What's in a tuner?

[Parsonsk]

I've been looking at buying a Rotel tuner RT-1080 but at $750 CDN it seems that there might be better options out there!
My only beef is that i'd like the system to match.

...But what makes a tuner worth so much and is it worth it? I can buy other brands for a third the cost so why would i spend this much money just so my system matches?

Please, don't tell me to trust my ears and listen for myself, that's such a wimpy way out!

[Rolex]

Well, it's true, every tuner is going to sound different and you have to trust your ears, otherwise, why would you buy a tuner? However, better tuners are able to pull stations from farther away, and some are better and "separating" the channels. I believe it is called selectivity. If you have a large city with many stations close together, not all tuners can separate those stations enough to pull in a clean signal. It all depends on your antenna as well. The area you live in is going to play a large roll as to whether or not you want selectivity or sensitivity for long range stations. Magnum Dynalab does excellent research on tuners. If you want to read more, go to www.fmtunerinfo.com for a lot of info, espeically on some older tuners.