Audio Systems: Fm tuners, magnum dynalab, boston acoustics receptor

Question
Kevin,how is everything? I wrote to you about 2 months ago and raved about the Monster THXI500 interconnects,I swear they improve the sound significantly.I purchased another one got a great internet deal and now am running my Mitsubishi DAF 20 tuner directly into the amp ,It is one of those rare tuners that have an output adj.I ll get back to that shortly,Fm sounds great especially if the station uses little compression.I have noticed at Audio Advisor enormously priced tuners by Magnum Dynalab over $1000 even one that was almost $3000! Given Fms generally more limited dynamic range and the fact it is still an over the air signal does something that expensive really make the medium sound a whole lot better or does it matter if you have a top notch system? I also understand that good tuners have excellent sensitivity and selectivity as well.Also have you auditioned the Boston Acoustics Receptor clock radio? I think the mfsrp of about $150 is way too high.But Audio Advisor is offering a great deal on some refurbished ones for $58!I tried listening to one over the weekend at Best Buy but the store was noisy.Seems to me it is just a mono radio with a decent speaker,seems to be alittle heavy on the bass to me but again I am sure at home where its quiet and you can experiment with placement it has good potential .At $150 no I wouldn t buy one but at this price I might. I also want to know since I am running both my CD player and tuner directly into the Dynaco would I get loss with the same cables using an old line level switcher I have from Radio Shack? As I said before my PS Audio amp muddys the sound too much and is the weak link in my system I still need it though for the DVD Player because it has no variable out.Any suggestions how to hook this mess up ,I will probably need another Monster cable but I swear it improves sound.worth the $40.

Answer
Dear Peter,

You already know my position re cables. It's your money.

I have an old Rotel FM tuner that works very well, so I haven't gone after any high end ones. But, yes, good tuners have excellent specs including selectivity, sensitivity, capture ratio, and channel separation. None of that matters, BTW, if you can't get the signal. I recommend a powered directional beam FM antenna unless you can get full strength signals from any station you want to listen to with a passive indoor antenna.

As I've said before, a table radio is just that, a table radio. I haven't auditioned any of the Boston Acoustics models. I have the Tivoli Model 2 for my office, which is very nice. BTW, if it has only one speaker, it's mono.

The Radio Shack Audio Source Control Center (!)(Cat. No. 42-2112) is one of the least appreciated components in audio. I used one to switch between two turntables, before I got an outboard phono preamp, because my preamp has only one phono input. For all that it is, a simple 3-in/1-out RCA switch box, because it's passive, it can't color the signal. And since signal loss isn't significant, much less audible, with short runs of RCA interconnects, adding a mere switch to the signal chain, so long as the integrity of the switch is maintained, will probably neither cause significant, audible signal loss.

I'd be happy to help you with hooking up your "mess", but first I need to know what you've got to connect, especially if you want include a DVD player and a TV in the mix. And if you're including TV, I'd need to know what kind of TV signal you get (antenna/cable/satellite), whether or not you have a control box, what kind of audio and video outputs the cable/satellite box has (if applicable), and if your DVD player has antenna throughputs.

Ordinarily, I suggest Sound + Vision Magazine's on-line archives (www.soundandvisionmag.com/archives), which have a number of "back to basics" articles about how to set almost anything up. You might want to take a look see there first.

Kindest regards,

Kevin