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

[omishra]

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

+1, I have one digitally tuned analog tuner. Earlier I had newly purchased digital tuner. I sold it after using it for just 2 hrs. The sole reason was feeling of radio tuning was missing though audio was good. Now I purchased full analogue tuner which tunes stations with big round knob and pointer is sliding on scale. I like it.

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

I am using DIY 5 element Yagi antenna which is fed to tuner using 300?-75? BALUN and 75? co-ax cable. Yes that full signal level improves clarity of sound produced from speakers. But tuner is not culprit as some stations sound crappy. Here in Pune 91.1 sounds like chaos. 98.3 and VVB (mono) sounds best. Others are in middle. Still private FM content is weekly baazaar type chaotic due to too many commercial ads bombing from all around.

MW is still good and I listen daily in morning and evening time except days of thunderstorm.

 

[omishra]

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!!

But whatever tuners I saw all were from Rs 2K-5K depending on condition. My recent purchase of misaligned Sony AT-30 for 2.5K.

 

[audio_passionate]

Thanks sidvee for your reply. I think You too are a die hard fan of vintage analog tuners. As for my knowledge, the TU-717 and TU-919 were very prestigious tuners produced by Sansui and they look quite attractive also. Rather I would say better look than TU-9900. Please tell me one thing which you mentioned in your post i.e. " Professionaly aligned & upgraded'. I have seen these terminology on E bay too, but cant actually understand. So I m expecting some knowledge on this from your side. The condition of TU-9900 which I m looking to Buy is quite good, but doesn't any idea whether professionaly aligned & upgraded or not. And the buyer is Local just 125 km from my place. Also please share some views on roof antennae to get the best signals,
Thanks
Ashutosh

 

[sidvee]

" Professionaly aligned & upgraded'. I have seen these terminology on E bay too, but cant actually understand.
Ashutosh

@Ashutosh - as i understand "aligned" means that when a station call sign is 99.6 , then when you tune the tuner to 99.6 on the dial you should get the strongest and best signal - which would lead to the best sq. Analog tuners, especially old units tend to drift over the years and they need recalibration with professional equipment - there is a discussion of this on another thread. As far as upgrading it is merely replacement of parts that are likely to wear out with age. AFAIK, there are a lot of FM enthusiasts in the US and there a lot of nice tuners available for sale - that have been calibrated and upgraded. IMO all the vintage tuners beat the new ones hands down. I used to have a Magnum Dynalab (do not remember the model), costing $1k but the sansui 717 beat it easily and the 919 surpassed it.

Also please share some views on roof antennae to get the best signals,
Thanks
Ashutosh

I used a "Yagi" antenna to get the best signal. Not sure if it is available here or not. Again IMO older TV antennas should work better than no antenna.

Hope this helps. Since there is no jazz music in any FM station in Hyderabad, I have given up on tuners with a heavy heart:sad:
Cheers,
Sid

 

[audio_passionate]

@Ashutosh - as i understand "aligned" means that when a station call sign is 99.6 , then when you tune the tuner to 99.6 on the dial you should get the strongest and best signal - which would lead to the best sq. Analog tuners, especially old units tend to drift over the years and they need recalibration with professional equipment - there is a discussion of this on another thread. As far as upgrading it is merely replacement of parts that are likely to wear out with age. AFAIK, there are a lot of FM enthusiasts in the US and there a lot of nice tuners available for sale - that have been calibrated and upgraded. IMO all the vintage tuners beat the new ones hands down. I used to have a Magnum Dynalab (do not remember the model), costing $1k but the sansui 717 beat it easily and the 919 surpassed it.


I used a "Yagi" antenna to get the best signal. Not sure if it is available here or not. Again IMO older TV antennas should work better than no antenna.

Hope this helps. Since there is no jazz music in any FM station in Hyderabad, I have given up on tuners with a heavy heart:sad:
Cheers,
Sid

Thanks Sid for this very useful information. Now I can Understand it very clearly because when I tune 104 FM station on my analog sansui TU-317 , it shows 104.2 on Dialing meter. Same thing on other frquencies too. All the stations which I tune at best signal shows 0.2 or0.3 Mhz above than actual frequency. I think it needs to be realigned. Prior to your post my perception was that this is the problem of dialing needle thread setting. And one thing more does the earthing of the tuner does help in performance ? If yes then why ? Thanks in advance
Ashutosh

 

[Shivam]

Thanks sidvee for your reply. I think You too are a die hard fan of vintage analog tuners. As for my knowledge, the TU-717 and TU-919 were very prestigious tuners produced by Sansui and they look quite attractive also. Rather I would say better look than TU-9900. Please tell me one thing which you mentioned in your post i.e. " Professionaly aligned & upgraded'. I have seen these terminology on E bay too, but cant actually understand. So I m expecting some knowledge on this from your side. The condition of TU-9900 which I m looking to Buy is quite good, but doesn't any idea whether professionaly aligned & upgraded or not. And the buyer is Local just 125 km from my place. Also please share some views on roof antennae to get the best signals,
Thanks
Ashutosh

I too had the same problem in understanding what this alignment means. There's some good information on this here-
http://www.hifivision.com/am-fm-tuners-satellite-radio/29078-misalignment-tuners.html

 

[greenhorn]

I used to think that modern FM chips were more or less as good as these old tuners. I ended up spending a tenth of the OP's budget on a Kenwood KT 413 tuner. It's not without its fair share of problems - For example, it loses lock after a few hours of usage, and has to be kept turned off. But the Sound quality just blew me away!

And the Motorized tuning is just a fun party trick - have unwired the tuning for now, but amazing to watch.

 

[sennil10]

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

Hey Buddy !

I am keen to know how good is the TU-317 ? I love to listen to FM. I am getting one at Rs 5000/-.

Please let me know.

Regards

 

[Shivam]

Hey Buddy !

I am keen to know how good is the TU-317 ? I love to listen to FM. I am getting one at Rs 5000/-.

Please let me know.

Regards

I have tried this tuner for sometime and had enjoyed the music on it.

If the tuner is in good condition and works fine then this is a reasonable offer. For out of alignment or in average condition TU-317 this is a little high.