GoodSoundClub - Romy the Cat's Audio Site

In the Forum: Off Air Audio
In the Thread: HD Radio? Good, bad or ugly?

Post Subject: Hd flagellation, and the tu-x1Posted by doug s. on: 12/4/2008

hi romy,

yes, digital compression sucks and is the main reason hd radio sounds so sterile. the dildo analogy is quite appropriate, imo. but, if there's a station you enjoy that doesn't come in well, the xdr f1-hd does sound quite nice - if run thru a tube buffer. and, if it's a station that plays hd, you can force it into analog, w/the mod shown on brian beazely's site. the analog sound from this dewice is better than the hd sound. in fact, if you cut the trace he shows, and don't bother adding the switch, it will never play hd. Wink

re: taping, i have read your taping threads; it's been years since i have used a tape machine. makes me consider getting one. but, as it is, i spend so much time yust listening to on-air recordings, that would mean a third source to compete with my winyl & cd's, lol!

re: my tu-x1, yes, it's a fine sounding beast. unfortunately, i cannot give you any info re: how it sounded before mods; when i bought it, it was japan-spec - 76-90mhz tuning band, 50us deemphasis and 100v. i had it sent directly to joseph chow, a former kenwood tuna engineer, who now owns audio horizons/component plus; a mfr and refurb/mod outfit. i had him conwert it to usa spec, including the tuning dial. and, as long as he had it, i had him refurb it and mod it, per his premium mod package, which can be seen here:

http://www.componentplususa.com/pages/upgrades.html

it's funny, he actually has a pic of my tuna on his main component plus page - i recognize it cuz he sent the pic to me; i told him it was unacceptable, i wanted the tuning dial to look exactly like standard production, not the black/white dial as shown in the pic. so, he had to re-do the dial. Smile

http://www.componentplususa.com/pages/componentplus.html

anyway, this is a fine sounding tuna. but, i am not sure it is better than my stephen sank modded and refurb'd harman kardon citation 18 - a direct a-b would be necessary, and i haven't taken the time to do it. i suspect that my tu-x1 might even be able to be taken further; i have seen an on-line documentation where someone re-built one practically from the bottom up, w/only the best parts...

(stephen sank's home page):
http://www.thuntek.net/~bk11/home.htm

i suspect the tu-x1 *might* have a tiny edge in the lowest bass response, but if it is, it ain't by much. considering how relatively cheap the hk 18 is, even after mods, i'd recommend it as a freaking bargain. as is the tu9900, after mods. the tu-9900, i know gives up the tiniest bit of low-end bass to the tu-x1, but it is so much nicer looking, and a bit easier to place on a rack - the tu-x1 is huge. now, i also had a stock tu9900; mods improved this one a *lot*. the one i have now was first worked on by mr chow, then its owner sent it to mike williams at radio-x-tuners, for further filter mods.

http://radioxtuners.com/

now, i also have read with interest your comments about the r&s ballempfanger; i once owned (since sold) a telefunken ebu 3137/3 ballempfanger; it was a fine sounding and receiving piece, thru a slightly modded studio-12 stereo mpx decoder, but it was no better than my hk 18...

http://www.ak-tubes.de/Tuner/Ballempfaenger/Telefunken_EBU/ebu.htm

have you ever heard a rotel rht-10? my stock unit sounds wery nice indeed; i have heard that, after mods, it is likely even better than an accuphase t109v, sansui tu-x1 or kenwood l-02t. i am wanting to get mine modded. and, i also want to try an accuphase t1000; thru a dac, it is supposed to be a significant step up from the standard "holy grail" tuna offerings...

best,

doug s.

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