[jdandy]

Originally Posted by Weirdcuba

Dan / did you ever try the md205 with your mr85? I spent another night with the ft101a last night and it was just great. I'm wondering whether the 205 will give it yet another boost or whether to just break down and get the 107t or 108t (for ~10x the price). I don't really care for the looks of the 109 as much as the 107 or 108.

Weirdcuba.......Yes I did try the Magnum Dynalab MD-205 Signal Sleuth with the McIntosh MR85 tuner. It is still installed in my living room system connected to the MR85 and doing a good job. It is being fed from a Fanfare FM2 antenna mounted on the peak if my roof at about 28 feet above ground. The MD-205 does improve the reception of my MR85. There are several stations that I receive marginally that the MD-205 improves to a clean signal.

I also tried the MD-205 with my McIntosh MR74 tuner with good results. Surprisingly, it worked well connected to my Godar FM-1A FM indoor antenna installed in the studio. Although the MD-205 worked better connected to the Fanfare base loaded FM2 antenna outdoors, it still improved the reception of the MR74 tuner.

The Magnum Dynalab MD-205 does a decent job of improving reception of distance station's signal but it isn't a magician. It cannot just produce signals out of thin air that are so weak they fall below the threshold of useful signal strength. There is improvement in a number of stations I listen to while using the MD-205 and that's good enough for me to continue using it. I have even considered a second MD-205 for my vintage system so the MR74 has one connected to it full time. I like the Signal Sleuth.