FM Tuner required

[cse]

Can anyone recommend an excellent quality tuner. I am willing to buy second-hand. I can't get DAB and mainly listen to Radio3/4.

 

[John Duncan]

Depends how much you want t o spend. You can get something excellent like the Denon TU260L Mk2 for as little as 25 quid....

 

[the record spot]

Have a look at www.fmtunerinfo.com and checkout retro classics. Got my Sansui TU-317 for £45 all in with delivery from a guy in London on the strength of that site. Great tuner, wonderful sound, easily as good as what's out there today.

 

[DistortedVision]

If you're looking for a budget tuner then I would have to agree with John - the Denon TU260L Mk II is excellent and was a bargain even at its full RRP. I still have mine in my second system. I was pleasantly surprised to read about it in Hi-Fi+ who normally review very high end components. They said this,

""The Denon TU260L Mk II Tuner is quite possibly one of the finest single pieces of affordable hi-fi equipment to have ever come out of the land of the rising sun."

The rest of the article is here: http://www.hifiplus.com/t-rev4-4-tab.html

I've seen the TU260 Mk II sell for as little as a quid on eBay recently. Its happened more than once! Have you still got yours John?

If your budget allows I would get a Tag McLaren T32R. It has DAB but really shines on FM. Andy Clough of the WHF team has one. You may wish to look at this thread:

http://whathifi.com/forums/t/102201.aspx

Another suggestion is perhaps using Freeview and the digital out into a DAC. I use my Sony Freeview box and its connected to my Tag McLaren DAC20 and is far better than DAB in my opinion because of higher bitrates. If you're looking for a new DAC then I suggest you take a look at the Cambridge Audio DACMagic

 

[Greenwich_Man]

JohnDuncan:Depends how much you want t o spend. You can get something excellent like the Denon TU260L Mk2 for as little as 25 quid....

I have this one - it's just so good - got it off e-bay - you could get one for a good price there

 

[John Duncan]

DistortedVision:Have you still got yours John?

Yes, though it's in storage and will probably remain so in the long term - it's one of those things where I don't use it but a) I got it from my wife so selling is a no-no and b) I'd only get 25 quid for it, so seems a shame to, in case I ever find a use for it. But when it was up and running, it was brilliant.

I personally wouldn't go down the DAB route if you want "hifi" radio - in fact even a freeview box will serve you better in this regard, since the bitrates are higher for the vast majority of stations.

 

[cse]

Can you use a freeview box played through your hifi without having a tv set-up?

 

[chebby]

Yes.

It will sound fine. Better than DAB and not quite as good as FM (assuming you have a professionally installed rooftop FM aerial).

Freeview Digital radio is clear and detailed enough but FM is in another league when it's right.

I repeat the point about the the rooftop FM aerial. It is far more important than the tuner (most of which are pretty good) which is why I spent £195 on one. (I am also lucky with local reception conditions.)

[Edit. Just noticed you said you enjoy mostly R3/R4 in which case FM will definitely be preferable if you are in a good reception area. Live concerts and radio plays are stunning on FM.]

 

[John Duncan]

Yeah and a 25 quid s/h Denon will sound immeasurably better than a similarly priced freeview box.

Though you could -ooo- record radio with a freeview PVR.........

 

[DistortedVision]

cse:Can you use a freeview box played through your hifi without having a tv set-up?

Yes as long as you don't mind losing the information that you get on-screen which would include the station you're listening to. I can't see navigation being a problem though since you mostly listen to to Radio 3 and 4 which are right next to each other anyway.

I'd recommend the Sony VTX-800U Freeview - We've got 3 of them in our house and they are excellent. They were a WHF 5* product.
They normally sell for around £40-50 on eBay.

Good luck!