Well, here are some initial thoughts on the 108T:
Overall: I absolutely love it.
Certain things I like (in no particular order, as all of these things really stand out for me):
- The thing is a beast - I think it weighs in around 40 lbs or so, and it is just a real beast. It is built like a tank, which is one of the qualities that I most enjoy about various components.
- Spinning that dial to tune stations is so so smooth, and so wonderful. It simply feels the way a tuner's dial should feel - heavy to move, but easy to move, all at the same time. Liquid, but a little thicker liquid - just right.
- The "tuning eye" is really great. Until you use an analog tuner, it's hard to appreciate how finely stations can be tuned and the tuning eye takes you back to that fine tuning in a quite elegant, easy to capture way.
- The sound just blows me away, blows me away. If I could tune every component to have a certain "sound" - this would be it. Rich, detailed, but not analytical, coherent, really really strong in the mids, just liquid. I've improved the overall sound of the source components in my system with better power and cabling, etc., but as to the "house sound" of individual source components, this one is the hands down winner (as of now). There may be a little "new girl at the dance" in that judgment, but it sounds damn good.
- I love the way the toggle switches feel. Just like the tuning dial, they're just perfect. They're also quite analog feeling, which I'm sure would freak out the young ones a little bit, but I love them. Feels like you're throwing switches on a circa 1960 submarine or something (I've never done that, but this is what I imagine it feels like). No digital buttons here - feels like something is moving under there when you throw the switch, and I love that (whether it's true or not). Even the power switch is one of these luscious toggle switches.
- Jim Richards is really great to deal with. I love the fact that there's an upgrade path, quite a willingness to trade and deal - more of a relationship than I find in most of today's typical purchase and sales. I got a great trade price on my former FT101A. I see myself dealing with Magnum Dynalab a long time.
- I love the fact that FM is not perfect. Sometimes stations come and go and you have to get up and dial them in. It's painful when that's the station you want and it won't perform, but I kind of like the hunt.
- Back to the beast comment, I love the look of it. It's solidly built and not rough or lacking in refinement at all, but still simple and to the point. For comparison purposes only, as much as I love the sound of Accuphase and Esoteric, the look is a little too refined for me for the long haul (readily acknowledging that they are stunning pieces, but just not my particular style).
Things that I would change:
- There is a remote, that I don't really care about as I like to spin that dial, but the remote isn't specific to MD or to this piece (it's a universal RF20). It works fine, but for me it lacks the magic of the tuner itself. At the price of this tuner, my honest view is that the remote should be nicer. As stated, I don't care about it and probably wouldn't have noticed if it were not in the package, but if it's in a package that costs this much, it should be nicer.
- The lights were blue! The picture for the 108T on their site is in amber and I think I would have preferred the amber - just because I have other McIntosh components and the blues don't match (would prefer the contrast). I have found, however, that I love turning the meters off on the C2500 and the 2301s and just leaving the lights on the tuner - just love it. I'll wait until I send it back for the SE Edition and get them changed out to amber, and I really don't mind as the blue has grown on me, but if you get one - and you want the amber, be sure to ask for it.
- The LEDs for the antenna selector and the tuning dial are too bright. I think I saw where Dan paints them with flat black paint and then creates a little pin hole, which I may try. Right now, I can't bear to deface this thing in any way, but I find those two LEDs too bright. The LEDs for the other selectors (Mute, Stereo, etc.) - I really like. I always run it with the "dim" switch on.
Other random thoughts:
- FM is a really wonderful medium. You can't get just exactly what you want - you have to depend on the DJ to bring you back to something you love or to introduce you to something new. That's half the fun (perhaps more than half).
- FM is also free - sure, this component is itself expensive, but I just hate paying those monthly fees. It has been pledge week for public radio, so I've contributed to keep these great sources going. You gotta' pay the man one way or the other, but it's nice not to have subscription fees.
- If you haven't seen the Magnum Dynalab aluminum shipping case, it's really something to behold. I absolutely, absolutely love that thing, but I have no idea why they ship with it. Maybe it makes it easier to move/ship the thing in the future, but it's not like I'm going to crate this thing up and take it over to a friend's house on Friday night and give it a spin. So, while I love that case, I probably won't get much use out of it (and would likely have rather saved the several hundred dollars that it must have cost). It's a kick a@$ box though - really cool, but what am I going to do with it?!?
- I live in the Atlanta area and all of the stations I listen to are less than 6 miles away. The primary jazz station though has too much noise and the 108T did not change that (I had hoped that it would). Getting a MD 205 Signal Sleuth shipped in to see if I can change that. I've got an outdoor antenna mounted at the top of the chimney and that's about as high as I'm going with that thing, so let's hope the sleuth changes it. I may have to come back to you guys for advice if that doesn't work - as I want this jazz channel!
So, there you go. If you haven't done it yet and you're on the edge, I hope this pushes you over the edge - as it's great. FM isn't dead yet - this may be a door stop some day, but I think I'll get a lot of enjoyment out of it before then.
Weirdcuba
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