Quote:
Originally posted by tbng:

THE WORTHLESS
2. AM-FM tuner. In this age of satellite radio (and digital broadcasts as soon as music producers get over their paranoia), why bother? FM barely qualifies as a high-fidelity medium thanks to the broadcasting restraints forced upon it. Unnecessary increase in the cost.
3. Phono input. The ever-decreasing number of record lovers likely already have a separate phono preamp, and the 990 can't handle moving coil cartridges anyway. It's like putting a rumble seat in a Jaguar, i.e., another unnecessary increase in cost.
Well for me, these two are not anywhere near worthless. Certainly FM as high fidelity is suspect, but there are times when I'll be working (my workshop is near my HT and will be in a seperate zone) and I want to listen to a ballgame (go Nats!) or listen to an NPR show. Having the tuner is perfect for this. A tuner in my setup (going back to the 1970's) never replaced vinyl or CDs, but was an alternative for non-critical listening means.

As for the phono input - I have a high end phono pre-amp on my 2 channel system - love it. Having access to my vinyl w/out another device in my HT is a bonus - it certainly adds worth in my case.

Of course YMMV