There is not much that can be added to these mostly fine reviews, but I just wanted make a brief note about my experience. I have listened to this unit mostly in its balanced mode. The sound is glorious, and much better than I ever expected a tuner can sound. Recently I switched to single-ended interconnects and noticed a dramatic decrease in the quality of sound. If you want to dig out a full potential of this tuner, do yourself a favor and use balanced outputs.

The Fanfare FT-1A FM tuner

I have been unable to get Audio Review to open a separate category for the Fanfare FT-1A tuner. So, like everyone else, I am placing this review in the Fanfare FT-1 category even though there is, in my opinion, a very marked improvement in the sound quality of the newer model Fanfare FT-1A tuner.

Although this is a review of the Fanfare FT-1A some history may be interesting. My move into a higher resolution audio system left me deficient in one area, namely an audiophile tuner. At the time I was using the tuner section of an NAD receiver with my other equipment which was all Linn (Kairn Preamp, Klout Amp & Karik/Numerik CD player. As the Linn Kremlin was just too expensive to even consider I managed to pick up Magnum Dynalab FT-101A second hand. I had the factory bring the unit up to specifications and certainly found a great improvement over the NAD receiver tuner section. I lived with the MD FT-101A for some time but yearned for remote control of the tuner. When Linn introduced their Kudos remote controlled tuner I immediately auditioned the unit at home over a weekend and found to my surprise and joy that the Kudos tuner performed as well as the FT-101A in all areas and was even superior in bringing in distant stations.

In my continued quest for audio excellence I auditioned a Fanfare FT-1. Using single ended interconnects, I found that whilst the FT-1 had slightly deeper bass, somewhat better soundstage and good ergonomics, the performance improvement did not justify the cost to move to the Fanfare tuner. Later on a review of the new Magnum Dynolab MD 102 tuner appeared which tempted me to audition this tuner and then make the purchase. I had hoped to be able to use the MD remote unit with the MD 102 but this was not possible as my review of the MD 102 explains in my review of the MD 102 in Audio Review.

My next move was to evaluate the new Fanfare FT-1A tuner, as I had liked the ergonomics of the previous model, the FT-1. This time I evaluated the Fanfare tuner using good quality balanced interconnects (Straight Wire Virtuoso) and found the Fanfare tuner to be more than just comparable to the MD 102. Actually I found the new FT-1A superior pulling in distant stations. Also, there was a definite elimination of background grunge that I would hear on the MD 102 when listening with my Stax Lambda Pro earspeakers or even more particularly with my Etymotic ear canal earphones (very highly recommended by the way). In no way was this elimination of grunge offset by any lack of high frequency detail. I also felt the FT-1A superior to the MD 102 in both soundstaging and bass response after a couple of weeks of use.

I cannot speak too highly of the Fanfare FT-1A tuner. It looks good, has all the remote control features repeated on the tuner itself and is incredible value, when compared with the MD-102. The reasonably large, clear display gives all the information anyone could require. The most important aspect is its great sound. Given a good station such as Canadian Broadcasting Corporation I have sometimes forgotten that I was actually listening to the FT-1A, rather than a familiar CD, until someone coughed in the audience! I have had the FT-1A for over a year now and appreciate it even more now as I have improved the resolution of my system with new loudspeaker cables (Analysis Plus Silver Oval Bi-Wire) and the new Krell KCT preamplifier.

A useful feature on the MD 102 that is not presently available on the FT-1A is an antenna switch for changing between two antennas. This is really not much of a negative (the only one I found), as I would have to go physically to the MD-102 to switch antennas anyway. Fortunately there are remote controlled, outboard antenna switches available at a very reasonable cost.
The following equipment was in use when I purchased the FT-1A:
Krell KRC-3 Preamp, Krell FPB-200 Amplifier, ProAc 3.8 Loudspeakers, Linn Karik / Numerik CD Player, Magnum Dynalab MD 102 Tuner, Stax Lambda Pro Headphones, Etymotic ER-4S Ear Canal Earphones, Furman IT-1220 Balanced Power Conditioner, Straight Wire Black Silc Loudspeaker Cables and Virtuoso Interconnects.

Equipment now in use is as follows:
Krell KCT Preamp, Krell FPB-200 Amplifier, B & W 803 Nautilus Loudspeakers, Meridian 508.24 CD Player, Fanfare FT-1A Tuner, Stax Lambda Pro Headphones, Etymotic ER-4S Ear Canal Earphones, Furman IT-1220 Balanced Power Conditioner, Analysis Plus Silver Oval Bi-Wire Loudspeaker Cables and Straight Wire Virtuoso Balanced Interconnects.

low noise, transparency

buttons

I've had the Fanfare FT-1A for about 6 months, with a Magnum Dynalab ST-2 whip antenna sitting in the corner of my living room. On strong stations, the tuner is outstanding. My brother-in-law was listening to some Brahms on headphones (Sennheiser HD-600), being broadcast over WGMS, a high-powered station in DC. When I told him he was listening to the radio, a very confused look came over his face: "You mean I'm not listening to a CD?" He was quite surprised. My only complaint is the buttons on the front - they're these little round pegs that have a tendency to get stuck in the in (on) position. In retrospect, I wish I'd auditioned some cheaper current tuners, just to see if the FT-1A is really that much better. I was in kind of an audiophile frenzy at the time, having just been given a glimpse of high end sound by my new Magnepan MMGs (now upgraded to 1.6's). The amp I'm using is the NAD C340.

Similar Products Used:

Nikko NT-890 (1979 model)

Sweet, rich and emotive sound

None

We were looking for a Tuner and have come accross several units, among them the Magnum Dynalab Etude, some Sony, and an Arcam.

Technical specifications are very obscure to me and I never paid attention to them.

Musically, the FT1A was the first unit which impressed us in a consistent and coherent way, throughout the programs we used to listen to. The sound is sweet detailed and full of emotion: this tuner conveys classical music with emotion, when the performer does so! The ambiance of the studio or the club is well reproduced on jazz pieces!

The FT1A is not cheap, for sure, but a good system deserves a good CD as well as a good tuner: and at this price, the FT1A is the only one that provides us with real pleasure! So, if you are looking for a tuner, get this one for a trial before spending around $1000 - $2000!

In reference to one review below, the Tuner automatically picks up more stations than what we need (in the Washington Metro Area) with no interferences from other radio ...

I am not going to defend Fanfare because I am sure that the tuner of this class does not need my defense. I still think that I have to post my take on S. Laska/S. Wolf reviews (after Mr. Laska's 2nd review I became quite certain that all 3 were written by one person, so I will express my opinion of them all at once).

First of all, it is quite obvious that he was comparing Nakamichi receiver (Angelique already told about the correctness of such review) with a defective Fanfare tuner. I live in a rural area with not a single strong station, and my FT-1, using SCAN, gets ~20 stations. Therefore, to claim that Fanfare picks up only 2 stations in the NYC listening area is ludicrous.

Equally ridiculous is the claim regarding selectivity (thanks to the author for explaining to us heathens what it is). Tuner completely rejects adjacent channels .2MHz off the center frequency.

As far as the lack of the tuning knob, only one antenna input, and the lack of the Mute switch, surely Mr. Wolf should have known about that _before_ he bought the Fanfare, so I fail to see why he would by a tuner that lacks features so important to him.

As for the number of presets... how come a Magnum Dynalab with _no_ presets is more convenient than Fanfare which has 8?!

A few words about sensitivity and selectivity. I am not familiar with vintage NADs and Nakamichi receivers, but I have compared the Fanfare with Magnum Dynalab's Etude and Denon's TU-1500RD (quite possibly the best of inexpensive tuners). I did so in a presence of several audiophile friends, and all of them will agree that Fanfare is superior to Etude both in sensitivity and selectivity, not to mention Fanfare's significantly more natural and beautiful sound. Soundstaging is much better with the Fanfare as well.

It should not follow from the above that Magnum Dynalab is a bad tuner. Just that Fanfare is much better in all objective parameters, including the ease of use. I do not feel sexual attraction to any tuner, so I can not say which one is more sexy, but I do not think one has to prove that Fanfare is much easier to use. Therefore, I can only agree with Angelique that Laska/Wolf reviews lack any semblance of objectivity or credibility. Of course Mr. Laska/Wolf is free to hold and express any kind of opinion, but I would consider it my duty to advise anyone looking to purchase a high-end tuner to consider the Fanfare and ignore any subjectivist insinuations.

A few words about the antenna (FM2G). I do not know what kind of a magic dipole Mr. Laska/Wolf used, but living in a rural area I have tried over 20 room antennas from various manufacturers (including amplified ones and AudioPrism’s phase array model), and Fanfare’s antenna was the best. The only antenna that works better is a 12-feet Yagi on the roof.

Outstanding sound quality, ease of use

None

Before became a happy owner of the Fanfare I spend lot of time auditioning different FM tuners from inexpensive Denon and Yamaha to Krell integrated amp with Day-Sequerra tuner and several models of Magnum Dynalab (not including 2 most expensive ones). Having four excellent FM stations in the
area (2 classical and 2 jazz) I definitely wanted to have unlimited source of a great music, but unfortunately I physically cannot stand distortions, coloration, or background noise. Denon and Yamaha were acceptable, but I
really wanted something better. Krell does not deserve any serious discussion. I do want to say a few words about Magnum Dynalab. First of all I was disappointed with the sound. It sounded just like a cheap tuner.
Secondly, it's difficult to operate. Lack of presets and frequency drift make it a real headache.Optional remote is ridiculously expensive. And it isn't all that great as a tuner - selectivity is rather low (worse than on a significantly cheaper Denons or Yamahas), and "narrow" is not narrow enough to improve anything.

Fanfare FT-1. From the very beginning I was amazed with a sound quality.
Fanfare says that their tuner sounds as good as a CD. I disagree. I think that it sounds better then almost any CD, particularly if the station uses some good LP or broadcasts live performance. Apart from the sound quality, ease of use, availability of presets, and a comfortable remote (included) are also remarkable. Fanfare's superiority over Magnum Dynalab's Etude and others was so obvious that I had no doubts about buying the FT-1. When I had a chance to upgrade to FT-1A, I did so only because FT-1A has an option for AM Stereo upgrade. I was confident that the two models are sonically identical. To my astonishment, FT-1A sounds even better than FT-1. This is not to say that FT-1 is not a highest-class unit. It is. But FT-1A is even better, even though I am at loss how or why.

Of al the companies that I have dealt with, I was impressed by Fanfare the most. Their customer service is outstanding, their staff is very knowledgeable, and they sincerely want to help their customers. I can compare Fanfare's customer service only with Morrison Audio. As an example, company president, Mr. Southcott, bothered to call me several times to answer my questions in full.

Combined with Morrison ELAD (possibly, the best pre-amp in existence), ATI 1502 power amp, and Magnepan 1.6QR, Fanfare FT-1A provides extraordinary good sound and can be listened to for hours with no listening fatigue.

Similar Products Used:

See Review Summary

Extremely transparent, highly musical, excellent output choice ... and a gorgeous design (Silver)

I have the FT 1A for a week now, and yesterday I listened for the first time to a live performance at the NY Philar (on WETA, NPR). What an experience... you could hear the movements on stage,the acoustic of the concert hall ... and several times I was scared because I had the impression there were people in my room...

The build quality is excellent, the remote very convenient, the 8 presets are amply sufficient and tuning is easy, fast and smooth.

If you are looking for a tuner, give it a try ... and unless you want to go for the $US5000.00 Linn Kremlin or the MAgnum Dynalab MD-108, the FT-1A is probably the best buy. Om top of it, the Fanfare web page is full of interesting and useful informations. These people are passionate!

Similar Products Used:

Sony, Luxman, Etude, Linn

Exquisite sound, gracious presentation, choice of outputs (low and high output, balanced output)

8 presets, no AM yet.

Easy-to-use control, simple but useful remote, beautiful construction, high-quality output connectors.

The sound is extremely delicate, and getting better and better when allowed for break-in (2 to 3 weeks of use). You can listen to it for hours without any listening fatigue (provided the broadcast is of good quality).

The soundstage is large and deep, orchestral works are very impressive.

The Etude presentation is slightly more forward (closer to the speakers), for the rest, sound is very similar, the Etude slightly smoother and warmer, and less detailed (but this is really marginal!). Voices sound less compressed or nasal with the FT1A than the Etude.

Meridian has a lively presentation, but the soundstage is flat (but I did not listen to it on my system, it was at a dealer).

I used to have a Sony ES. I liked its tuning knob for the rest, the Sony is just OK but you do not get the same excitment than with the Etude or the FT1A.

Overall the FT1a comes slightly ahead of the Etude. I prefer the look of the FT1A, and with the remote, it is substantially less expensive than the Etude.

System : YBA 1a amplifier, mini-utopia speakers, wireworld gold eclipse interconnects, wireworld eclipse speakerscable. Antenna is from www.uhfmag.com.

Similar Products Used:

MD Etude, Sony, Meridian

Good looking unit, especially in Silver.

Poor sensitivity, poor selectivity, no tuning knob, no muting switch, only one antenna input (coaxial), 8 presets is not enough.

I had been dreaming of buying a top notch tuner for years, and was really looking forward to buying the Fanfare tuner. No local dealers sell the Fanfare, so I ordered the unit directly from the company. After unpacking the tuner and FM2G antenna, I immediately plugged it in and started tuning in some of the local college stations that were a challenge for my NAD tuner. Much to my surprise, the Fanfare also struggled to pick up these stations. In fact, using the Fanfare FM2G Antenna, overall FM sensitivity and selectivity were a step down from the NAD. I moved the FM2G antenna to a variety of positions in my living room, but still was disappointed with the FT1's reception. I then switched to a dipole, and lo and behold, I was able to pick up some of the stations that were impossible to tune in with Fanfare's own FM2G antenna. However, overall tuner reception was no better than what I had received from my 80's vintage NAD tuner. And I really hated the lack of a tuning knob and the fact that I could not adjust the muting on the FT1. When scanning with the remote control, I was only able to pick up 2 or 3 stations, as the scan function ignores anything but the strongest stations (4 or 5 on the signal strength meter).

I then tuned the FT1 to one of the local, high power stations, and with a strong signal, did enjoy the clean, open sound emerging from my Maggies (for the uninitiated, that's shorthand for any speaker from Magnepan). However, I was still bothered by the poor FM reception, so I borrowed a Magnum Dynalab 101 Etude from a local dealer. The Etude isn't as sexy as the Fanfare, but it's overall performance and sound quality were superior to the Fanfare's.

In a side by side comparison with the Magnum Dynalab Etude, the Etude picked up more stations, did a much better job rejecting alternate stations, was quieter, and had a wider, deeper soundstage. On top of that, even without a remote, the Etude was easier to use. Do not underestimate the importance of a tuning knob and a user defeatable mute switch. And if you live anyplace with a large number of college radio stations, 8 presets is not nearly enough.

At the time of the review, my system consisted of a Classe CAP 101 integrated amplifier and Magnepan 3A speakers.

After much thought, I decided to give the unit 3 stars, primarily to reflect the good sound that can be had if you only listen to a few strong, local stations and the fact that I did receive good customer service during the ordering process. Please be advised that although the tuner arrived in 3 days, it took more than a month (and two phone calls) for them to issue a credit to me.

Bottom line: The Fanfare just didn't do it for me. I really didn't want to give this product a negative review, bit I thought it important to share my experiences with other listeners interested in an expensive tuner. Before you plunk down $1,300 for a tuner, make sure the dealer or manufacturer has a generous demo policy, listen to the unit, and form you're own opinion. Don't be swayed by a review from Stereophile.

Similar Products Used:

Magnum Dynalab 101 Etude, NAD 4155 tuner (late 80's vintage)

I've been into high-end audio for many years, however I've never bought or owned a high-end tuner. So I finally decided to give one a try since my system seemed incomplete without one, and because the DMX unit sucked, so many pops and clicks and half the stations didn't work all the time. I was impressed with the packaging of the unit and the owners manual was nicely laid out. The unit also looked nice and matched my Van Alstine gear and Parasound transport quite well.

Soundwise I don't know what to think of it. Its definately not as good as my Omega IV dac; however, that may be an unfair comparison for any tuner. The other problem is the antenna can make a huge difference. I'm using the FM-2G, but given my current location I can't really mount it that good. One night when I was fiddling around with it and the tuner did pull in quite well, to the point where the sound really got out of the speakers and into the soundstage. I haven't been able to get that again ever since I remounted the antenna more securely. Obviously, the dynamic range and the frequency extremes aren't as good as the Omega's but most music doesn't have information in those regions, i.e. 20hz or 18khz. However, the unit was rather musical when everything was in its favor. Since then I've got about 60% of that performance and am sticking with it since I'll be moving shortly anyhow. If I was in a more permanent location I would probably use a yagi style instead of the FM-2G.

Overall, I don't know how to rate the unit. I was never "wowed" with the unit, but I don't know how unrealistic my expectations are coupled with the limitations of the antenna placement and/or, possibly, the antenna itself. I'll give it a 4 rating though.


Associated equipment:

Audio by Van Alstine Omega IV DAC
Audio by Van Alstine Fet/Valve 350hc power amplifier
Audio by Van Alstine Fet/Valve SL preamplifier
Parasound CD/P 1000 transport
Biro Technologies L/1 loudspeakers
Stock interconnect cables
Kimber 4PR speaker cable
Good acoustic treatment
Sanus Natural Foundations Loudspeaker Stands
Salamander style audio rack

Similar Products Used:

None