I am a FM tuner nut. For best sound I modify & align tube tuners. Nothing is left to chance. redesign the power supplies, upgrade coupling capaqcitors & roll in best tubes. Even change a tube type for higher performance.

Now, to the Rotel RT-950BX. Tuners are well covered at the Tuner Information Center. Perform a search to find this great site. The RT-950BX is likely the best bargain anywhere. The TIC site performance evaluations actually reflects the prices of used tuners for sale on eBay. Fortunately, the RT-950BX is not listed on the site. The other few Rotel tuners get top marks.

The TIC shootout section shows a comparison in-between the top rated Kenwood LT-02 vs the Pioneer F-90. The F-90 has better high frequencies and an equal midrange. I own the Pioneer in perfect condition and had been realigned for top performance. My Rotel RT-950BX handily outperformes the Pioneer sonically & has not been aligned. Also is a more sensitive tuner. These tuners sell used for about $60 to $120. Get one while these Rotel tuners continue to 'fly under the radar'. I suspect the RT-940AX is very simular performance wise too.

First off I must comment on how few reviews there are of tuners at this website. Is radio dead? Are most listeners using receivers? I like radio, FM more than AM, and listening to shortwave radio broadcasts (I'm an information junky). The Rotel RT-950BX is an affordable ($300.00 U.S. list price when I purchased mine) "real world" AM/FM Stereo tuner. It does the job well in FM--good, clear sound, the ability to tune in fairly distant stations with a big TV antenna with rotor, and with a small powered antenna (as I am using now), the ability to bring in local stations (90 kilometer radius) fairly well. This is a no frills tuner with few splashy features: an auto tuner, 20 presets, stereo-mono switch, digital tuning.
The AM tuner is, unfortunately, a horrible embarrassment. One cannot, even when living in an urban setting as I do, tune in an AM station with a mere modicum of clarity. Forget AM if you own this tuner. Rotel would have been better off leaving off this feature and offering only a FM tuner in its stead. Or, better yet, Rotel should have included a decent AM tuner. The lack of ability to capture AM radio broadcasts is a definite disadvantage. If I had realized that the AM radio reception was so poor, I would have purchased a different brand (I would have tried Adcom or I would have saved my pennies and purchased something exotic, like Quad or Carver's top end tuner at that time (with stereo AM too). But I purchased my Rotel at a discounted price--I bought the floor demo model-- for a bit more than half list so I decided that I could live with the lousy AM reception (I don't listen to AM through my stereo system now) for the FM reception (where I do most of my listening anyway) is very good (if not, excellent).

The Rotel RT-950BX is a fine FM tuner. It is a abysmal AM tuner. If you listen almost exclusively to FM radio broadcasts, this is a splendid tuner. If you listen to AM radio broadcasts often, this is not the tuner for you. The quality of the FM and the low price I paid for this tuner mitigated against returning it due to its dreadful AM performance; however, if I were to move to another area in the U.S. where there were oodles of great FM stations to listen to (where I live there are two or three really good stations and several not so good) (i.e., New York or Los Angeles) I'd give my Rotel away to one of my nephews and buy something really fine, maybe something with tubes.

I give the Rotel RT-950BX a 4 animated speaker rating for its FM performance and for its AM performance a -4. As most of us audiophiles and their ilk listen to much more FM over AM radio, I base my rating on the FM performance of this tuner.

First off I must comment on how few reviews there are of tuners at this website. Is radio dead? Are most listeners using receivers? I like radio, FM more than AM, and listening to shortwave radio broadcasts (I'm an information junky). The Rotel RT-950BX is an affordable ($300.00 U.S. list price when I purchased mine) "real world" AM/FM Stereo tuner. It does the job well in FM--good, clear sound, the ability to tune in fairly distant stations with a big TV antenna with rotor, and with a small powered antenna (as I am using now), the ability to bring in local stations (90 kilometer radius) fairly well. This is a no frills tuner with few splashy features: an auto tuner, 20 presets, stereo-mono switch, digital tuning.
The AM tuner is, unfortunately, a horrible embarrassment. One cannot, even when living in an urban setting as I do, tune in an AM station with a mere modicum of clarity. Forget AM if you own this tuner. Rotel would have been better off leaving off this feature and offering only a FM tuner in its stead. Or, better yet, Rotel should have included a decent AM tuner. The lack of ability to capture AM radio broadcasts is a definite disadvantage. If I had realized that the AM radio reception was so poor, I would have purchased a different brand (I would have tried Adcom or I would have saved my pennies and purchased something exotic, like Quad or Carver's top end tuner at that time (with stereo AM too). But I purchased my Rotel at a discounted price--I bought the floor demo model-- for a bit more than half list so I decided that I could live with the lousy AM reception (I don't listen to AM through my stereo system now) for the FM reception (where I do most of my listening anyway) is very good (if not, excellent).

The Rotel RT-950BX is a fine FM tuner. It is a abysmal AM tuner. If you listen almost exclusively to FM radio broadcasts, this is a splendid tuner. If you listen to AM radio broadcasts often, this is not the tuner for you. The quality of the FM and the low price I paid for this tuner mitigated against returning it due to its dreadful AM performance; however, if I were to move to another area in the U.S. where there were oodles of great FM stations to listen to (where I live there are two or three really good stations and several not so good) (i.e., New York or Los Angeles) I'd give my Rotel away to one of my nephews and buy something really fine, maybe something with tubes.

I give the Rotel RT-950BX a 4 animated speaker rating for its FM performance and for its AM performance a -4. As most of us audiophiles and their ilk listen to much more FM over AM radio, I base my rating on the FM performance of this tuner.