Audiolab 8000T Tuners Reviews

Price Paid:  $800.00 from E-Bay

Summary:
This is the Best tuner I have owned. It pulls in distant stations effortlessly. The sound is very CD like which is hard to imagine until you listen to an Audiolab 8000T. The sound is warm and smooth, great musical reproduction. This really is a great classic piece of equipment. Buy one if you can find one. The controls are easy to work with, the build quality is nice (I have not had any problems). The electrical components used in construction (internals) are top notch. There are supposedly very few tuners that sound better than this one, but they are all vintage tuners and I wanted the convenience of pre-sets and prefer the look and ergonomics of this era of electronics. It is all that they say it is on the tuner reviews at www.fmtunerinfo.com and maybe even a little better. Good luck finding one, I was lucky enough to get mine like new in its original container. Well taken care of. There are only a couple of tuners available new today that match the sonic capability of the Audiolab 8000T, but they cost in the 2-3K range (Sequerra etc..). If you can find one of these, they usually sell right under $1k, so it is quite a bargain. Another keeper for my main listening system - I like it when I find keepers for my all-day system. The others end up in other rooms in my house in different systems. Bottom Line, if you can Find it-Buy It. You will enjoy it.

Strengths:
Smooth musical character Nice ergonomics Looks good Pulls in stations better than most all tuners

Weaknesses:
Finding one

Similar Products Used:
Adcom Pioneer Elite Nakamichi

Price Paid:  $750.00

Summary:
By far the best tuner I have heard. It seems hard tpo beieve that digital will better this type of analogue reception (as wit cd and LPs). While digital will replace FM eventually, does anyone know if it will replace MW and LW as well? Any anaswers please email me, Emilio Foxell at: efoxell@london.edu

Strengths:
Station pick up and Separation

Similar Products Used:
Revox

Price Paid:  $750.00 from Audioclub MTL

Summary:
First class sound, sensivity, these are the main qualities of this tuner. I bought the unit second hand, the white stencil indications where almost totally erased. The unit is being working fine since last fall, where an Hydro failure, had the unit totally reset. No more FM or AM, but LW??? The thing needed à manual reset from the CPU inside, after everything worked fine. The backlights are 6,3 volts and had to be replaced a few times. The output RCA connectors had to be replaced, left audio was intermitent. Now most of electrolytics capacitors had to be replaced also. So after all this, i''m still satisfied with this tuner, but there is a reliability problem with this design. 4 stars for sound 1 star for design reliability. I think i''m lucky, because i could fix all of theses problems without a schematics, next problem???

Strengths:
Sound quality

Weaknesses:
reliability???

Price Paid:  $799.00 from Sevenoaks Hi-Fi

Summary:
This is a class piece of kit. Apart from bulbs blowing (don't replace them with LED's - the whole reason they chose bulbs in the first place was to reduce RFI!) which is an easy job to sort, the thing is hewn from rock and reliable as hell.

Sound quality is surely as good as it is possible to get from analogue radio, and partnered with a good aerial it sounds jaw-dropping. Classical instruments appear spot on in the soundstage, and the dynamics reach a level you would never have thought possible from radio.

The controls are brilliantly weighted (the tuning knob uses an aerospace spec ballrace and flywheel to get the feel just so) and the whole thing reeks of class. My only reservation is that £800 is a ridiculous amount to spend on a tuner, but if you like your radio, it's well worth it.

Strengths:
Build quality
Control feel and weighting
Stunning neutrality, detail and sensitivity

Weaknesses:
Display bulbs blow regularly
Nothing else

Similar Products Used:
Denon TU-260L

Summary:
I use a tuner fairly rarely but in my system of Naim components (including the seriously fabulous CDX/XPS) it does not disgrace itself. It occasionally reminds me just how good FM can be with a good aerial. The sound is weighty and crisp, a good clear soundstage that shines with orchestral music in particular. Perhaps the sound is a little 'shiny' for some and the bass lacks true depth and definition but these are quibbles. Although not in the market for a serious upgrade I have listened to more exotic and pricey tuners from Linn, Meridain and Naim and I would suggest you have to pay an awful lot me for a real step up. I have never had a moments trouble with faults as described above although I do not leave it switched on continously, in fact it feels physically solid and well-engineered.

Weaknesses:
Nil really, you have to pay a lot more to better it