Jim Audiomisc
pfm Member
Hi chaps,
update after testing the quad against my Arcam tuner. Like Tony I only intend to listen to R3. Not even Classic FM.
Actually the Arcam sounds a little -more- distorted than the Quad. But essentially the same, IE to me it seems/ feels like a reception issue. I will try shifting the Omni aerial back a bit in loft tmrw. Really my only option.
One thing I do notice though. The Arcam has a mono button, unlike the quad. Pressing this, the sound quality improves markedly. Almost perfect in fact. So I'll scoot back & read the replies- IIRC someone asked what the FM3 was like with the mono button engaged (another reply reminding them that alas it has no mono button).
Thanks, Capt
Stereo FM is MUCH more demanding than mono. Inherently it has more distortion and noise, particularly a rise in distortion for loud HF components. Problem of it squeeing a quart into a pint pot. Having a tuner with a wider, flatter IF helps a bit. But then can make the tuner more prone to adjacent/alternate channel signals causing problems. That's what some of the 'super tuners' like the old Yamaha CT-7000 have selectable IF widths.
If you want to avoid that you need to go to the ipayer 320k aac output. Chances are that is a better representation of what R3 send out for distribution. But will still have level compression during the day that is more noticable than for evening concerts.