MR85 sounding mighty fine
 

I read Pete's thread on dial cord repair of his MR77. This is very far above me but it made me wonder what tuners folks are using and how they compare to the latest ones (MR87 and MR88)? What tuner are you using? How do you think it sounds? For me I use a large stationary external antennae mounted to my den fireplace chimney. However, my MR85 pulls in station after station that is crystal clear and free of noise with excellent stereo separation. And Pete what is your attraction to the older vintage tuners? Which one in your opinion sounds best? Merry Christmas and Happy New Year all!

I have an MR77 upstairs and an MR85 downstairs. Both are attached to the same exterior antenna and they sound wonderful.

The differences in sound are noticeable and I attribute that to the combination of components in the systems. I've always wondered how the MR77 would sound through the MX119 & MC501's, then on to the Aerial Acoustics. And the same is true with respects to the MR85 singing through the upstairs system.

I have no plans to switch the units but I am very pleased with the sound of both.

Happy Holidays, Charles and Happy Listening!

Two MR77's, one in the main system, one in the bedroom.

The main-system's 77 is signal-fed by a rotored rooftop-mounted yagi capable of delivering quiet, fully-separated stereo from a jazz station about 70 air miles away with precise antenna positioning. Rabbit ears currently feed the bedroom-system 77 (a better antenna solution is in the offing), enabling noise-free reception of a listener-supported classical station (as well as a community college station) 40 miles away.

I'd characterize the sonic presentation of both as "relaxed."

I currently own a couple of McIntosh tuners and have had most of their tuners in my system at one time or another.

I have an MR 77 is at our lake home 100 miles from Minneapolis. It sounds very analog and relaxed on the good sounding MPR stations 100 miles away. It is the least sensitive of all my tuners, but is hooked to a 6 element yagi so usually this is not an issue. This tuner sounds more open than my MR 78 did, but is not as sensitive or selective.

I also have an MR 80 which is currently in for service at Absolute Sound Labs. It is by far the best performing and sounding McIntosh tuner I've had the pleasure of owning. Very sensitive, very selective, with a more dynamic, cleaner sound than the others. It will be great to see what Mark Wilson can do with it.

Tom

Yesterday here in Michigan it felt spring. I have a MR88 tuner with a Magnum Dynalab ST-2 antenna. So yesterday I climbed up the TV tower and connected that bad Oscar to 100 foot of coax cable. Today i'm listening to Christmas music at 100% signal strength. Michigan State university is about 30 miles away and that station sounds really good.

~Mike

Charles....my attraction to the vintage tuners, (particularly the vintage McIntosh tuners) is, they simply are works of art in their own right... both visually and sonically. I now have an MR74, MR77, MR78 and an MR80 in my fleet (the MR80 is not functioning at the moment, and Dan saved the day for me when he sold me his MR74 so I could retain a McIntosh tuner in my office system).

As to which one sounds the best, that is really a difficult question. There are actually varying opinions on this, but the MR78 seems to stand out as the most "legendary" of them all. (I don't have statistics on this, but it seems that way).

I love each and every one of my McIntosh tuners. If I just absolutely had to choose one to keep out of all of them, I suppose I would have to choose the MR78. There is a reason for the MR78's stature....this tuner seemed to embody all that McIntosh had learned in their previous models up to that point, and a bit more. The MR80 came along later, but it had the digital display. While it is a sexy looking and fine sounding tuner, it doesn't quite have that visual appeal that the analog-dial McIntosh tuners had. Of course, that's just me....

It would not really be an easy choice for me to pick out a favorite. I love all of them.

Charles.......My MR85 and MR88 tuners see regular use. I also enjoy my Crown FM Two tuner in the vintage system. I enjoy FM programming from an assortment of stations here in north Florida. I also listen to the tuner in my McIntosh 4300V receiver that powers the deck speaker outside. Lots of options.

I love my magnum dynalab 108T. I am not inclined or capable of repairing these things in even the smallest way, so I wanted to buy a new tuner and preferred the analog 108T to the MR-88. If I had a reliable repair person local, I definitely would have gone for a used MR78 on reputation alone. Plus, they're just gorgeous. FM can still be a fabulous thing - I think it's often overlooked these days.

:goodpost:

Weirdcuba....on a similar note, if I were to buy a brand new tuner, I have to say I find the Magnum Dynalabs very intriguing. They have a stellar reputation just as a tuner like the MR78 does. The MR78 is indeed gorgeous...I've just done some more revamping on mine, replacing all of the color filters and revamping the dial pointer. I can hardly take my eyes off it....

I have an MR-80 that I bought new and have used ever since. FM isn't as interesting as it once was, but there are still some things worth listening to. Live broadcasts can sound especially good.

The tuner requires a minor service and tune-up about every 10 years, which is no big deal. I'm among those who think a good system deserves a good tuner and for me, the MR-80 has really withstood the test of time. It's the oldest component in my main system.