Is it useful to spend 15k on a Vintage Sansui High End Tuner

[audio_passionate]

Hi Guys,
I m very fond of listening F.M. Radio through Standalone F.M. tuner connected with good integtrated stereo amp and F.S. Speakers. I already have a Sansui TU- 317 analog tuner and a Harman Kardan digital tuner TU-911A. Now I have seen somewhere a Sansui Vintage Tuner TU-9900. Its very big in size and wieght is more than a normal amplifer. There are so many funcrions like dolby output, level control, wide and narorw selectivity and lots more. Sound output is superb . Senstivity is also very fine better than my Tu-317. I have seen on E bay selling this model from Us dollar 300 to 500. But no idea about the price in India. The person having this model is asking 15k. So Please let me know whether it is making sense to spend this amount on this Tuner. And one thing more If I will go for this tuner then I will sale my previous Sansui TU- 317 which i m sure will give me 5.5 to 6 K.
Thanks and Regds.
Ashutosh

 

[corElement]

Waste of money in my opinion, or are you a die hard radio only fan?

 

[audio_passionate]

Thanks corElement
Thanks for ur advice. But this is also true as you said that I m a die hard fan of F.M. Radio listening. And by the way if I could negotiate with the owner, what should be the genuine price for this tuner as per your opinion ?
Ashutosh

 

[corElement]

I would rather tell you to get a squeezebox and a topping amp if you truly enjoy radio. FM radio broadcast quality in india is below average at best. Spending even 10k on a tuner given indias broadcasting quality would still be a waste of money. And as far as sound is concerned, dolby and what not is nothing but interruptions in the sound signal. And a bad ifdea if music is your objective. Home theatre maybe but things have changed too much.

 

[audio_passionate]

I would rather tell you to get a squeezebox and a topping amp if you truly enjoy radio. FM radio broadcast quality in india is below average at best. Spending even 10k on a tuner given indias broadcasting quality would still be a waste of money. And as far as sound is concerned, dolby and what not is nothing but interruptions in the sound signal. And a bad ifdea if music is your objective. Home theatre maybe but things have changed too much.

Thnaks for ur useful advice. But I dont know much about squeezebox. Can you pls. give me the details regarding this. ?
Regds.
Ashutosh

 

[corElement]

squeezebox runs through the internet. It is internet radio

 

[anuragn]

squeezebox runs through the internet. It is internet radio

...and needs an unlimited internet plan if it is to be played day & night (just like a normal FM radio). If you already have an unlimited connection then its OK, otherwise also add the recurring cost to the cost of owning a squeezebox.
Quantity (of content) and quality-wise, an FM tuner would be nowhere near a squeezebox.

 

[omishra]

Quantity (of content) and quality-wise, an FM tuner would be nowhere near a squeezebox.

Can you pl elaborate?

 

[audio_passionate]

squeezebox runs through the internet. It is internet radio

O.K. But I can listen internet radio through a application "Radio Sure" which I downloaded from Net. So, what is the diference between this and squeezebox ?
Thanks & Regds.
Ashutosh

 

[anuragn]

Can you pl elaborate?

I mean thousands of stations and 328kbps streaming should be any day better than FM tuner.


Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk

 

[ukjeyaraj]

Though I am not a huge fan of radio(I dont even remember when I last listened to radio), IMO radio in squeezebox touch is definitely much better. But SBT is much more than radio.

Pros:

1) 100s of Radio channels through internet (even some of the FM radios has their channel IIRC)
2) Huge variety of content as the channels are from across the globe
3) Some has pure music without any commercials

Cons:

1) Need to have unlimited internet connection
2) Need to have wi-fi router at home / need to have network wired between router and SBT
3) Need to search through loads of channels available in the internet and mark your favourites (its a one time job)


VFM of SBT is much better than tuner(in the discussion). Also it can serve as a more sweet sounding source for your MP3/FLAC collection. It has a reasonably good inbuilt DAC and has digital outs too.

 

[ukjeyaraj]

O.K. But I can listen internet radio through a application "Radio Sure" which I downloaded from Net. So, what is the diference between this and squeezebox ?
Thanks & Regds.
Ashutosh

Quality of SBT cannot be compared to the audio quality produced by your PC/Laptop unless you have a audiophile sound card plugged in.

 

[Shivam]

I listen to Internet radio through a vtuner based device. The content is very good and the quality better than FM.
However, I am looking for a tuner for some good AM stations.

My suggestion is to get an Internet radio device and use a good tuner for the content that is not available on Internet. If you want to opt for the 9900 model then sell off both your existing tuners.

 

[audio_passionate]

Thanks for ur reply. But there is one major point- i dont have unlimited internet connection nor I m planning to have in near future. Even my basic internet connectivity is through Data Card and Gprs Pack. So, this option perhaps will not fit to my need.
Regds. Ashutosh

 

[audio_passionate]

Obviously, If i go for TU-9900 i will sale my existing both tuner. After all i have to see my pocket also. And one thing more i dont have a good internet connection & For unlimited internet connection with very good speed will cost appx. 2000 to 3000 P.m. which i dont want to bear presently. Thats why I still want to own TU-9900. But if I could negotiate to some extent, then my dream to own this prestigious Tuner will become true
Regds.
Ashutosh

 

[malvai]

Hi Guys,
I m very fond of listening F.M. Radio through Standalone F.M. tuner connected with good integtrated stereo amp and F.S. Speakers. I already have a Sansui TU- 317 analog tuner and a Harman Kardan digital tuner TU-911A. Now I have seen somewhere a Sansui Vintage Tuner TU-9900. Its very big in size and wieght is more than a normal amplifer. There are so many funcrions like dolby output, level control, wide and narorw selectivity and lots more. Sound output is superb . Senstivity is also very fine better than my Tu-317. I have seen on E bay selling this model from Us dollar 300 to 500. But no idea about the price in India. The person having this model is asking 15k. So Please let me know whether it is making sense to spend this amount on this Tuner. And one thing more If I will go for this tuner then I will sale my previous Sansui TU- 317 which i m sure will give me 5.5 to 6 K.
Thanks and Regds.
Ashutosh

ask him to FO! if the TU9900 is in great condition you can offer 5-8k. no more.

 

[gobble]

I would rather tell you to get a squeezebox and a topping amp if you truly enjoy radio. FM radio broadcast quality in india is below average at best. Spending even 10k on a tuner given indias broadcasting quality would still be a waste of money. And as far as sound is concerned, dolby and what not is nothing but interruptions in the sound signal. And a bad ifdea if music is your objective. Home theatre maybe but things have changed too much.

I use the Grundig Eaton S350 radio with my HiFi now and I can tell the FM sound is compressed and congested in comparison to CD.

But the prices of 10 year old vintage gear is too high for its age really else I would get one too. For the price one could get a brand new table top radio like The Grundig Satellit750

But Radio is radio and a die hard fan will always prefer a dial knob and a sliding tuner.

Slightly OT question - when the signal is good can the SQ be improved with a better antennae?

--G0bble

 

[sidvee]

I used to own a tu717 and then a tu919. Superb tuners, both of them. This was in the US though, as there was great jazz programming on NPR and used to be broadcast in the evening from 7-mid nite. These tuners were so analog sounding that they easily beat many of my cd players I owned then including rega apollo and a CEC (forget the model). I still yearn for that sound. Anyways I bought these in the US and had them professionally aligned and upgraded to almost new. Where are you planning to buy the 9900? If it is india then its fine as the stations will be aligned. About 5-6 years back a nice 9900 (in 8/10 cond. and professionally aligned) would sell for $600 - $750 on e-bay or audiogon. The 717 was about $400. Not sure what they are selling for now. I ended up selling my 919 for $800 in '07. Anyways do you have access to good Fm programming in your area? If so go for it.
BTW I have attached a photo of my 717
Cheers,
Sid

 

[sidvee]

can the SQ be improved with a better antennae?

--G0bble

I always used my tuner with an external roof mounted antenna. As I mentioned in my previous post the SQ easily challenged $1k cd players, but as I understand the source of the broadcast also has to be of good quality. Not sure what is done over here but what little FM i hear in the car etc. usually sounds highly compressed and overall crappy SQ.
Cheers,
Sid

 

[reubensm]

5-6k for a tuner these days in India is a tall ask. Even in the UK it can be a tall ask. Recently a NAD 402 sold on ebay-uk for about 15 pounds. not sure about analogue tuners. the usual cost for tuners in India, pre-used would be around 1-1.5k irrespective of the model or make. sansui may be an exception though!!