Got the Yamaha T-85 on Ebay for approx $300. It worked fine but sent it to Antenna Performance Specialties for an ugrade and mod. Taht cost approx $600. They did a great job changing the resistors capicitors, realigning the stereo circuit , better filters , detachable power cord etc. Also the return packaging was impeccable. The tuner was good before but they improved the sound with higher quality components and more selective filters. The sound is improved with better base extension etc. What I like about this tuner is that it has four filters,wide, normal, narrow and very narrow. This is useful when listening to a weak station next to a more powerful station. This tuner was Yamaha's top of the line tuner in the early eighties. I don't know if the modded and improved T-85 sounds better than a Yamaha CT-7000 but it certainly sounds great and has more tuner flexibility with the filters and controls than a CT-7000. Mabye not as pretty but it meets all my needs. I think this tuner is under appreciated in the audio world but is worth picking up and with a few mods can be an audiophile tuner along with being a great DX tuner.

This tuner can tune in small increments. The user can really fine tune a station.

The sound is very Hi-Fi. Very balanced sound.

The looks are strictly black face. There are a lot of buttons.

A great sounding tuner that really brings in stations.

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Onkyo T-4017
Kenwood 9-XG
Luxman T-115

DXing abilities, overload resistance,fine tuning feature,build quality.

No remote, no Multipath meter,wacky face- plate layout.

The T-85 is one amazing tuner! This is the finest non-remote digital quartz FM tuner i have ever owned!! If you live in an urban area i would not even bother with any other tuner. feed this tuner with any signal amount, the front end on the T-85 can handle it,very overload resistant. as far as sound goes, think of the great british mini-monitors, you know- glorious midrange but not extended at the extremes.

Similar Products Used:

SAE,MARANTZ,KENWOOD,ETC.

Features, performances

Size

Excellent performances, very good sound, a lot of features. But bulky, and too many lights for my taste (I use it in my bedroom, and it is too brilliant in the dark).
Excellent tuner, the best I know with the NAD 4300.

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha, Kenwood, NAD

Using the four IF modes and the the two RF modes it is possible to get in all stations optimally whatever your preference.

I had bought a piece of audio equipment from saturday audio for $100 and I didn't like it very much so I returned it. I noticed on their website that they had this tuner for $119! (This also includes a no questions asked 30 days return policy - Saturday Audio is the best.) Based on the reviews I had to get it.

I just hooked it up yesterday, and I was blown away. Using all the IF and RF modes I can get almost every station perfectly. Not only that, the presets remember all of the settings (mono/stereo, IF, RF, blend). So once you set it up you never have to worry about it again. (maybe this is a common feature on the new fancy tuners, but I haven't seen it.) Using all these settings it is possible for me to get very listenable reception for stations I didn't even knew existed.

So it is much better than the Yamaha T7 in this respect. However, I should note that the T7 sounds slightly better when reception quality is good.

Overall an outstanding tuner, and an incredible buy. I can't imagine that the Yamaha TX-950 that is going used on ebay for $400 has anything on this tuner.

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha T7

IF modes

No seperate remote. We've gotten lazy. No wonder a lot of us are overweight !

Great tuner. Pulls in weak stations clean. Great sound too.
A tuner that does not need to be updated or replaced. Will perform as well as any of todays turners in all areas. Will be using for many years to come.

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Carver TX-11

agree with previous posters. This is one piece of audio equipment I will probably hold onto for a very long time even though it's old, abused, and lost remote years ago. The signal strength and sound is very incredible. You wouldn't know radio signals could sound this good, because with most tuners, they don't. If you find one used, grab it.

I have owned over 65 top tuners. Thought I would look for the value tuners that really performed. Found 2. This is one of them. It has above average sound but is so good at getting stations clearly, really gets the stations so strong and locks in perfect. This is a button digital tuner with fine tuning which helps on weak stations. It is the only tuner I know od that has 4 band widths, from super narrow to super wide. It really works. Anyway doe less than $300 it is a great tuner, 4 stars for good sound and super dx performance. The other is a Yamaha 1000U, must have the U in the 1000.

Performance on weak stations,build quality, cosmetics, features, technical specs & sound quality.

Has system remote terminal on rear but is not the more modern infra red type

I looked for this tuner in Australia due to strong recommendations on this website. No luck, obviously no one is prepared to let this one go. I also searched for the similar T1000U in this country but the experts said this model is impossibly rare.

Decided to purchase on Ebay.I found one with a 220V/240V voltage selector for use in this country. Airfreighted delivery in 5 days! This was a good experience! I can recommend this form of purchase. Even with the poor exchange rate of the $ Australian dollar it was a great buy.

Compared to the T7 (Which is a great sounding tuner in its own right) there is not much difference in sound quality but stereo separation is better and bass is firmer. Noise is lower on all stations compared to the T7.
Where the T85 really comes into its own is on the weak stations. I compared it to the T7 on a very distant signal and where the T85 was quite listenable and pleasant, The T7 was breaking up severely with much distortion and hiss. Both units were running off the same amplified antenna.
This unit can automatically select the appropriate band width (4 widths) which would be 'super narrow' on a very weak station.

Build quality is great, the controls have a real quality feel and the internals are carefully designed with RF & display screening. Plenty of lights and indicators to keep the tech heads happy. The platform mounted circuit board covers most of the interior and is neat, spacious and logically laid out (this is not an air filled box, unlike most modern tuners), a big filter capacitor and reasonable transformer is used. The unit is quite deeper than is normal for a tuner.

Highly recommended, this is an excellent buy. Price I understand was $US500 back in 1986, when Yamaha was still serious about their HiFi range.

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha T7 tuner