Radio Road Which tuner to get and getting the most from it. Thank God, for the radio!

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Re: What do you think of Pioneer Elite F93?

Posted by Vinyl Rules! (R) on July 8, 2005 at 23:28:16

In Reply to: What do you think of Pioneer Elite F93? posted by Don N on July 8, 2005 at 09:27:42:

Not much. It's too complex, overly engineered, and not as good sonically as many other less expensive tuners.

Stereophile did a mass tuner test some time back that compared a Meridian 204, a Quad FM4, the Pioneer F-93 and a Naim NAT 01 or 02.

Short story: The Meridian had the best sound and the Pioneer had the worst sound. The Pioneer was the most sensitive and had the best measurements, but when all was said and done, it had the least number of favourable remarks relative to the other tuners in this test.

During this same timer period, Hi Fi News & Record Review tested the F-93 and noted it was sensitive and selective, but did not sound anywhere as good as its predecessor, the F-91.

The Audio Critic also tested the F-93 and noted it had the most number of adjustments they'd ever seen in a tuner and it would be almost impossible for someone to precisely align this tuner for absolute best performance: It was actually over-engineered and too complex. The Stereophile and Hi Fi News & Record Reviews also expressed concerns about the complexity of the F-93 tuner's design.

The FM Tuner Group at www.fmtunerinfo.com has tested the F-91 in one of their famous "shootouts" and found it to be a superb tuner.

FWIW, any tuner the age of an F-93 or F-91 would benefit from a complete going through and an alignment. And when you finished this on either tuner, you'd have a tuner better than any new tuner you could buy today: Either of these will outperform the McIntosh MR85 and anything from Magnum Dynalab.

I've listened to both the F-91 and the F-93, and I own an F-91. I never added an F-93 to my collection of tuners because of its complexity, and I didn't think it sounded nearly as good as the F-91. And in my location, using a dedicated outdoor FM antenna on a rotor, there was virtually no difference in performance between the F-91 and F-93.

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