The stereo receiver used to be one of the biggest product categories in audio electronics. Through most of the 1970s and well into the 1980s, the combination of tuner and amplifier in the same box proved enormously popular, because it was the nearest you could get to a one-box solution at the time. The idea of just adding a turntable (or tape deck) and loudspeakers represented the pinnacle of audio technology convergence. Times change though, and the receiver fell from grace with the rise of the standalone CD player.
Magnum Dynalab still thinks the receiver has a place in the home system, and the resulting MD209 is the only FM receiver built on North American soil at this time. The basic requirements of the receiver have both radically changed and stayed perfectly still: a one-stop shop for all your audio electronics needs. What’s changed is largely what’s likely to be connected directly to a receiver today: while FM has stayed in place, the chances are that a listener will connect a computer direct to the receiver and, if they use a turntable, a receiver of the MD209’s calibre will likely mean a dedicated phono stage. As a consequence, the MD209 features the RF tuner section from the brand’s popular MD108T and MD109 tuners, coupled with an optional high-grade 24-bit, 192kHz capable DAC section, and five line inputs (two of which are XLR, three RCA).
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