AM Only Tuna?

[SunnyDaze]

Well, if all goes well, I'll own a Dynaco FM-3 within the next 12 hours. I won't have time to open it up or do anything with it for a while, being finals week and all.

That being said, it's an FM only unit. I could always keep my CT-800 around for AM, but, I'd rather match that Dynaco up with something cool like a vintage AM unit.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

[MacGeek]

Can't recommend a reasonably priced vintage AM capable tuner.  However, I have a Sony XDR-F1HD tuner I bought to be able to get HD FM radio (my tuner is old school, analog FM only). What a surprise when I tried the AM section-clean, solid, with a decent lower register and good selectivity.  In fact, I'd rate teh AM performance better than the HD.  It was about $100 on line; I am not sure if the unit is still in Sony's product line, but it might still be available.

[SunnyDaze]

Well, thanks for the input. I've seen those little Sony's before. I'm glad that it's working out well for you.

After doing some more research, I came to the conclusion that my CT-800 is most likely a better performer than the FM-3, so I kept the CT-800, which has a more than capable AM section.

Thanks again for the feedback.

PS - I might get around to building my own AM unit this summer. I'll keep you posted if that formulates.

[OldiesButGoodies]

The Zune is a great HD tuner.  That late-to-the-game ipod wanna-be has a decent FM radio in it (the Zune HD I mean). 

The best AM tuner I know is a regular AM tuner with a good antenna for DXing.  The best AM antenna I ever owned and is recommended by DXing geeks back in Cali,  where I bought mine, is the Select-a-tenna:

http://www.dxzone.com/cgi-bin/dir/jump2.cgi?ID=957

It does  amazing things if pointed in the right direction and the tuning knob is in the right place.  That said,  the whole idea of AM DXing baceme moot for me when internet radio came into play.  Why go through the hassle? (FM is different - those signals sound better over the air (IMO) than the ridiculous compression radio stations impose on their web streams).

BTW, the Sansui tuner in the auction has AM stereo - though I am not sure what type is implemented in it (C-QUAM by Motorola I think was the one finally approved as the std by the FCC in the 90s,  not sure if it is even used any more).  I remember my 1990 Nissan 300ZX had an AM stereo tuner in it made by Bose (hey - no choice, that is how the sandwich came out in that car),  and it made no difference in the sound that I could detect (but back in those days I was listening to the v6 more than the radio).

OBG