[Fred.]

I just installed the Sony HD tuner at my office today and was very
impressed. The location is on the the first floor of a steel frame
building with the bulk of the building on one side and a levy on the
other, plus a number of trees enhancing the view, but not FM
receiption. The antenna system is indoors, a standard 300 Ohm twin-
lead folded dipole connected to the 75 Ohm input with a matching
transformer.

With my conventional tuner, which may be none too great, I was
receiving one station well enough that I could listen to it, plus 5 or
6 others well enough to follow, had I wanted to endure it. Once I
connected the tuner I was receiving 8 FM HD stations, and 14 analog FM
stations at listenable clarity, most of them quite clean, and another
5 analog stations I considered marginal, but at a raised standard of
marginal.

By the way, don't get carried away by my enthusiasm. What I hear is,
IMO, very good for FM reception, but nowhere near CD quality. The HD
is low in noise, has a good stereo image, and sounds clear but a
little brittle. The FM is noiser, has a noticably poorer stereo
image, with a little slurring overall, but otherwise seens more
natural than the HD. To me, the brittleness is less annoying than the
noise, but with fine enough reception I might change my choice.

Because the antenna which came with the radio is a little less
conspicuous, I tried swapping it for my dipole and transformer. No
dice; about half the stations disappeared. So if you're stuck with
an indoor antenna, you might want to spend a few dollars, and it
should be just a few, on the dipole and transformer.

Our local public radio is HD and has some live broadcasts in the
evenings, sometimes the local symphony, which is quite decent, and
sometimes other local soloists, so I'm considering buying another for
home.

Fred.