Yamaha TX-590RDS Tuner

The device is produced by the developer in a series that has a common slogan "Natural Sound" for all products, and this, in our opinion, is fully consistent with reality. The sound during FM reception was rated as excellent. The parameters of the FM pathway are also excellent: the sensitivity is almost equal to the theoretical limit, the signal to noise ratio is very high. No noise in the transmission pauses is not audible, as when playing CDs. I was amazed by the very high selectivity of the neighboring channel, which says about the possibility to receive the weakest stations with interference from the strong stations next in frequency. The selectivity on the secondary channels is somewhat lower, but also quite high. Nothing is given for free, and these high parameters are obtained due to some narrowing of the audio frequency band - 13 kHz instead of 15 for most devices. This is justified, because radio stations do not transmit such a wide sound range. In the AM path everything would be fine, but the only side channel at the mirror frequency, 910 kHz up, is suppressed by only 15 dB. The other side channels of the reception are suppressed very well - by 40-50 dB. Without this disadvantage the device would be beyond competition. The tuner is well and tastefully designed, it is easy to tune it with the round knob, next to which are the buttons to call the programmed frequencies. When tuning, as with other tuners, the sound goes off, but is restored quickly, which gives the full impression of analog tuning and "presence" on the air. The large display with easy-to-read inscriptions and numbers in a sunny golden color is very attractive. In its window there is a place for the remote control receiver. The clear S-meter quickly reacts to the signal level and draws something like a graph, allowing you to objectively evaluate the signal level. On the whole, the Yamaha TX-590RDS tuner deserved an excellent mark and was declared the winner of the test.