The stock tuner has excellent alternate channel rejection but not much for the adjacent channel. It's my new AM king, and a companion to the Onkyo. AM selectivity is better than anything I remember from 40 years (off and on) of listening, including a Hammarlund SuperPro, Heathkit AJ-30, Alpine car cassette, a National NC-109, and all the hi-fi tuners I've used: Yamaha T-85, TX-1000, T-1, Onkyo T-4711, and others. Distortion is well under 0.1%, but I forget how low it actually goes. I ran it for about two days, then decided to put in the OPA2604 op-amp in place of the 4558. It will, however, still lose adjacent channels to a strong local station or to HD buzz. During strong (not exceptional) conditions, I've been able to decode two or three HD FM stations from Washington DC at about 110 miles away, and Virginia Beach/Norfolk area stations at about 90 miles. The 730 is different. In the broad strokes that's what the additional cost of the 730 gets you. This should also be adaptable to the ST-J75." The detector is a very good PLL, and the multiplex is Sony's in-house version of the LA3450 also used in many top modern tuners. The FM-only ST-J75 was the top of the overlooked line that includes the ST-J55 and ST-J60. No wonder there is no way to defeat the IBOC detector or the adaptive noise reduction. This is an absolute no-no and you would think that they would have learned. On the negative side, the ST-J60 uses a common pushbutton for stereo/mono and muting on/off, meaning that one cannot choose to listen to a weak station in slightly noisy stereo. As-is, the tuner's low-noise on weak signals is partly 'fake' SNR by my criteria because it's accomplished by severely rolling-off the upper mids and highs." It's quiet enough on stations with IBOC side channels and the high end is fine to these aging ears. According the the owner's manual, the tuner's 'SST' circuit stands for 'super sound tracing.' THD varied between 0.3% and 1% at low signal levels in wide IF mode, but at more usual levels it was typically < 0.1%. This is an absolute no-no and you would think that they would have learned. See Radu's additional comments on the ST-S444ESX in our writeup on the Yamaha T-2. Recently I measured the noise figures of the front ends on the XDR-F1HD, Sangean HDT-1, Denon TU-1500RD, and Kenwood KT-7500. For clarity, the 600 Ohm resistor and cap are in series. If they would have fixed this main problem, I think that this could have been an outstanding tuner because the distortion and noise were the lowest that I have ever seen, that is in the short time frame for measurement before it drifted off kilter." Theoretically, the SA5ES is the most advanced of these designs." The ST-S444ESX usually sells for $35-80 on eBay. I like it. Sensitivity, however, is sacrificed for this ability, and potential DXers should bear that in mind. The ST-SA50ES can sell for anywhere from $55-200 on eBay, way down from its usual range a few years ago. Is it better than the Onkyo T-4970? What common listener will be able to tell the difference? The record low and high were $15 in 1/08 and $202 in 5/07. Interesting thing is that in the J55 and 75 the +/- 30V rails and display/control circuits are on the tuner board, in the J60 the entire 30V supply along with all display and control circuits are isolated on their own dedicated separate board." The ST-S550ES usually sells for $50-90 on eBay, with a low of just $7 in 1/12 and a high of $200 in 11/12 as two crazed bidders ran it up from $44. It has the typical Sony ES looks, black and sleek. Digital Oscilloscope / Signal Generator / Frequency Counter Without the Sony leading the way I wouldn't have found so many signals to home in on. It's too early for me to comment on the Sony's sound but, as others have reported, it's one helluva DXer. The Sony pulls in the signal and plays it in full stereo amazingly. When this happens, my Sony ST-555ES, 730ES, 707ES and SA50ES are about 20 dB quieter than my other, older high-end tuners." I snagged mine for $60.00 B.I.N. The contest results? This type of high-frequency blending smears instrument locations when their harmonics collapse to the center while the fundamentals pretty much stay put. In my 24+ tuners none has come this close to the Pioneer at signal grabbing and if you're a tad lazy like ol' RFM tends to be, the Sony XDR-F1HD is the champ and a lot of tuner for $100 new." I changed the blend to a flat one that provides 6 dB of noise reduction with 9.5 dB of separation. The NAT 05 is the best tuner I have ever heard, still, but one must have a good signal. In addition to the features outlined by Ray, the ST-SA50ES has 40 presets and an antenna attenuation switch. In wide-IF mode all distortion products were well below -70 dB (0.03% THD). These seem very reasonably priced on the used market and ol' RFM can heartily recommend it." The AM performance, however, was very good. I really miss a dB strength meter on the Sony. Rarely seen in the U.S., the ST-S333ESXII was the European version of the ST-S730ES. The IFs are also very similar. The For clarity, the 600 Ohm resistor and cap are in series. 3. It can measure transformers first and second harmonic voltages, to facilitate the analysis of transformer failure. Audio section: Again, the caps in most cases will not be necessary if driving an AC coupled input. The tuner has a selectable narrow AM IF filter, and its effect is quite audible. Uthaya says. The ST-J60's features include a record calibration tone, and an LED meter that switches with the push of a button from displaying signal strength to multipath. I was surprised to find no evidence of RF intermod in my high-RF location with the unbalanced mixer circuit. There had to be something grossly out of alignment, or perhaps the FM front end suffered some electrostatic damage, either through handling or during manufacture. And Warren Bendler, the tech who did the recap and alignment in exchange for one of my spare ST-J75s, agrees with my assessment. They simply want to provide more ways to broadcast ads, and they recognize that satellite radio and the internet are taking their listeners." The front panel claims a 'radial power supply' feature. [The only ST-5555 seen for sale anywhere since the beginning of 2001 was bid up to $415 on eBay in 2/04, but failed to meet the reserve. 3) The current output stage can be bypassed completely. Paul's modded ST-S555ES is now his main tuner: "It has an added EMI/FRI module AC input, oversized power cord, about 45 caps replaced (Panasonic FC, Elna ROA Cerafine, Black Gates), matched filters, op-amps changed to OPA134 and OPA2604, IF Filter Adder Board in Narrow IF mode with two extra filters, and finally an alignment by Bill Ammons. Our contributor Brian Beezley offers this review: "The ST-S444ESX is part of Sony's high-end ES audio component line. Sony ST-S333ESG (front, inside 1, 2) search eBay Both have PLL detectors and the 5 adds an M5220P op-amp in the output." For the right channel, one end of the cap connects to the junction of R268 and R269 and the other end is right audio out. Our contributor Nick tells us how the XDR-F1HD fares in the UK, where stations can be heard 100 kHz away from strong locals: "It is a HOT DX machine! Sony ST-SA50ES (2000, $600) search eBay Then, the Sony's superior reception moves it to the front, because of its amazing quieting with marginal signals. I did like this tuner but my iron is still heated and thus attacked. It has also made me more aware of the RFI in my system. Cosmetically is in nice shape and it has been in use for the last 10 days. I have four of them in my home BTW, and the DX performance is similar on all of them." The MPX in the SA5 is the Sony equivalent of the Sanyo LA3450 but the 50 uses an LA3401. Definitely a 'sleeper' model." This circuit automatically engages and lights a panel indicator whenever the input signal is greater than 35 dBf in the wide IF mode. Then, the Sony's superior reception moves it to the front, because of its amazing quieting with marginal signals. I haven't attempted any long-term listening for various reasons. A look at the schematic does not solve the first question, i.e., gang count. Our contributors Tim and Ann report: "We have an ST-S333ESXII and an ST-S730ES and they are virtually identical on the outside, and the user manual that came with the ST-S333ESXII is an international one labeled as the manual for the 'ST-S333ESXII/ST-S730ES.' Our contributor Ken K. adds, "No doubt, this is one of the more sensitive and selective tuners available. Any switching click will be much more brief." It's always sounded great to me. When you start looking at the individual components used on the respective boards, it's obvious that they both line up quite closely. - Both models have IF distortion adjustments, but the 333ESG has this only for the Wide IF bandwidth mode (to be confirmed when I get the unit) and the 770ES has separate adjustments for both Wide and Narrow. HD Radio self-noise was about 10 dB weaker than usual in wide, probably due to the 220s and the PLL loop filter. Like the Yamaha TX-950, a real 'sleeper' for the money." These tuners are from the same period and tend to use the same buzz words." And our contributor Ray D. did a sort of shootout between the XDR-F1HD and some analog tuners, including a Mitsubishi DA-F30, which you can read about in our writeup for the latter tuner. Why is 220V called single phase when it has two opposing phases? Luxman Both have 4 ceramic filters, but the configuration is different: The SA50 has 3 filters in Wide and one in Narrow, while the SA5 has 2 in Wide and adds 2 in Narrow. Actually, a nice unit for the price. The ST-S550ES claims very good alternate channel separation of 80 dB in Wide and 90 dB in Narrow. The definitive review of the XDR-F1HD can be found on Brian Beezley's website, and The Audio Critic did another. Our contributors Tim and Ann report that the ST-S730ES held its own in a shootout with a Sansui TU-919, McIntosh MR 74 and Modafferi-modded MR 78, and Pioneer F-91, which you can read about on our Shootouts 2.0 page. Really quiet. But our contributor PZ says, "I had two good ones. The ST-S550ES usually sells for $50-90 on eBay, with a low of just $7 in 1/12 and a high of $200 in 11/12 as two crazed bidders ran it up from $44. The ST-S444ESX shares a service manual with its mostly identical European sibling, the ST-S700ES. Early on, it seemed the Sony would lose stations entirely at the edge of reception, or they'd pop in and out. This is probably important for fringe reception where the HD sidebands are not always receivable, and blending of the two is required. Also, IMHO, the XDR-F1HD's soft-mute errs significantly too far on the side of HF rolloff for the sake of noise reduction as a function of low signal strength. What's even more interesting is that the performance specs in this manual for this dual-labeled tuner are slightly better than the specs for our American market ST-S730ES. Ratio type detector. 3) The current output stage can be bypassed completely. It's too early for me to comment on the Sony's sound but, as others have reported, it's one helluva DXer. HD for casual listening does sound better. As a result, I've settled into a pattern of chasing stations with the Onkyo and then switching to the Sony. Our panelist JohnC got his hands on one: "To say that the 700 is treated like the red-headed stepchild in the Sony lineup is a bit of an understatement. There's a switch for Dolby FM, but there is no built-in circuitry, it's just a switch for an external signal loop." The filter caps are typically smaller in value inside the PS proper with an additional B- rail used to develop the required voltage for the drivers of the front panel FL display. No wonder there is no way to defeat the IBOC detector or the adaptive noise reduction. A 620 Ohm 1/2 watt resistor is wired from pin 1 (left) and pin 2 (right) to ground (pins 3,4). After I received the schematic, it made sense finally. Where the Pioneers allow me to listen to these signals in stereo, the Sony forces me to switch to mono, and even in mono there is some noise coming through from the adjacent channel. It was down only -0.70 dB at 20 Hz. Recently I measured the noise figures of the front ends on the XDR-F1HD, Sangean HDT-1, Denon TU-1500RD, and Kenwood KT-7500. I'm using a 150' outdoor antenna, and without attenuation it overloads everything but the Sony. Probes and accessories are also available. The definitive review of the XDR-F1HD can be found on Brian Beezley's website, and The Audio Critic did another. Scott reports: "The Sony is simply an outstanding tuner (all comments on analog FM only). The same figures are specified for IM distortion. In each case the Pioneer could equal or better the Sony's reception but only after very careful tuning and tweaking. 3) The current output stage can be bypassed completely. Replaced by the AM/FM ST-5130, which I have worked on and is a nice unit, but the build quality was not the same as the 5000. The A6B has no subcarrier leakage that would cause audible beat-frequency on tape, making it an excellent tuner for off-air recording. When listening on the air, it sounded as if pressing the mono button didn't quite make the output entirely monophonic. This is probably important for fringe reception where the HD sidebands are not always receivable, and blending of the two is required. AM selectivity is better than anything I remember from 40 years (off and on) of listening, including a Hammarlund SuperPro, Heathkit AJ-30, Alpine car cassette, a National NC-109, and all the hi-fi tuners I've used: Yamaha T-85, TX-1000, T-1, Onkyo T-4711, and others. As for the audio quality, the sound is very clear and 'bright' and the tuner produces noise-free stereo on stations that before had some hiss. Sony XDR-F1HD (2008, $100, photo, service manual) search eBay On the negative side, the ST-J60 uses a common pushbutton for stereo/mono and muting on/off, meaning that one cannot choose to listen to a weak station in slightly noisy stereo. The tuner also had a very unusual continuously variable muting control knob on the front panel, like the Marantz 115B, and fixed and variable RCA outputs. At first touch I thought all of this rather silly, but then I began to appreciate all the technology Sony expended on this. Call +800 0000 1952; Email contact@givenchy.com Bob S. notes, "This tuner used a very early type of double-sided PCBs which used short wires to connect the two sides, soldered to each side. The ST-4950 is an analog tuner with 4 gangs for FM and 2 for AM, a multipath indicator and a hi-blend switch. What common listener will be able to tell the difference? testing equipment, such as transformer oil tester, high voltage test Even for strong signals, the XDR-F1HD's de-emphasis errors are too great for my ears. But it's fine for background listening, and its quieting ability with marginal signals makes it a great DXer. In addition to the features outlined by Ray, the ST-SA50ES has 40 presets and an antenna attenuation switch. The 707 and SA5 have almost identical circuit boards. Our panelist JohnC got his hands on one: "To say that the 700 is treated like the red-headed stepchild in the Sony lineup is a bit of an understatement. "The iron is hot, I'm stuck in the house, I have the parts, there's little doubt where this is going. It just arrived today, so consider this a very preliminary view. Some folks called the Sony tuner's great DXing ability a fluke, but it seems to me that high sensitivity was the plan all along. I replaced the narrows with 150s.