Pulls in great variety of stations Typical Yamaha one of their best tuners, good internal shielding

If anything read the manual has a lock so tuning knob can't be rotated

Any Audiophile worth his or her salt will tell you some things are 'AUDIOPHILE QUALITY' and some things NEVER WILL. Try as it may, Cassette Tape is not an 'Audiophile Quality' device. Again, we are not talking BUILD QUALITY, we are talking about a given piece of technology rendering musical accuracy in a given time frame. I adore my Nakamichi DR3 2 channel Cassette Deck because it renders my old 1980s POST PUNK tapes in breath taking realism. But is my Nakamichi DR3 an 'AudioPhile Quality' device. No. Cassette Tape is not a 'Audiophile Quality' medium.

Its the same with Tuners. Broadcast radio is not an 'Audiophile Quality' medium---even the Digital stuff is hopelessly flawed. Tuners & Cassette Decks are the only music devices one buys by looking at the specs and the specs for the Yamaha T-1000 are superb for a nearly 20 year old machine. I paid less than $350.00 for it back in the day and yes, although the TX 1000 and the T1000 are not the same, I will stack my T1000 against any sub $1000 Tuner for its ability to glean music from the 'air waves'. If you find this on e-bay or a garage sale, snap it up.

POSITIVES (1) It looks rather handsome (2) The meters are easy to read (3) It does one hell of a job pulling in stations, even distant ones. I used to pour over Mark Bradley's Black Vinyl Post Punk Radio Show in the 80s and that was almost 65 miles from where I lived. I had an amphified indoor antenna from Radio Shack (Star Trek shaped) and it was fun to lock on to three bars and tape it on my trusty JVC KD A7 tape deck.

NEGATIVES (1) The station strip bar is annoying once you've lost all the cut out stations (2) The music rendered is dry and uninvolving even with the best signal (as is any tuner's handiwork. It's not HIFI, like duh!!! (3) Antenna, Antenna, Antenna. I'm sorry, did I forget to say antenna? Do not even unbox it if you are going to run a stupid, unamplified Bi-Pol antenna (shoe string antenna) that isn't 'cut' to your station.

Every one and a while, I will be lucky enough to pick up a cool, college radio station but, do we really need tuner technology in the 'teens when we have internet broadcast quality? I play my tuner to listen to NPR when I'm home vaccuming else mindlessly searching for new music. This is YOUR LAST TUNER!!!

* Excellent build quality * High input overload capability * Excellent signal-gathering ability * Wonderful audio on strong signals

* Rarity

I have been something of a tuner maven for a while, and have used a lot of different tuners, most recently the Magnum-Dynalab FT-101a, and picked this tuner up almost 7 years ago from an aquaintence. I live about 4 miles from several very strong FM transmitters, and have always experienced fromt-end overload with the other tuners: cross-modulation, distortion, and multiple station appearances on the dial. With the TX-1000, I have never experienced overload of any kind, even when I rotate my 10 element FM yagi straight at the local stations! Though the TX-1000 has a switchable signal attenuator built-in, I have never had to use it. The tuner also excels at SCA rejection, as that is a very real problem with our local PBS affiliate here in town. Live concerts from the local PBS station are extrordainary in their clarity, definition and soundstaging. I had the tuner aligned about a year ago at a very reputable shop, and the owner of theshop complemented me on how terrific the performance of the was. He told me that it was one of the most sensitive and quiet tuners that he had ever tested, and asked me how I liked it. As you might tell, I would give it up only if pried from my cold, dead fingers! The TX-1000 has excellent build quality, with a nicely-weighted flywheel tuning knob, and a silicone-damped control door that still opens and closes with the precision of a fine watch. I dare say that I have never seen a Yamaha product as well constructed, except perhaps the T-7000 tuner, which was a much more expensive product. This tuner is too good a product to be run with an indoor FM antenna: Just as you wouldn't try to run your new HDTV plazma from a pair of rabbit-ears, you should give this tuner the very best signal input that you can: I have logged over 100 stations in my location with the TX-1000, some from as far as 110 miles away on a regular basis, but it excells with clean, strong signals, and it's audio performance from a good signal will rival your favorite CDs or LPs. Though confusing at first, the signal quality meter is really quite useful when tuning for minimum distortion: A Yamaha engineed once told me that the tuner measures DBf signal strength MINUS multipath signal, which explains the often continuous display movement from the meter. Careful tuning of the antenna minimizes multipath, and will result in higher, steady signal quality readings. Find one if you are able, and enjoy the music it makes!

Similar Products Used:

* PS Audio Tuner * Magnum Dynalab FT 101a * Kyocera TU-910 * McIntosh MR 74

DX-Pulls in weak stations clearly next to strong ones.
Solidly Built

FIRST - Let's clear up all this model number confusion. One reviewer here called this a T-1000 which isn't the same as a TX-1000. The TX Series was the top of the line and is what you want. Thats the one with the rotating door showing the controls, the remote, the one with the RED readout and Amber signal meter,dual gold plated antenna connectors, switchable bandwiths, Alpha station labeling, etc.
** As for the "U". Don't even begin to be concerned with the "U" at all! Means nothing. The TX-1000 and TX-1000/U are one and the same. I'll explain. The markings on the front and rear panel say TX-1000. The owners manual says TX-1000/U BUT.... Flip open the manual to reveal photos of the receiver showing "TX-1000". Every photo they point to and refer to in diagrams show TX-1000, yet the writings continue to call it a TX-1000/U. The TX-1000 was available in these categories: General, Canada, Australia, Europe, and The U.K. The manual notes special AC power wiring instructions for the UK model. I would hazard a guess that if you did ever see a "U" on the front panel, it may be a UK model, in which case the "U" may not in fact be a good thing,(unless living in the UK). This would explain the /Slash in the literature signifying either/or. The "General" Model has a switch in the rear to select voltage for either 120 or 240V. In any case before buying, simply ask the owner if it has a selectable voltage switch in the back. Also - another indicator, is that the Canada and General models AM Band starts at 520KHz. The others start at 522Khz.
In summary, Don't be hung up on the "/U". As long as it's a TX-1000.
As for the performance, I've found the TX-1000 to be at the top for DX. This receiver has the ability to ferrit out the weakest,distant, never-heard-before station you can imagine and do so right next to strong local stations, using its fine tuning. You can go side by side with other receivers that just won't be able to do it. I've also had the TX-950 that many have raved about it.. probably because its more common. As owner of both, a few things I can tell you: The TX-1000 is nicer looking, with a 2 colored display, its rotary tuning knob has a weighted flywheel that actually "spins" and the unit itself is about 3 times as heavy. This thing is built. The lightweight plasticy TX-950 just isn't of the same caliber. It's wimpy hollow plastic tuning knob will soon frustrate you. It's fairly close in actual performance but for DX on a side by side, the TX-1000 still outperforms the 950. The TX-1000 Stereo seperation is also better than the TX950, and better than most. It's fidelity is average in narrow mode and above average in wide mode. If you have the choice, For the DX, go for the TX-1000. They don't show up very often like the 950's so you may have to be patient. I have 2 TX-1000's myself, but hate to part with either one up. Maybe someday..
Rick.

Similar Products Used:

TX-950

Sound, Sound, Sound!, Build quality, Sensitivity, Looks

Discontinued and almost impossible to find

Wow, they don't make 'em like this anymore. The specs are the same as my T-85 tuner and I expected it to sound pretty much the same as the T-85. Man, was I pleasantly surprised. With a good signal,the sound is near CD quality. The overall sound, particularly the bass, is much richer and fuller. Build quality is excellent, as was the case with all of Yamaha's top level tuners from this era.

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha TX-950, Yamaha T-80, Yamaha T-85

One of the 65 top tuners I have evaluated. As I said in my T-85 review, this is a value, above average sound with super dxing. Really gets the weak stations very clearly and strong, 3 band widths, fine tuning, rotary knob,remote, very nice. Same specs as the T-85, this one has a nice fold down panel. These two are in the top 5 or so at getting distant stations and good sound. I like both of these much more than the T-1, T-2, and the over rated 7000 with the lights that keep burning out.This is also $300 oe less.

DISTANT STATION CAPABILITIES IS WONDERFUL, ABILITY TO SEPERATE STATIONS IN A CROWDED AREA, 50DB QUIETING ABILITY

DISCONTINUED
SOUND QUALITY C+

THE YAMAHA T-1000U IS A WONDERFUL AND AFFORDABLE FM TUNER FOR CAPTURING DIFFICULT STATIONS. THIS IS A DIGITAL UNIT WITH FINE TUNING CAPABILITIES THAT WORK. A STEREO BLEND SWITCH THAT IS EFFECTIVE AND A METERING SYSTEM THAT IS ABOUT AS SENSITIVE AND TRUE AS THEY COME. PRESETS AND DUAL ANTENNA INPUTS ALONG WITH AUTO-TUNING.
BECAUSE OF RECORDING OFF AIR I AM ALSO INTERESTED IN SOUND QUALITY WHICH EXPLAINS MY PURCHASE OF THE MD-102
AS WITH ANY DECENT TUNER YOU NEED AN OUTDOOR ANTENNA TO TAKE FULL ADVANTAGE OF ITS CAPABILITIES.
AS KIRBY STATES IN THE PREVIOUS REVIEW THE MODEL IS T-1000U NOT 1000.

IF INTERESTED WATCH E-BAY

HAPPY LISTENING

Similar Products Used:

YAMAHA T-2, MAGNUM DYNALAB 102