Well, after several years with great Accuphase, Sansui, Kenwood, Luxman and other tuners, capped by a marvelous experience with a modded Sony APB-6 and a modded Nakamichi 430, I recently copped a well-aligned Denon TU-850…and it's deja vu all over again as I've previously reviewed another specimen of this tuner. My system is perhaps a bit on the dark side (ML pre, ATC SCM50 self-powered speakers), but I've had this "new" TU-850 for several months now, and it is a joy. I sometimes feel I would like more push and warmth from the low-mids and below, but truthfully there is no lack of detail, and little lack of presence, in this range. Otherwise, I'm absolutely loving what I hear in the way of nuance, especially attack characteristics on a wide range of instruments and vocal styles. And this sucker is pulling in my difficult stations like nobody's business.

Serious 5-star rating for a tuner that represents the best (or darned close to it!) that one can hope for from good offshore signal.

great reception, very, very good sound. Built like a tank.

perhaps a bit thin in the midrange

I bought one of these in 1987, used, and kept it 'til 1996, when I lucked into a McIntosh MR-78 for cheap. Were it not for that purchase, I'd still be happy as a clam with the Denon. I never could find out much about it when I owned it, but the proof was in the listening, which was excellent. The meter arrangements were also quite sensible, facilitating accurate tuning. Compared with the Mac, the Denon lacked a bit of body in the midrange, but I would never describe it as sucked out or etched. These deserve at least the recognition that is accorded to old Yamahas, Luxmans and the mid-line Magnum Dynalabs. In fact, I can easily imagine a strong argument that the Denon is as good as the MR-78, depending on subjective tastes concerning tonal character!

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McIntosh MR-78

This fine analog tuner is the best tuner Denon ever made,it hold its own with most any other tuner of that era(1980) such as Kenwood,Sansui,Luxman etc.It has a very nice appearance too.A bargain on the used market.

i was lucky enough to purchase this tuner on the net in a mint condition.denon tu-850 is a well made tuner w/ many function built in to it that i never have chance to use and most important quality that we purchase audio component in the first place is the sound.this is a review come out of my admiration for a unpopular product that sound vgood.
denon tu-850 has is weight about 25 lbs w/ 5x 17x 15 dimemsion,it come in 2 tone face plate.the 2/3 top silver faced part contain 4 open windows: 2 for L& R level output signal also serve as double function as multipath/signal,tuning meter eye,and rotary station indicator w/ a ortaty knob next to it.the 1/3 bottem contain all the 7 switches.form left to right there are on-off rocker switches,highblend,local distance,3 small rotary switches,and output volume control and the all have a good feel to them.inthe back there are 3 pairs of RCAs output fixed,variable,tape;f type antenna input as well as 300 ohm connector and more-i could detect the different between the two.the owner manaul si comprehensive and even tell you how to make a f-type coaxial cable which is something i need to learn.it alos tell you how to use the tuner as voltage meter to measure your amplifier output.all in all the tu-850 have many more thing built into than most tuners i had privilage owning them including the magnum FT-101.


the sound quality the best yet i have come across even w/ only a terk tv power antenna signal fed into it.it's real analog sounding detail and airy tuner differing from magnum FT-101 as cd sound (w/ a terk power dedicated Fm tuner).level of transprancy is as good as the FT-101 which is much better than sphile class c tuner : onkyo integra T-4700,nad older model name a few.dynamic is vgood as well as image width as well as bass and treble,the only quality that i was suprised missing is depth which i can let go cause after all this is only a tuner.one thing that i think interesting is although they both analog the magnum FT-101's sound is closed to good cd deck while denon is closed to my kenwood KD-500 w/ infinity black window/ astatic 2002 analog deck.i like to have a tuner like the denon hooked up in my system cause sometime i'm too tired tired from work and wanting to listen to good music i just turned it on instead of doing all the chords that one have to do to listen to turntable.i think that is privilage owning a good tuner like the denon tu-850 afforded.that said it all.finally,i'd like to thanks fluttie55 who let me know about posting this review for this goos site so that i can express my appreciation for a product well built.

sweet analogue sound, durable (it's worked for 20 years!)

hefty (the price you pay for durability), no digital features like presets remote control etc. (the price you pay for analogue)

one of the best audio investments I've ever made

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I bought this tuner retial in 1980 for a large percentage of my total worth at that time. In retrospect it was the best audio investment i've ever made - it's given me thousands of hours of music over the past 20 years and it's outlasted two other tuners plus who knows how many receivers and continues to sound as sweet as ever. And, it lets me tune in my favorite station despite the large river bluff that separates us - using nothign ubt a Radio Shack amplified indoor antenna. I haven't tried to compare it to high-end tuners of its or subsequent eras but I get a warm feeling from reading the praise of the other two reviews posted here.