FM tuners - Are they OBSOLETE ?

I agree with Daverz. It is very hard to find anything worth listening on FM Radio. Where I am pretty much every radio station is a Pop/Mainstream one that plays the same set of songs all day and night. I swear Payola Playola must still be happening. To many times when I'm driving home and switching through radio stations I will hear the same pop song at each station but I'll just be at a different part of the song.

Also my favorite is when I do get to hear a song on FM radio that I can stand the bass will be noticeably higher than the treble. I remember my family telling me about this years ago but I didn't notice it at the time.

I'm happy with my $40 Auvio Tuner from RadioShack I got. I'm not spending another dime on a tuner.

I found my Tuners in thrift stores in different states. I purchased the Kenwood 8300 for 20.00. I bought an almost mint Mitsubishi DA DF20 for 15.00.This is my favorite looking tuner and at the price with some excellent classical music on FM.You can't beat the amount of music I listen to for so cheap. I would agree to pay top buck would not be worth it. But at thrift store prices and a little luck the return is very enjoyable.

I have not used a tuner in 30 years. Nothing worth listening to...
I found a highly regarded tuner at a Goodwill a few years ago... and sold it for a third of it's used value just because I could not stand to rob someone for such a useless device!
Anything on FM I can listen to is usually poor quality garbage top oldies 40' talk radio, or some other useless format. The few and far between programs that might be worth listening to, are not worth the bother.
I have over 6,000 Lp and 2,500 CD.. so Im not missing out on anything i want.
BESIDES the availability of internet radio, and sevices like Pandora also make over the air radio obsolete.
If FM disappeared tomorrow, I would not even know it.
(In my car i drive, not any of those things others do while aiming thier car semi-randomly.. I actually Drive.. so I am not listening to anything on some squawk box car system.)

I recently added a used tuner back into my system and though I don't use it as much as I thought I would, I plan to keep it hooked up. So days it is noce to have on while doing dreaded house chores. But I do think their days are numbered with internet radio, panodra, rhapsody etc. Untill I can afford a Sonos or the like I am dialed in...

I guess it comes down to where you live in terms of what's available to listen to. But I seriously doubt the FM band itself is going to disappear anytime soon. It's free and belongs to the public just like AM. So they (the rich and powerful broadcasters) would have a hard time getting rid of it altogether -- just look how much money we (the people ;~) had to spend to keep over-the-air TV free and accessable to all us poooor folk!

What HAS died is pure analog FM. It's gone! No FM stations I'm aware of -- including classical -- use the telephone lines to link from the studio to the transmitter. It's wireless, and it's digital! So heave a big sigh over that one if you must -- but I still love the sound of my vintage McIntosh MR-65B. We have good classical here in Tucson from the U of A, and if I want to pull in Phoenix with all its Jazz and classical stations, I use my trusty Technics ST-9030. With its EIGHT GANG tuning condenser, it'll take me pretty much to the horizon!

Still, as someone pointed out above, it would be very hard today to justify the purchase of a great-sounding tube analog FM tuner based purely on value for dollar -- which is why no one is making them ;--) New high end solid state FM tuners on the other hand, will be around for a long time I think, because they'll all be satellite and broadband capable as well.
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