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Post by Deleted on Nov 28, 2019 18:39:35 GMT
I might add a tuner to the master bedroom system. I was maybe thinking Quad FM4 or 66. Any other options I should be looking a? I’d prefer a quartz locking one unless I can gain significantly from something else.
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Post by dsjr on Nov 28, 2019 19:31:41 GMT
FM in the UK is shite now, as the dreaded 'Optimod' rears its head and adds its nasties to already bloated FM sonics (nowt to do with the tuners, but a form of added harmonic midrange distortion in the medium itself I gather) My advice would be to find a not too expensive internet capable old laptop able to receive BBC Sounds plus the thousands of other good streaming radio services out there, a Topping D10 USB dac and use that as your 'radio.' Not what you want to hear I know, but if you've ever compared streaming BBC radio (in the first instance) with their FM output these days, you'd never want the FM version... Other internet stations are so damned good too... Sorry. Not what you want to hear or read. A Quad 66 tuner 'sounds' fine, but not sure how dependent on the 66 preamp it is for its operation. If the FM4 has it's memory battery replaced before it leaks all over the board (and probably the supply caps too if the matching 34 is anything to go by), it's a good looking and good sounding tuner which will hold value well. My serviced FM3 is also great and I'm currently using it in the office system, even if it's not that sensitive or selective. Prices are rising though,m so my FM3 which cost me £50 is now worth almost double I think. P.S. if I understand it correctly, not all tuners liked being 'fully modulated,' which I took to be maximum sound output volume. These days, UK FM broadcasts are heavily compressed and tuners are having their outputs driven very hard. The only reason why someone UK based might splash out on a classic old Tuner such as a top Accuphase of old (they 'feel' wonderful) or a Yamaha CT7000 or Revox, would be for a collection, as I suspect the lovely sonic fine details they could reproduce just aren't being broadcast these days. Maybe these old top models might make more sense of a scrambled broadcast, but then, a streaming version of a UK station would still easily out perform it I believe.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 30, 2019 5:41:41 GMT
Quite happy with my spinning dial Technics, the quality of the broadcasts actually sucks.
dsr has a good point, streaming is the way to go.
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Post by macca on Nov 30, 2019 11:23:41 GMT
I've got a Technics something-or-other. Quartz lock with the presets. And a proper rooftop aerial. Hardly ever use it. The commercial channels have too many adverts which are broadcast much louder than the programme so you have to keep turning it down and then back up again, and in any case they play the same music over and over.
The BBC don't want to pay/can't afford to pay to play much music so their content is mostly padding, people waffling on about nothing of any interest. And instead of adverts they have promos for whatever boring shite they have coming up, which last as long as the adverts on the commercial channels and are just as dull. This is also true of their TV channels now.
I like tuners. I like all the lights and buttons. But there's not much point in them anymore.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 30, 2019 11:30:42 GMT
I've only used mine once and that was to test that it was working when I bought it a few years ago.  |
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Post by macca on Nov 30, 2019 11:55:14 GMT
What is it?
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Post by dsjr on Nov 30, 2019 12:02:41 GMT
True story concerning 'BBC' FM quality...
Some years back, a pal of mine was an engineer in the now defunct? 'BBC Special projects' dept. at Broadcasting House as it then was. The office staff wanted piped music in the background, so the dept. bought a collection of 'Active' Wharfedale Diamonds, purely for the speaker in the pair containing the amps (there were a good few single Diamonds subsequently sold off and being passive, two of these would be fine for a conventional stereo).
The system was installed around the offices and the signal was taken from the Radio 2 output after Optimod, so the staff listened as 'we' do. Many complaints on the awful sound quality, so their feed was then switched to BEFORE the Optimod compression, which cleared all the complaints up.
Apparently, Radio 4 used to be the station with least compression (Radio 3 is patchy here but still better than Classic FM), but lately, the sound of presenters seems muffled (not my ears this time) as if they have a severe lisp and it changes from programme to programme. BBC TV can be similarly afflicted yet this disappears when older programmes are shown. I put it down to the Dynaudio BM5A's they now universally use (LS3/5A's were sold off years ago now), but I'm probably wrong.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 30, 2019 12:54:17 GMT
Only a cheapie I bought to fill a gap in the rack. Rotel RT-830AL. Sounded good when I tried it though. |
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