McIntosh MR-78 Analog Tuner - The Best From McIntosh. Modafferi Serviced

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General:
Many believe this to be the best tuner EVER made.

In our opinion it's definitely in the top five.

The Consumer Electronics Hall of Fame: McIntosh MR 78 Tuner
"A young engineering genius used a computer to design a filter and the result was the greatest FM tuner ever built" 

That engineering genius was Richard Modafferi, and if you reverse his initials you get the model prefix for a host of McIntosh Tuners...

There is no dial bezel present be we can install one if you'd like to give it a more vintage look.

Best of all this unit was modified by the revered Richard Modafferi in 2022, at Audio Classics.

From the IEEE Spectrum Website:
Richard Modafferi was a senior engineer at McIntosh Laboratory from 1968 to 1974. His first stab at a new tuner that could do better was the MR 77. That model, introduced in 1970, was acclaimed among audiophiles—and it was the subject of an article by Modafferi in the November 1970, issue of IEEE Transactions on Broadcast and Television Receivers. And then Modafferi outdid himself with the MR 78 tuner, which came out in 1972.

The MR 78’s distinction was a new intermediate frequency filter, the culmination of a design that Modafferi had begun working on [PDF] as a graduate student at the Newark College of Engineering (now part of the New Jersey Institute of Technology) in the mid-1960s. He dubbed it the Rimo filter (a concatenation of the first two letters of his first and last name). In a superheterodyne radio receiver, which all FM receivers are, the incoming signal is mixed with that of a local oscillator to produce an intermediate frequency (IF) that is lower than that of the carrier frequency of the received signal. There are several reasons for doing this. A really big one is that the lower value of this IF makes it easier to filter out nearby sources of interference. Basically, Modafferi’s Rimo took a leap beyond existing IF filters by applying a computer to fine-tune the filter’s frequency response, and also by minimizing “intermodulation distortion,” which plagued IF filters at the time.

SkyFi Cosmetic Notes:
Some marks on the black paint at top, good condition overall.

Brand Background:
McIntosh Laboratory is an American manufacturer of handcrafted high-end audio equipment based in Binghamton, New York. The company was founded in 1949 by Frank McIntosh. The company designs and produces audio amplifiers, stereo tuners and other consumer electronics products.

Connections:
RCA outputs (Fixed and Controllable), 75 and 300 Ohm antenna connections

General Sound:
Smooth, uncolored, undistorted natural and clean

Cosmetic Condition:
8/10 = Very Good. Excellent front faceplate, one minor flaw on chassis side or top. See our detailed rating description here.

Working Condition:
Working perfectly and tested in our lab.

Included:
Unit, manual, and power cord.

Packing:
Will be packed using our highly developed in-house process and custom packing materials.Specs:
type: Mono/Stereo Tuner
Tuning Bands: FM
Tuning Scale: Analog
FM Tuning Range: 88 to 108 MHz
Sensitivity: 2.5uV (FM)
Signal to Noise Ratio: 75dB (FM)
Distortion: 0.2% (FM)
Selectivity: 55dB (FM)
Frequency response: 20Hz to 18kHz (FM)
Output: 2500mV
Dimensions: 16 x 5.5 x 13 inches
Weight: 27lbs
Year: 1972

Dimensions:
16" W x 5 7/16" H x 13" D

Weight:
27 lbs.

Approximate Age:
1972

Link to Manual:
Click Here

Recommended Cables:
Kimber Kable - RCA Interconnects - Better

Kimber Kable - RCA Interconnects - Best

Testing Process:
We start with a visual inspection of all internal components to make sure that there are no signs of heat stress or damage. Capacitors are checked for telltale signs of predictive failure including bulging, shrunken wrappers, or physical leakage. We also inspect the PCBs for discoloration from resistors or transistors that may have been running hot.

On vintage units we often spot check select capacitors for value and ESR. Vintage analog tuners also have moving parts related to the tuning gang and dial string. These parts are inspected for smooth operation.

If the unit passes visual inspection it is bench tested for a handful of key performance parameters using a Sencore SG80 AM/FM Stereo Analyzer. The SG80 allows us to “simulate” an ideal radio station using precision test signals instead of music. This device in conjunction with an oscilloscope allows us to properly evaluate the following parameters:

1) AM Reception (Where Applicable)
2) FM Mono Reception & Tuning Meter Function
3) FM MPX Reception (Stereo)
4) Dial Tracking: How accurately the tuner dial or display indicates the actual frequency of the broadcast being received.
5) Stereo Separation: A properly working stereo tuner will have minimal crosstalk between the left and right channel.
6) Sensitivity & Signal Strength Meter Function: By lowering the output of the SG80 we can simulate weak stations and determine how well the tuner will be able to pull in weak distant stations. This adjustment also helps us verify signal strength meter function.

If the tuner has acceptable performance related to the parameters above we connect the unit for listening tests with a simple dipole antenna. We listen for audio reproduction quality of local stations and evaluate how many stations the tuner can receive while we sweep through the dial.

We are looking to verify that the tuner can decode stereo on strong local broadcasts and pick up a wide variety of local stations at the bottom, middle, and top of the frequency band. At this point we also test convenience features such as muting, filters, built in oscilloscope function, etc.

We finish up with an extended listening test on our long term test rig. We tune in to a strong local station and monitor for drift over a minimum period of 2-3 hours.