School me on older radio tuners pls.

[911 Rod]

I have a 15 year old NAD amp that I want to put in the garage and need a tuner for it.
So may old tuners for sale, but I'm not sure what I'm looking at.
Needs to get good reception as I'm in the country. Also needs presets?
Thanks
Rod

[Shaun @ Tru6]

I can't give any qualified advice on choosing a tuner other than to visit Speaker reviews, amplifier reviews TV reviews and buy and sell used audio equipment, audio forums, hot deals and more - audioreview.com

I have a Rotel RT-1080. Found it while surfing CL, good reviews on Audioreview.com, cheap, works great.

I think audiogon.com is also a good place to research and buy.

Make sure you get a remote.

[Ayles]

I have an NAD preamp that I use. Nice stuff.

I would poke around on ebay and get a matching tuner if they aren't too costly. Otherwise tuners should be a dime a dozen as people shift to streaming services like spotify. I havent listened to the radio in a decade.

[rockfan4]

I don't know what your stations are like where you are, but where I live you have to have a digital tuner. It used to be that stations were far apart, but now there's a lot more of them, they're lower power, and they're a lot closer together. I tried using my old Sansui 7070 from my college days. I could only tune in one station clearly, the local top 40 100,000 watt station.

[911 Rod]

Definitely want a digital tuner. If the station is weak I don't want to keep looking for it.

[fastfredracing]

Yeah, agree on the digital tuner. I have this old tube sansui that sounds really great, but only picks up gospel, and one top 40 station at work.

[tdw28210]

Originally Posted by fastfredracing

Yeah, agree on the digital tuner. I have this old tube sansui that sounds really great, but only picks up gospel, and one top 40 station at work.

With an antennae attached? That seems wrong to me.

[tdw28210]

Originally Posted by 911 Rod

I have a 15 year old NAD amp that I want to put in the garage and need a tuner for it.
So may old tuners for sale, but I'm not sure what I'm looking at.
Needs to get good reception as I'm in the country. Also needs presets?
Thanks
Rod

Make yours a Matched set:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-NAD-Electronics-4130-Digital-AM-FM-Stereo-Tuner-With-Antenna/131899236828?epid=1205732767&hash=item1eb5cea1dc:g:sxQAAOSwhOdXo~vC:rk:7f:0

[911 Rod]

Originally Posted by tdw28210

Make yours a Matched set:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-NAD-Electronics-4130-Digital-AM-FM-Stereo-Tuner-With-Antenna/131899236828?epid=1205732767&hash=item1eb5cea1dc:g:sxQAAOSwhOdXo~vC:rk:7f:0

Would be nice, but it ends up being $130 cdn to my door.

[javadog]

That seems dirt cheap to me...

[kach22i]

I have a beautiful silver face solid state Kenwood tuner I picked up at the local donate/recycle store for about $15 a few years ago, and it works great.

I also have a Lafayette solid state tuner that's a bit worn on the edges but works just as good, I picked up from the university recycle shop for $5.

If you have a friend that's made a hobby out of recycle stores, Craiglist ads, Estate Sales, garage sales and what not, let them know what you are looking for.

For many retired people this is an affordable hobby, especially when they flip for profit.

EDIT:
I also have a digital FM broadcast tuner/amp with AUX outputs that I picked up for $35 at the university resale shop, regular $350 online, volume knob missing, I adjust using the stem sticking out.

https://store.acradiosupplyinc.com/bogenrm350d.aspx

The Bogen RM350D is a unique, self-contained paging
system for small- to medium-sized applications. It
combines a digital tuner, microphone, and aux inputs
with a 35-watt output capable of driving 4- and 8-ohm
speaker systems as well as 25 or 70 volt distributed
systems.

I do like the sound of analog FM much better, digital can get a little edgy so I keep it at moderate levels. This unit is fine for the kitchen when washing dishes or cooking, I keep it on top of the refrigerator along with the used speakers.

HD Radio
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD_Radio

HD Radio is a trademarked term for iBiquity's in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio technology used by AM and FM radio stations to transmit audio and data by using a digital signal embedded "on-frequency" immediately above and below a station's standard analog signal, providing the means to listen to the same program in either HD (digital radio with less noise) or as a standard broadcast (analog radio with standard sound quality). The HD format also provides the means for a single radio station to simultaneously broadcast one or more different programs in addition to the program being transmitted on the radio station's analog channel.....................

It was selected by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in 2002 as a digital audio broadcasting method for the United States,[2][3] and is the only digital system approved by the FCC for digital AM/FM broadcasts in the United States.

HD Radio may solve some of your reception and drifting channel issues. Sony is supposed to make one of the best, and it's affordable.

[KFC911]

What's a "tuner" ?

It's been decades since I've used one (home or car)...

Are you into "talk radio" ?

I'm just bored and "snow bound"... sorry...

[aschen]

is your station available streaming? Can get a chromcast audio for $20 and set it to stream pandora, internet radio stations, etc....

Im sure it would be over budget but I know magnum dynalab were top of the heap tuners a couple decades ago

If your NAD is an actual amp and not an integrated amp, you will need a preamp or at least something with volume controled pre outs.

[911 Rod]

[QUOTE
I do like the sound of analog FM much better, digital can get a little edgy so I keep it at moderate levels. This unit is fine for the kitchen when washing dishes or cooking, I keep it on top of the refrigerator along with the used speakers.
[/QUOTE]

Please explain to me how it sounds better. I could be swayed.

https://www.kijiji.ca/v-electronics/city-of-toronto/yamaha-ct-610/1403296349?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true

https://www.kijiji.ca/v-electronics/oakville-halton-region/vintage-kenwwod-kt-5300-am-fm-tuner/1403347929?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true

As far as people saying why radio. An anonymous person runs a commercial free rock radio station every weekend and that's when I spend most of my time in the garage.

[911 Rod]

Or these digital ones.

https://www.kijiji.ca/v-view-details.html?adId=1353230856&requestSource=b

https://www.kijiji.ca/v-view-details.html?adId=1403392544&requestSource=b

https://www.kijiji.ca/v-view-details.html?adId=1223406064&requestSource=b

https://www.kijiji.ca/v-view-details.html?adId=1392216483&requestSource=b

https://www.kijiji.ca/v-view-details.html?adId=1048841665&requestSource=b

https://www.kijiji.ca/v-view-details.html?adId=1400194734&requestSource=b

Pick one please.

Or maybe the NAD on ebay is the way to go?

[911 Rod]

Any suggestions gents?

[aschen]

unfortunately no advice for you. If you want to dig a bit deeper Audiokarma is the pelican parts of vintage stereo.

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by 911 Rod

Please explain to me how it sounds better. I could be swayed.

https://www.kijiji.ca/v-electronics/oakville-halton-region/vintage-kenwwod-kt-5300-am-fm-tuner/1403347929?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true

The Vintage Kenwood KT-5300 AM/FM tuner for $25.00 is the exact model I have. I play it through an old Dynaco 120A solid state amp.

To compare the above combination to a Bogen PA system is perhaps unfair, but the Bogen is a single box so you have that.

In theory the digital FM should lock on and stay locked on better than the old analog system but to my ears the digital amp of the Bogen sounds harsh and overpowers any advantages of the HD Radio section.

To clarify HD Radio and digital amps are very different than Digital display and Digital PLL tuning circuits you are looking at.

I will say that the PLL digital tuning circuit in my Carver preamp/tuner from the early 1990's had reliability issues. The really vintage stuff just keeps going on.

NOTE:
Most Hi-End stereo shops have a used equipment consignment shelf, and some of it is listed on their website. I have bought quite a few things that way, typically the previous owner was trading up and took care of his stuff, this was sort of a trade-in.