Station pick up

[Paul Philco322]

Hi Gang:

This may fall into the "amateur hour" question department, but I have been wondering..... Why is it that a vintage tube set seems to much more sensitive in picking up stations that a more modern set? For example my Yamaha stereo receiver with appropriate antenna struggles to pull in weaker local stations AM and FM, but even a modest tube set can pick the same stations up with no problem.

I realize that on my higher tube count sets based on their configurations that there is a more significant section of the radio dedicated to RF pick up and in some more signal amplification. Oddly though even in some, not all, of my little AA5's I can still can track down a low power local or distant 50k watt much better than on a more modern set. Is there a standard answer? Is it really dependent on the circuits used in each set.
Is there a general answer?

Thanks much.

Paul

[exray]

(04-08-2012 12:34 AM)Paul Philco322 Wrote:  Hi Gang:

This may fall into the "amateur hour" question department, but I have been wondering..... Why is it that a vintage tube set seems to much more sensitive in picking up stations that a more modern set? For example my Yamaha stereo receiver with appropriate antenna struggles to pull in weaker local stations AM and FM, but even a modest tube set can pick the same stations up with no problem.

I realize that on my higher tube count sets based on their configurations that there is a more significant section of the radio dedicated to RF pick up and in some more signal amplification. Oddly though even in some, not all, of my little AA5's I can still can track down a low power local or distant 50k watt much better than on a more modern set. Is there a standard answer? Is it really dependent on the circuits used in each set.
Is there a general answer?

Thanks much.

Paul

Seems to be a common observation. Years ago I was in a discussion with others talking about my old 70s era Sansui 8080DB and how lousy the reception was and all agreed that it stunk. In fact it stunk so bad I couldn't believe it left the factory that way.
I did a complete alignment and it sprang to life on both AM and FM. It was more out of whack than you'd typically find on a 70-year old radio.

That may not be true in all cases but it was an eye-opener for me.