Our Staff
a/k/a The Tuner Gang

Bob (Bob's Filter Corner; Jim and Bob's DIY Mods; Tube Tuners; Review Panelist [BF]): Bob has been an FM audio enthusiast since the early '70s, when he set up a rotating antenna in the attic to receive FM stations from NYC to Philly. He is a DIY builder/modifier of everything related to audio reproduction, tube and solid state, analog and digital, and a tuner collector who owns many of the better vintage tube and solid-state units (more than 50 tuners at last count). Bob also has an FM tuner alignment lab for IF filter matching and tuner testing/alignment. His main listening system includes Rega Planar 3 turntable, heavily modded transport/DAC, 6SN7 triode preamp, PP EL 34 UL amp driving Magnaplanar 1.6QR speakers, and an Antenna Performance Specialties APS-9 with rotator in the attic. Bob has 20 years of experience in audio and RF measurements from working at major Test and Measurement companies. He lives in northeast New York.

Jim (Jim and Bob's DIY Mods; Shootouts; Modified Tuner Report; Tuner Lamp Information Center; Review Panelist [JR]): Age 61, audiophile. "Audio crazy for well over 40 years. I never got over my amazement of hearing stereo for the first time. It was an LP on a vacuum tube phono/receiver setup. My hobby: listening to music, tube audio repair and homemade DIY audio projects since 1988. My DIY knowledge of FM tuners has grown tremendously since the formation of TIC and the knowledge shared here." Jim's main Shootout review system includes a line stage using 6CG7 tubes and HEXFETs in a mu follower type circuit designed by Alan Kimmel. The amps are homemade using Chicago power and choke transformers. The output transformers are Acrosound TO-300s, the drivers are 6SN7 tubes and the output tubes are 7027As. The amp circuit was designed by Walter Delesandri. All of the above built from scratch. Favorite FM tuner varies from week to week with 100-plus to choose from in the Texas warehouse. The Kenwood L-02T is the Shootout standard all tuners must measure up to. Other equipment includes Pioneer DVD as a transport into a Scott Nixon zero sampling tube DAC, JMlab Daline 3.1 speakers, and Antenna Performance Specialties APS-9 15 feet above a one-story home, with a Radio Shack rotator. Enjoys being called a GESR (Golden-Eared Subjective Reporter) and Tube Hugger. Jim lives in the suburbs in north Texas.

Eric (Editor; Review Panelist [EF]): Eric was an FM DXer for more than 25 years before IBOC ruined the band, and has been a tuner collector since 2000. Inspired by Ed Hanlon's discussion of modified Kenwood and Sansui tuners on the WTFDA listserv, Eric discovered eBay and went on a year-long tuner-buying binge. He met Jim while buying a KT-7500 from him, and met Bob when he emailed Eric asking about a filter-modded tuner that Eric was selling. Eric then electronically introduced the two audiophiles and the three of them joined forces to launch TIC in September, 2001. Eric's equipment includes a rotating cast of 10 or 15 tuners, with a Bob-modified Kenwood 600T as his primary tuner and self-modded Onkyo T-9090 and Yamaha T-85 digitals; an assortment of insignificant amps and bookshelf speakers (he's no audiophile); and an Antenna Performance Specialties APS-9A with Radio Shack rotator in the attic at 26' AGL. Eric's tuner lab is in a suburb of New York City.

David "Anonymous" (Ricochets; Review Panelist [DA]): David grew up listening to Dad's custom tube-based system and was an addicted audiophile ever since he built his own modified audio preamp and amp at age 13. While working for large corporations, he also worked as an audio consultant doing digital and analog audio designs. His production audio designs have included: 1 FM tuner, 3 DACs, 1 CD drive, 1 cassette player, 1 preamp, 3 amps and 5 speakers. These components won numerous awards including COTY design awards (Japan), Super A/V Component of the Year (Hong Kong) and Stereophile Class A ratings. He has designed 6 VLSI devices used in telephony and holds many patents. He is continually revising his 3 audio and A/V systems. Reference system A currently includes Sansui TU-X1, Boulder Preamp, Boulder Mono Amps, custom CD drive, Boulder DAC, SME turntable/arm, Transfiguration and Denon cartridges, Transformation Audio, Mach 1 and LAT cables, and custom 5-way dynamic reference speakers. Cheerfully answers to the nicknames "tunerho," "audioho," "ho3" (but only at the holidays), or "hey, you opinionated...." [Please note that David "A" is not David Rich, who is listed below. - Editor]

Ray (Jim and Bob's DIY Mods; Modified Tuner Report; Review Panelist [RFM]): A long-time audio hobbyist, Ray started in 1960 trying to make AM tube radios sound and receive better. (Did you know one can stagger-tune the varicaps on a three-gang TRF radio for wider audio response or line 'em up for DXing?) His first FM tuner was a kit-built Eico HFT-90 (still has it!) that, upon completion, informed him that the northern U.P. of Michigan in 1966 was a dead-air space. That was quickly remedied by suspending a four-wavelength rhombic that could pull in Green Bay, Wisconsin from 150 miles. It was very hard to rotate it, though. Ray's present tuner count (which varies) is 17, of which nearly all are of the "sparrow feed" class and only a few have not been modified. For the last 20 years, and likely forever, his favorite tuner is the Hitachi FT-5500 MKII. The gear in Ray's room consists of a Denon DP-51F with Empire MC-5 for LPs, a Marantz CD-63MKII, H.K.-825 pre, an RFM subwoofer X-over followed by a 3-way Marchand (yup, 4-way active), three RFM power amps and a Jolida JD-202A just for its heaters. The speakers are also RFM creations. This stuff and the room can be seen at Jim's DIY-tweakers site. To listen to it you must go way up north to L'Anse, Michigan and bring beer.

Ed Hanlon (Contributor): Ed is the founder and owner of Antenna Performance Specialties and one of the inspirations for TIC. Arguably the world's biggest Radio Shack fan, he moderates the Realistic Audio group on Yahoo.

PZ (Contributor): PZ researched and prepared the Luxman History and Yamaha History pages, and provided reviews and information for Luxman and Yamaha tuners.

Paul Baptista (Contributor): Paul is the master of ceremonies at Paul's Antenna Attic and Paul's Receiver Rack and also provided information for the DIY Mods page and TIC Library.

John Carpanini (Contributor): The 2007 MVP of the DIY Mods page, John is also a frequent source of manuals and other useful info.

Bill Ammons (Contributor): In addition to constantly advancing the state of the art in filter mod techniques through the creation of his Filter Adder PCB products, Bill provided technical information for some of our tuner writeups.

David Rich (Contributor): Renowned for his tuner reviews and technical analysis in The Audio Critic, David provided technical information for some of our tuner listings (particularly Kenwood and Pioneer tuners) and photocopies of tuner pages from 38 years of audio buyer's guide yearbooks!

Jesse (Tuner Benefactor): Jesse is an audiophile and tuner collector who lives in north Texas.

Kevin (Tuner Benefactor): Kevin is an audiophile and tuner collector who lives in New York City.

Andre (Webmaster): Andre has been engaged in web design and consulting since 1996. Although he knows very little about tuners, Andre is a master of HTML (or so he tells his friends). His "system" includes an Apple MacBook Pro and a Pentium 4 with a choice of several operating systems. Andre modeled the TIC site layout and colors after a McIntosh MR 78, and he recommends you view it with Mozilla Firefox. Andre lives in New York.

Evan (Executive Assistant): Evan is the newest addition to the TIC staff, having branched out from his former ad hoc photo-cropping duties to provide invaluable service in the Great Tuner Review Page Division Initiative of 2008. A painter and webcomic illustrator, Evan can't yet spell "Rohde & Schwarz" but is nonetheless being groomed for assistance in future site upgrades. He lives in New York.

Bronwyn (Mascot): Full name, The Lady Bronwyn Underfoot. An 8-year-old calico [for those keeping track, we had forgotten to update her age for awhile - Editor], Bronnie was adopted at two weeks of age when her mother was killed and was fed with an eyedropper until weaned. She likes the same music as Jim, and prefers warm FM tuners with wood cabinets and a high listening position.

Special thanks to the following additional contributors of content and moral support (in alphabetical order): Hank Arnold, Hank Batts, Brian Beezley, Dante Bencivengo, Paul Bigelow, Eli Bowen, Tim Britt & Ann Weatherwax, Gary Bronn, Greg Burnett, John Byrns, Bruce Carter, Glenn Davis, Jim Davis, Antoine Deschênes, Stephan Grossklass, Balázs Horváth, Ryan Huizenga, Peter Körner, Norbert Krämer, Thomas Krause, John Leffler, Brian Lloyd, Fernando Martins, Don Nesbit, Dave Obergoenner, Jovit Pamarang, Charles Peterson, Steve Pind, doug sedon, David Smith, Mr. and Mrs. Lorne Spry, Rick Stewart, Rick Stout, John Via, Megumi Yamada and Mike Zuccaro.