This is the fourth tuner I’ve acquired since I got my Yamaha amplifier back in 2023. Why, you ask? It’s because I just can’t seem to find one I like that matches the amp. When I originally had this model amp, I had the matching tuner that I bought at the same time. It was nothing to write home about, but it was adequate considering how infrequently I listened to the radio. (In fact, I ended up selling it after I’d briefly moved back to Tucson from San Francisco because Tucson was a radio wasteland.) When I replaced the amp in 2001, it came with the matching tuner again, and I kept them as a set throughout my remaining time in San Francisco as well as my move back to Phoenix in 2003. I sold both again that summer—not from lack of interest, but rather from lack of funds.
I didn’t want the matching tuner when I replaced the amp in 2023. I wanted something different. But different turned out to be problematic. Thankfully second-hand tuners (even Yamahas) are dirt cheap, and this allowed me to experiment a bit.
Last year I thought I’d settled on one I could live with, the T-7. It arrived with some issues, and for the most part I was able to fix them myself. But it needed some major work done (despite replacing the battery that powered the preset memory function, it would still lose its mind if it had been turned off for more than a couple days, indicating it needed work at the component level—something I am definitely unqualified to do). Looks-wise, it was a good match to the Yamaha, but and annoyance of making sure it was powered on every few days just to recharge its aging capacitors was just one. more. thing. I didn’t want to deal with.
I loved the look of my CD player. So I wondered what the Yamaha tuners from that era looked like. Bingo! The second to top of the line model caught my attention, and five Franklins later, it was mine.
I knew the key to getting good reception in this house was the coax antenna I got for the T-7. I attached it to this TX-930 and…WTF? I had one bar of reception on the only two stations I listen to and no stereo reception whatsoever on either one.
This tuner had funky antenna connections, so while I had one of those old coax adapters like you once needed for televisions back in the day, I was thinking that maybe that was the culprit. So I ordered a proper adapter from Amazon. (Yeah, yeah, I know.)
The adapter arrived today and after hooking it up, I got the same result. Then I remembered that among the numerous other issues with the old T-7, it too had difficulty receiving stereo as well—until I squirted some De-Oxit into a few of the internal pots and gave them a good exercising..
So I popped the cover on the TX-930…
…and did the same. It wasn’t a miracle cure (I’m still only now getting two bars of reception, but apparently that’s enough to trigger the stereo detector circuit and it kicks in. I mean, both stations sound great, and since that’s all that really matters I can live with it—especially considering how I actually listen to radio these days.
I like how the unit itself fits in with my other components, so hopefully this one will be sticking around a while.