Unboxed and hooked up the new cat's a$$, everybody's talkin' 'bout, Sony FDX-X1HD. It sits on top of my current tuner, the aforementioned vintage SAE model 8000, purportedly modded in ways too mysterious to me by a guy known for knowing his stuff.
Both units are handicapped by ridiculously bad antennas: the SAE is connected to cheesy rabbit ears mounted behind the rack, the Sony connected to the cheesy unbalanced dipole from it's box, in the same config I used for a dipole on the SAE. That evens out in my book for now until I get the MD whip antenna rigged.
The SAE is further handicapped by being sick. It wont process stereo, the MPX circuitry must be having problems, as if having the mono switch always activated. Matched levels on the preamp and even have the same mfgr interconnects. The SAE has a trick up it's sleeve with a 25microsecond (?) deemphasis switch.
Ding! Round 1:
WMNF 88.5, Full (3) bars on the sony, ~4.5 (out of 10) on the SAE signal meter. The Sony is in analog mode as the digital signal is too weak to lock in. The SAE has it on the Sony, soundwise. slightly more detail and "life" regardless of being mono. Hit the de-emph switch on the SAE and Sony gets one eye swollen shut.
Ding! Round 2:
W- whatever, some disco station up the line. Sony has 3 bars and is in digital mode, SAE has full 10 on the meter. Same deal as above and Sony has the other eye punched shut.
Ding! Round 3:
W-???, 90.1: SAE is barely reading 2 on the meter but the station comes in with less noise than expected. The Sony can go home now, as all I hear from it is the roar of the crowd as the SAE wins the title.
Having stereo reception on the Sony really didn't help here as seperation is nowhere near CD quality, even on digital broadcast. This is by no means the final word for the Sony, but it's no revelation so far.
Both units are handicapped by ridiculously bad antennas: the SAE is connected to cheesy rabbit ears mounted behind the rack, the Sony connected to the cheesy unbalanced dipole from it's box, in the same config I used for a dipole on the SAE. That evens out in my book for now until I get the MD whip antenna rigged.
The SAE is further handicapped by being sick. It wont process stereo, the MPX circuitry must be having problems, as if having the mono switch always activated. Matched levels on the preamp and even have the same mfgr interconnects. The SAE has a trick up it's sleeve with a 25microsecond (?) deemphasis switch.
Ding! Round 1:
WMNF 88.5, Full (3) bars on the sony, ~4.5 (out of 10) on the SAE signal meter. The Sony is in analog mode as the digital signal is too weak to lock in. The SAE has it on the Sony, soundwise. slightly more detail and "life" regardless of being mono. Hit the de-emph switch on the SAE and Sony gets one eye swollen shut.
Ding! Round 2:
W- whatever, some disco station up the line. Sony has 3 bars and is in digital mode, SAE has full 10 on the meter. Same deal as above and Sony has the other eye punched shut.
Ding! Round 3:
W-???, 90.1: SAE is barely reading 2 on the meter but the station comes in with less noise than expected. The Sony can go home now, as all I hear from it is the roar of the crowd as the SAE wins the title.
Having stereo reception on the Sony really didn't help here as seperation is nowhere near CD quality, even on digital broadcast. This is by no means the final word for the Sony, but it's no revelation so far.
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