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In the Forum: Off Air Audio
In the Thread: Align your FM tuners!
Post Subject: Align your FM tuners!Posted by Romy the Cat on: 3/27/2006

If you search my link with keyword “tuner” then you come across the “Stereo Surgeons” a tuners service center in Connecticut. I was a month ago searching a place to align my Sansui SU-1X and interview a few shops in US. I was searching somebody who would not propose to replace the electrolytics to Black Gates, the resistors to carbons and the caps to Havlands. I was afraid that my SU-1X will be in the hands of a topical audiophile idiot who would kill it...

When I spoke with Ken Bernacky he said that he will be able to get the best specification of if this tuner but he will not do the violate what was already done in Sansui. Knowing how my Sansui TU-1X sounds I really did not want to loose it but I still want to be assured that after 25 years of operation the tuner performs as it should.

Ken took a tuner and I learned that I so loved it that and I relay felt that my child was in a hospital. In 3 weeks (including a week of burning in) he returned the tuner completely serviced, fully aligned, replaced and adjusted whatever was necessary (Ken actually provides the itemized inspection result) with FM performance:

Sensitively: 0.8uv
Distortions Wide Stereo: 0.022%
Distortions Wide Mono: 0.015%
Separation: 56dB

I do not really know how those numbers manifest itself sonically. Ken told me that it is now very well perfuming mashie. I head on Saturday the MET’s broadcast of Verdi’s Luisa Miller. It was very nice but my Dominus cable did not kick apparently is as the need a few days to give up all bass.  Today, the WHRB broadcasted a cycle of the wonderfull Egon Petri’s recordings, mostly directly from the Westminster LPs and the 78s Holly cow! You have to hear that Busoni’s Prelude and Fugue in D! My TT can not handle such a dramatic Sternway’s crash and it went via FM to this damn Sansui!

I do not think that the Stereo Surgeon’s did anything to tone and bass of my tuner but the overall performance of this mashie become much better. Whoever dose serious FM and lucky to live in a city with good FM station MUST align your tuners. In my FM live the $250 I paid for the Stereo Surgeons’ service was the best reimbursable investment I made in audio. If you share your love to you FM as I do then consider the tuner alignment as a vaccination of your child…

Rgs,
Romy the caT

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