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Review 1 of 1
Price Paid:
$275.00
from Audio Elation Summary:
When my old faithful NAD 4225 tuner started to produce low level hum in the power transformer when the unit was actually turned OFF ( although plugged in at the wall AC socket ), I decided the end wasn't far away.
Although nothing fancy, I enjoyed the NAD 4225 for it's sonic virtues and smooth
sounding nature. I thought seeing 20 years or so have passed, surely Hi Fi tuners of today would be better sounding than my NAD. Well, I was right and I was wrong. I recall many years ago, I heard a friend's Cambridge Audio T500 tuner and was impressed with it's sound/delivery but Cambridge Audio have moved on
from this series to the Azur range of products. I found a local Cambridge Audio dealer and trialled the 340T AM/FM tuner and was quite impressed with it's sound even in the shop being hooked up with average equipment. One please and I was on my way home with the tuner.
Upon arriving home and setting up the tuner and over the next 4hrs, I found that the tuner would re-boot itself randomly whilst it was tuned into a local FM station on 106.9mhz that also streamed RDS info. A quick call to the shop and a replacement was arranged. I went to pick up the replacement when it came in and this time set up the tuner in the shop to the same station and within minutes the same problem occurred to the replacement tuner too. Luckily the guys at the store know me as a long time customer and offered to change to a different brand tuner at which I jumped at the chance to avoid this problem. I exchanged it for the Denon TU 1500AE which has also had some favourable write ups in Hi Fi magazines.
Got the Denon TU1500AE home and setup with no problems at all and where the aforementioned problem with that one particular station caused a reboot of the entire unit, the Denon just occasionally dropped the signal. I tuned in to my favourite stations and over the next month or so listened to it less and less. It seems that despit it being an accurate tuner as far as signal lock goes, the sound wasn't as natural or full bodied as the Cambridge Audio 340T or the NAD 4225 for that matter. I even changed the figure 8 power socket it used and fitted an IEC and my preferred brand of power cable to see if it could improve the sound - NOPE !
So, the Denon gets packed and listed on eBay as I scour eBay and AudiogoN for tuners known for their sonic abilities and hoping to find a good secondhand Audiolab 8000T. Unfortunately me, I didn't realise just how much people were willing to pay for good examples of these, so much so a secondhand Dynalab FT101 were often cheaper. My other consideration is that because I live in Australia, it has to be 230/240 volts. After months of searching and missing out on some brilliant secondhand tuners, I came across this Arcam Diva T61 tuner on AudiogoN. I contacted the seller and a price and shipping was quickly negotiated and paid for and within a week it was here for me to use.
I can't believe how I could have over looked the Arcam initially in my search seeing I have been a keen advocate of their CD players ( previously owned Alpha 8SE, Alpha 9 and now running FMJ CD36 ) for over 10yrs. The beauty about most of Arcam's DIVA range is that they have a voltage selector switch at the back to allow it operate either on 120 or 230 volts ! Even though this unit was a 2 year old secondhand unit, it was in good condition and even the remote handset was still in the sealed plastic bag. I also plugged in my preferred power cable ( Aupen CSA 2.5 ) and my Godar flatpack antenna and the world was one again !
The sound from this tuner is smooth and very listenable and not at all "tinny" or "dry & edged" like some of the tuners out there, but then to be fair this Arcam tuner is in the next price point up from the Cambridge 340T & Denon TU1500AE.
The sound of even the most familiar radio station is fuller and has more weight and dimension ( soundstage ) than what I've previously heard with other tuners I've owned or listened to. I'm certainly that I persisted in my search and found this for sale at a reasonable price as the price for this tuner new in Australia is $799AUD.
It's a good match for my current system not only from the sonic perspective but also from asthetics as sits in nicely with my existing Arcam FMJ CD36 Compact Disc player. In hindsight, I believe the use of the green fluro display on the Arcam is much better than Cambridge Audio's use of a backlit LCD. Much more easy to see and read what's on the display !
This tuner will definitely get me back listening to the airwaves and loving it ! Strengths:
Accurate and able to pick up stations clearly with minimal drift.
7 segment signal strength indicator.
8 physical station pre-set buttons ( dual bank storage - 2 stations per button )
120 or 230 volt power selection switch
Display can be dimmed or turned off completely via the remote control
Use of IEC socket Weaknesses:
Would be nice if they used a rotary tuning knob instead of the up/down push buttons like what they have on their DT91 tuner. ( minor personal quibble ) Similar Products Used:
Denon TU 1500AE
Cambridge Audio Azur 340T
NAD 4225
Cambridge Audio T500
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