MR88...Balanced VS UnBalanced
 

Just picked-up an MR88 and was wondering if anyone has any comments on which of the 2 worked out for them the best. Also, is it my understanding that I can hook-up both the balanced and unbalanced and switch between the 2 and A-B for myself from the preamp? The unit has not arrived yet so I am just thinking ahead. The stand alone Tuner for XM was discontinued that this unit was based on so I had to track one down. How is the XM sound quality? I currently own a mint MR 80 and had the urge to try out the HD/XM qualities of the 88. Sirius has some great stations that I find myself listening to in the car....Beatles/Dead/Bluesville.

thanks!

Tom

First of all, congratulations! I think unless your IC run is over 2 meters it makes little difference. I have always preferred balanced.

Yeah other than a difference in level, the sound will be pretty much the same. I use balanced, because, why not? XM is XM, bitrate varies per channel, I posted a rant in the Tuners section about the production quality. On some shows the music will be at one level, then the host/callers will be way blown out. Basic 101 levels stuff that anyone should know. A lot of people aren't a fan of XM here, but I like it, the variety can be fun if you're bored. And it's dirt cheap.

The XM fidelity in my car is pretty darn good.....The variety is the key...Also, the Beatles channel is outstanding.

thanks

Try using the digital out to a great DAC. I use both Coax, and XLR outputs.

That's what I use: digital out to Optical 3 MR 87 to D1100. I've been very pleased. In my area I can pull in over 40 stations of virtually any format and they sound really good. An outdoor antenna is critical to a good tuner:yes:

Optical 1 & 2 are occupied by my MVP881 BR player and my Marantz LV510 LD player. Mac told me that the LV510 wouldn't play through the D1100 but I took a chance and it plays perfectly and sounds great. I use AQ Diamond Toslink 1.5 meter for the tuner, BR and LD players. Sound is excellent.

I am running a full-size antenna in the attic, so reception is not a problem. I also live on high elevation here near Pittsburgh and can get a ton of stations from the surrounding states. I will be running the 88 through my Levinson 38S Preamp which holds its own with anything out there in my opinion. I will compare to my MR80 which is a fantastic Tuner in its own right and will be hard to beat. I wanted the HD/XM features that the 88 possesses. Will try XLR direct. I also located a XM mini-tuner which I plan on using as well. The tuner is due early next week and will give an update when it's up and running with some pics.

thanks!

Tom

I use the analogue balanced connector to connect my MR88 to my C2300. Why would you want to use the "digital outs"? This is an analogue (other than IBOC and and XM) tuner and AM/FM is an analogue medium. On excellent "live" stations like WFMT in Chicago, the digital sounds thin and tinny as compared with the analogue outputs.

Also... when you get your MR-88 make sure you have upgraded to v1.11 of the firmware.. The firmware update process is "safe" (different from v1.10 which could "brick" your MR-88) and it solved many ergonomic and operation problems with the MR-88. I had a problem with the "analogue" tuning dial leaving "remnants" of itself whenever I used the tuning dial. v1.11 fixed that. In addition, XM reception REQUIRES at LEAST v1.10, otherwise it won't work at all. v1.11 allows flawless XM reception.

If anyone needs a copy of v1.11, I have a copy that Chuck Hinton from McIntosh support sent me. I used Windows 10 to upgrade my firmware and it went flawlessly.

The MR-88 is heads and tales above any FM tuner that I've ever used. I have a fully-restored Harmon-Kardon Citation IIIX, Marantz 10B, Sequerra One, and Sony XDR-F1HD tuner. The MR-88 is waaaaayyyyyy superior to any of them in terms of sensitivity, selectivity, and most of all, sound quality. With my roof mounted antenna, the MR-88 (and ONLY the MR-88) provides flawless full-quieting reception of Chicago, Milwaukee, Grand Rapids, and Kalamazoo/Battle Creek stations.

Could You send me a copy of version 1.11? I have an Intel processor and am running Windows 7 64 bit.

thank you,

Tom

If you want the best fidelity from XM, you'll want to stream the signal. The stream's bitrate is much better than from the satellites - there's just no comparison. I think that explains why so few tuners offer XM.