphase t100
accuphase t101
accuphase t109, joseph chow mods
aiwa at9700u
audiolab 8000t
denon tu-850
harman kardon citation 18, stephen sank mods
harman kardon citation 18, mike williams mods
larsholt signal master 8
marantz 20b, complete refurb (inside a marantz 19 receiver)
mitsubishi da-f20
philips ah6731
roksan caspian
rotel rht-10
stromberg-carlson sr445 (mono) - sonics only
sherwood s-3000-III (mono)- sonics only
technics st-heathkit aj1600, bill ammons mods
telefunken ebu-3137-7 ballampfanger

i suspect the modded sansui tu-x1 will make "the cream of the crop", but i haven't heard it yet. ;~) the mono tunas are rated using any of the (excellent, imo) properly working mpx decoders listed.

the other tunas above, that i said i could be happy with are *so* close to even "the cream of the crop", that you should consider them, if you like the looks, ergonomics, features, etc.

others have their faves; go to fmtunerinfo.com & its associated yahoo forum for more info.

doug s.,

so many tunas, so little time. :>)
1st is Sansui TU X1, best room, best Dynamik, "just there Sound"
2nd is (of those I own) Sansui Tu 517 (modified with Accu-Voltage and different internal wires), Onkyo T 9900 , Kenwood KT 1100 (great reception, great selektivity), Technics ST 9600 (just beautiful..), Technics ST 7300K (good Dynamik and bass)
Denon TU-680NAB is hands-down, undoubtedly the best tuner I have ever seen, especially if you factor AM reception into the equation.