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Arny:



The solid state sets are quieter and have
generally better sensitivity but they do overload
easier.

Simply not true.
While solid state has many advantages, front end headroom
and AGC dynamic range are not amongst them,

You've contradicted yourself. Here's the complement of a MR78:

3 JFET's, 2 MOSFET's, 17 Bipolar Transistors, 43 Diodes, 4 Integrated
Circuits

Read my lips vacuum-brain: No tubes!


You make my point for me.
3+2+17+43= 65, discrete semis plus 4 ICs containing any where from 10
to 1000 transistors and diodes each.

The MR71, a competent but not especially innovative, built-out-of
standard-parts FM tuner has a total of 14 tubes plus a solid state
rectifier. Since many of these tubes have two sections let's say 28
tubes.

at least not on any kind of device-for-device basis.

Nonsense.

Front end RF
tubes operating at 90-200V B+ and especially remopte
cutoff pentodes used in AGC circuits had some wonderful
qualities, and it takes a lot of transistors and
considerable circuit conplexity to even equal them.

Nonsense.

Nobody who is serious about performance is doing tubed front ends in modern
designs.

Even Peter Aczel and "Dr" David Rich said they thought the one
legitimate area for using vacuum tubes might be in RF front ends.

The other variables are 1) declining interest in AM
performance by most car buyers ,

Now you're faulting this product for being flexible.

and 2) the need to
accomodate FM, cassette tape, 8 track tape or CD players
in OEM sets.

8 track???

Cassette???

Bratzi, do you know what century you are currently in? What millenium?

The question isn't which decade we are in but in which decade car AM
radio performance began to decline from what had for the most part
been its peak, WHICH AS I SAID, was well into the solid state era. AM
radio just wasn't important to a large segment of buyers after the
mid-70s. AM broadcast began a decline which didn't stop until the
explosion of "right wing" talk radio in the late 1980s and early
1990s, and even then it was mostly a suburban and exurban phenomenon-
small signal performance nor real selectivity was at any particular
premium.