sudhirbhosale
Active Member
Hi all
I listen FM a lot hence tuner is important item for me. I stay in area where signals are weak. To improve same I did experiments which might be useful for others, hence I am sharing. I have Yamaha stereo AMP 496 (has inbuilt stereo FM/AM receiver) and yamaha basic floor standing speakers.
Experience 1 - I had Denon tuner TU 260. For FM antenna: Had long 3.5mm aux cable (6 feet, branded) same used as antena as copper quality good inside. I used to tune stations in balcony then store in mono mode as strength is not good in house (auto tuning not capture all stations). Sound was melodious, but bit low bass (TU240 model have low bass). Realized beauty of dedicate tuner much better
Learning : Dedicated tuners are best for radio listening than inbuilt ( Exception many years back I have Philips analogue tuner+Amp, whose sound was very sweet)
Learning : Analogue tuners (with needle to change station) too sounds very nice
Experience 2- Since tuners available at low price, I thought of upgrading further so I got NAD 412 and sold Denon. 412 got good reviews. NAD is cost brand. NAD did sound bit better ( no huge diff) but noise was lower and has bit more width in sound. Sound kind of flat
Experience 3- After some time I changed house there signals are more weaker. Now 6ft wire not capturing signals. So did some study about FM antenna. Built dipole antena with two aluminium sticks, placed in window, conencted to tuner with Coax cable we use for cable TV. Now it caught all channels some in stereo mode. Still I was feeling that the Denon sound was sweet (meantime I changed speakers hence its not apple to apple comparison). NAD sound was rough. Tuner is not common item hence not possible to borrow it for side by side comparison.
Experience 4 - My friend advised me to replace diapole with copper stick. As aluminum induce noise. I have 1.5 mm copper wire I assembled it on wooden stick and connected tuner via Coax. Now sound is smooth (roughness still there but reduced may be weak signals) but still Denon was sweet
. When I saw coax cable under magnifier glass, found center copper wire actually copper coating on steel.
Experience 5- So I bought Finolex TV cable, connected to copper stick of 1.5 mm. But found it also steel wire coated with copper but coating is thicker. Sound improved further both bass n treble. Still Denon flavor missing (may be psychological feeling).
Learning is : conductor purity plays have major impact on cleanness of signals. And I think steel is not used to reduce cost but for strength as adding coating would cost same. So I started searching coax cable which has full copper core inside. Dont know where to find, still searching.
Experience 6 - I had 3 ft antenna wire I got with Yamaha tuner (with small plug-end). https://www.amazon.com/YAMAHA-OEM-Original-Part-VQ147100/dp/B00CTUZNJC
I moved tuner near window and used this wire as antena. Now sound was very very clean, but wire is short. Not sure such antena wire availabe with 12ft length. OR wire come with standard lenght to maintain 75 ohm impedance (dont know role of 75ohm impedance). I did not find long such antena wire,
Experience 7 - Then I realized that I have 10ft long 3.5 mm aux cable of oxygen free copper. SO I connected that as antena wire. Further connecting end to copper stick did not make any difference. Sound was clean but yama FM antena wire gave more cleaner sound. Still Denon sound was sweet I think.
Learning is,
1. conductor purity does matters lot
2. antena is equally important
In search of high quality, I researched grade of coax cable at : https://uk.rs-online.com/web/generalDisplay.html?id=ideas-and-advice/coaxial-cable-guide
Found RG11, RG59, grade has better quality.
My questions:
1. Is there any way to improve signal strength but without adding noise
2. If I use higher grade coax cable, then would it make any difference
3. How about using car FM antena?
4 Use of 75 ohm cable with parallel connector (used for old TV), any thoughts around that
5 My friend in chennai got antenna of wireless kit used in police van. He got excellent results. What is specialty in that?
6 Do CCTV cable are of high grade
7 Any thoughts of using CAT cables as those has good grade conductors
8 Antenna wire comes with receiver: Why sounds clean?
9 Do analogue tuners sound better than digital tuners ?
10 Would RG11, RG59, grade coax cable make any difference?
Thanks
I listen FM a lot hence tuner is important item for me. I stay in area where signals are weak. To improve same I did experiments which might be useful for others, hence I am sharing. I have Yamaha stereo AMP 496 (has inbuilt stereo FM/AM receiver) and yamaha basic floor standing speakers.
Experience 1 - I had Denon tuner TU 260. For FM antenna: Had long 3.5mm aux cable (6 feet, branded) same used as antena as copper quality good inside. I used to tune stations in balcony then store in mono mode as strength is not good in house (auto tuning not capture all stations). Sound was melodious, but bit low bass (TU240 model have low bass). Realized beauty of dedicate tuner much better
Learning : Dedicated tuners are best for radio listening than inbuilt ( Exception many years back I have Philips analogue tuner+Amp, whose sound was very sweet)
Learning : Analogue tuners (with needle to change station) too sounds very nice
Experience 2- Since tuners available at low price, I thought of upgrading further so I got NAD 412 and sold Denon. 412 got good reviews. NAD is cost brand. NAD did sound bit better ( no huge diff) but noise was lower and has bit more width in sound. Sound kind of flat
Experience 3- After some time I changed house there signals are more weaker. Now 6ft wire not capturing signals. So did some study about FM antenna. Built dipole antena with two aluminium sticks, placed in window, conencted to tuner with Coax cable we use for cable TV. Now it caught all channels some in stereo mode. Still I was feeling that the Denon sound was sweet (meantime I changed speakers hence its not apple to apple comparison). NAD sound was rough. Tuner is not common item hence not possible to borrow it for side by side comparison.
Experience 4 - My friend advised me to replace diapole with copper stick. As aluminum induce noise. I have 1.5 mm copper wire I assembled it on wooden stick and connected tuner via Coax. Now sound is smooth (roughness still there but reduced may be weak signals) but still Denon was sweet
. When I saw coax cable under magnifier glass, found center copper wire actually copper coating on steel. Experience 5- So I bought Finolex TV cable, connected to copper stick of 1.5 mm. But found it also steel wire coated with copper but coating is thicker. Sound improved further both bass n treble. Still Denon flavor missing (may be psychological feeling).
Learning is : conductor purity plays have major impact on cleanness of signals. And I think steel is not used to reduce cost but for strength as adding coating would cost same. So I started searching coax cable which has full copper core inside. Dont know where to find, still searching.
Experience 6 - I had 3 ft antenna wire I got with Yamaha tuner (with small plug-end). https://www.amazon.com/YAMAHA-OEM-Original-Part-VQ147100/dp/B00CTUZNJC
I moved tuner near window and used this wire as antena. Now sound was very very clean, but wire is short. Not sure such antena wire availabe with 12ft length. OR wire come with standard lenght to maintain 75 ohm impedance (dont know role of 75ohm impedance). I did not find long such antena wire,
Experience 7 - Then I realized that I have 10ft long 3.5 mm aux cable of oxygen free copper. SO I connected that as antena wire. Further connecting end to copper stick did not make any difference. Sound was clean but yama FM antena wire gave more cleaner sound. Still Denon sound was sweet I think
. Learning is,
1. conductor purity does matters lot
2. antena is equally important
In search of high quality, I researched grade of coax cable at : https://uk.rs-online.com/web/generalDisplay.html?id=ideas-and-advice/coaxial-cable-guide
Found RG11, RG59, grade has better quality.
My questions:
1. Is there any way to improve signal strength but without adding noise
2. If I use higher grade coax cable, then would it make any difference
3. How about using car FM antena?
4 Use of 75 ohm cable with parallel connector (used for old TV), any thoughts around that
5 My friend in chennai got antenna of wireless kit used in police van. He got excellent results. What is specialty in that?
6 Do CCTV cable are of high grade
7 Any thoughts of using CAT cables as those has good grade conductors
8 Antenna wire comes with receiver: Why sounds clean?
9 Do analogue tuners sound better than digital tuners ?
10 Would RG11, RG59, grade coax cable make any difference?
Thanks
