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FM tuners - Are they OBSOLETE ?

As much as I a have liked tuners in the past - and probably kidded myself that older ''vintage'' tuners sound better (after owning quite a few), I really don't see much use for them except maybe a nostalgic bridge to days past, or bragging rights to pride of ownership with McIntosh gear or whatever.

With the newer technologies giving access to hundreds of stations around the globe, it just seems like THE proposition to discover new music.

I of course know that some high-end tuners sound very good - but let me tell you - a clean 128 digital feed into a DAC (from a digital transport like the Wadia or Cambridge Audio's new ID-100), is pretty impressive...

Sort of make kilo-buck tuners seem futile and very expensive by comparison.

What do you think ?
soniqmike
oddlots
12 posts
 
I'm plugged in to Sirius/Xm through Dish Network to my big rig preamp. Listen to the blues channel plus other formats. Surprising audio quality perhaps a touch less than the best tuner [Marantz 10B?] but no commercials or other interruptions. Who needs a tuner?
eddiesudz's avatar
eddiesudz
60 posts
 
I have a McIntosh MR85 on the rack but not plugged in.

Also have a Sony HD Radio that I recently upgraded again ---- not plugged in.

I'm actually getting a lot of pleasure from my Squeezebox Touch Internet Radio Channels. Sound quality is pretty decent running through my Playback Designs MPS-5.
orpheus10
5,988 posts
 
Absolutely! I bought a good tuner, and they took the only good FM station off, or changed it to "crappy" music; I forgot which, but my tuner is gathering dust.
isochronism
1,447 posts
 
Rgs92, FM in Metro NY area is great! We all had a crush on Alison Steele:) While recently putting my system together, my only source was FM for a few months. (Magnum Dynalab 106T, Signal Sleuth, ST2). Now with internet radio, my local public stations are receiving more $upport during their fund drives, which may actually help keep broadcasting alive. I hope so.
swanny76109
380 posts
 
I love my squeezebox run into my Bel Canto DAC3. I get the world at my finger tips, and my local NPR music channel sounds great streamed at a pretty high res rate. I agree FM is dead for the most part, and isn't it true also that the analog FM signal will soon go the way of the analog TV signal--as in gone, and we'll need a digital converter?
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