TEAC T-R670 AM and FM Stereo Tuner for Component Sound System

Rating:
Summary: Good tuner, decent price
Review: My old tuner recently gave up the ghost, so I got the Teac R670. Can't argue with the price, and it works pretty well. AM and FM reception are both pretty decent, although FM is not nearly as good as my Tivoli Model Two radio. AM is much better than the Tivoli.

All the modern conveniences are here - digital tuning, auto presets, etc. These all function, although the "seek" tuning is kind of irritating. I'd be fine with a good, old-fashioned knob. Hooking it up is simple as could be - one line output, and some antenna connectors. It comes with an AM loop antenna and a typical 300-ohm "T" antenna and a convertor to 75-ohm coax. This seems to me more than adequate if it's in a good spot.

Near as I can tell, the tuner sounds fine. There's really not much chance that the limitiation in the system is the equipment - FM radio transmission is a weak point, and as long as you can accurately tune the station, it's probably going to sound the same no matter what tuner you get. For AM, of course, there's nothing to say, fidelity-wise. There's a reason they only play oldies and conservative talk.

The unit looks very nice with blackened brushed aluminum faceplate, and an electroluminescent display.

The one thing that really surprised me was the *size*. This thing, while standard width, is HUGE. It's a good 3" high. Given that more features get stuffed into car radios, I simply can't fathom the need for the super-giant box. My dad's Heathkit was smaller, and at least they had an excuse - because 12ax7 tubes were 2" tall! I fit it in my rack OK, but I was taken aback by the size, as the tuner it replaced was about 1" high.

i guess the idea of a separate component tuner has become a little passe' (when I went to Circuit City they had NO IDEA what I was talking about "no, not a receiver, a TUNER. And yes, I know you can get a tuner AND amplifier in the same box"), but that's what I needed, and it works. For $117 it's pretty hard to argue with.