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In the Forum: Off Air Audio
In the Thread: HD Radio? Good, bad or ugly?
Post Subject: Hd radio/sony xdr f1-hdPosted by doug s. on: 12/4/2008
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hi romy,

i like fm.  and i like comparing different tunas.  in the past ten years, i have bought and sold at least a hundred different tunas.  i presently have more than thirty.  easily 90% of my music listening is fm, even in the "sweet spot".  and, while i realize my rig isn't up to your standards, it is a high resolution rig none-the-less.  anyways, re: tunas, some of my faves include my modded refurb'd hk citation 18, modded refurb'd sansui tu-x1, stock rotel rht-10, stock aiwa at9700u, modded refurb'd sherwood s3000v, modded refurb'd sansui tu9900, modded refurb'd sony st-a6b, modded refurb'd heathkit aj1600.  there's more, and there's a bunch of fine tunas i have since sold - like philips ah6731, modded refurb'd mitsubishi da-f20, accuphase t100 & t101, and modded refurb'd accuphase t109.

anyways, these fine tunas will sound better than the sony xdr-f1hd.  however, the xdr is not as bad as you make it out to be, imo.  in fact, w/an otherwise unlistenable marginal signal, it will outperform any tuna i have mentioned above.  of course, you are right - if it doesn't sound good, who cares, how can you listen?  this has in fact been my experience with xm & sirius - the sound is so thin, etched, compressed and grating, i cannot listen for even 30 seconds.  even as background music, it gives me a headache after a half hour or so.  i discovered that, cuz a buddy of mine has it, and i started getting headaches whenever i would go to wisit him.  it was his satellite radio.  anyway, the f1hd really is not anywhere near that bad.  especially w/non-hd signal.  it is not as good-sounding w/hd signal, and unfortunately, you cannot force it to analog, at least not w/o mods.  i have found that this little shite-box actually will sound quite decent if run thru an ase z-man tubed buffer stage, w/a decent nos 12ax7 tube.  nla new, there are other tube buffers awailable that would likely offer similar improvements w/the f1-hd.  and, re: mods, there are actually quite a few that can be done, like the afore-mentioned forcing of analog on hd broadcasts.  go here to check 'em out:

http://www.ham-radio.com/k6sti/xdr-f1hd.htm

regarding hd radio in general, i agree it does not compare sonically to standard fm analog broadcasting, and i hope it fails in the marketplace.  but, unfortunately for those of us who like to listen to fm as a quality source in a hi-rez home audio system, we are in the distinct minority.  hell, we are in the distinct minority even among those who listen to any hi-rez systems in the home.  Surprise  and that, in itself is a tiny minority of the population!  most folks listen to radio in the car, or if in the home, it's for background only.  when i am in my car, i usually prefer to listen to the purr/growl/snarl/roar of the modded 3.0v6 in my alfa.  Smile  i am in the minority there, too...  Wink

best,

doug s.

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