[Vintage-Audio] Re H. Scott LT-110 Tuner

Wed Oct 2 10:58:00 2002

Michael, 	

My primary stereo uses a Sony STR GX-80 ES receiver from 1992. As you described
the Pioneer, this particular model shines. Of course, the "ES" series is
supposed to be Sony's finest. As far as I can tell, they certainly do go out of
their way to make the "ES" series with superior components and higher quality
workmanship. You pay more, but you do get more.	

	It pulls in fringe stations extremely well using my TV antenna at 35 feet. Good
solid signals, sharp audio and excellent selectivity.	

I have used some other brands, including Yamaha, in the $400 range, for home
brew surround sound systems. The tuner in them was vastly inferior. As you
pointed out, fine for strong close stations, but poor for anything else. But
almost anything will heear the down the road 50 Kw stations, heh? I have also
noted a loss of audio response over the listenable spectrum. 	

Now I freely admit, I am a bit of a sound critic. What I expect, others may be
totally happy with half of. Some of us enjoy music, other sound and some noise! 

I am anxiously waiting to pair up the H. Scott amplifier with matching tuner and
hear the results. 	

What are the rest of you using for amps and tuners, or receivers?	

Duane W8DBF  

----------
From: Salmons, Michael <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Subject: RE: [Vintage-Audio] Re H. Scott LT-110 Tuner
Date: Wednesday, October 02, 2002 9:53 AM

Absolutely. 

It seems that the only modern tuners of worth are high-end (magnum dynalab and
fanfare are the brands most often touted as excelling in both performance and
sonics). I'm sure someone on this list can refute this, it is a bit of a
generalization. If you go to Best Buy or Circuit City and buy a home theatre amp
expecting a decent tuner built in, don't bother, you won't find one.
There have been a few midline manufacturers who have produced a smattering of
good tuners in the past ten years, like NAD and Onkyo, but they usually are not
designed to enhance fringe-area reception, which is the situation a lot of
people are in (myself included). They are usually oriented for urban or suburban
area reception, which means less sensitivity, and few have better than middling
selectivity.

I have been using a Pioneer TX-8500II (I think they made it around the end of
the seventies) for some time now and I am quite happy with it. It bests the
several modern tuners I have compared it to quite easily; it is a very sensitive
radio and has very good selectivity. Audio quality is superb. I am in the middle
of ordering a murata supernarrow filter for it right now to sharpen its
selectivity somewhat. I'm using a standard dipole with it now, and its
performance is good despite being in my basement; I can't wait to hook it up to
a decent rooftop antenna (when I can afford it!).

The other older tuner I have had great success with is the Hallicrafters SX-96.
It was designed mostly for shortwave listening, but it tunes the AM band. This
radio is double conversion (as a result it really locks onto signals) and has a
variety of filters, so I can fine-tune the selectivity as required. With a
decent antenna this radio is unbeatable. Many evenings I've enjoyed the news and
classical programming on CBC, Manitoba on 990 khz in surprisingly good audio
quality.

Another tuner of note is the Sony ST-80, although it would require some
modification to make it really shine. Despite this it does a very good job right
out of the box. This is early 70s vintage and I see them on ebay all of the time
for $20 or less.

Michael Salmons

-----Original Message-----
From: Duane Fischer, W8DBF [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Tuesday, October 01, 2002 5:22 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [Vintage-Audio] Re H. Scott LT-110 Tuner

	Hi All, 	

I have been listening with the 1963 H. Scott LT-110 FM stereo multiplex tuner,
while the LK-72b amp is being repaired. I have not bothered to connect the tuner
to the outside directional FM antenna, just a pair of rabbit ears. Not a very
good antenna, especially when set upright with arms spread against a wall behind
my LD storage cabinet. Rather blocks FM line of sight signals. They darn near
need a Leader Dog to find their way! 	

Just the same, this puppy sucks in signals like a Kirby vacuum with a souped up
V/8 Chevy sb engine running on airplane high octane fuel. The sensitivity and
selectivity is absolutely astounding. The designer was certainly thinking
quality when this tuner was designed.	

Some circuits are of mil spec construct, even to the point of using mil spec
parts. Perhaps overkill, but quality was obviously a high priority with the H.
Scott company.  	

Have any of you experienced superior performance on the older tuners as compared
to those built today?     	

Duane W8DBF	
[email protected]	

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