Harman Kardon Citation 14 FM Tuner
I picked this one up at the local thrift store a couple of years ago. It was produced from 1973-1977. It's full of features not commonly found on other stand-alone tuners.
Copied from fmtunerinfo.com
"Harman/Kardon Citation 15 (1973, $395,
with cabinet,
without cabinet,
back,
inside,
schematic,
service manual,
user manual)
search eBay
Below, our contributor Eli outlines the features and specs of the Citation 14, Citation 15 and Citation 18 (which also has its own separate entry below). All of them are FM-only tuners. Our contributor Esmond adds, "The 14 has three circuit boards on the chassis top and another three on the underside. I imagine the 15 does too, as three PCBs just isn't enough. The RF board with all those LC filters is completely sealed inside an enclosure that can't be removed without removing another PCB or two first, and HK doesn't even list the transistor types. You were expected to buy the whole 'FM front end' assembly for servicing purposes. The audio sections of the 14 use a large number of 2N3417 transistors; these days I guess you would use BC639. The PSU uses a multi-section electro which could be hard to source these days. *Very* nice design and build quality." Nice Citation 14s usually sell for $140-260 on eBay, but $75-100 is more likely for cosmetically challenged ones. The Citation 15 can sell for almost anywhere from $50-200 on eBay, depending on condition; to illustrate, a decent one with a wood cabinet went for $64 in 3/09, but another fetched $240 in 5/09 (go figure). Here's Eli: "An eBay listing said that the 14/15 had the first PLL MPX in a production tuner, but I don't know whether this is true. Common to all three:
* Patented "Quieting Meter" that measures the signal-to-noise ratio of the received signal
* All-metal buttons and switches
* FM-only
* Single IF bandwidth
* Rear-panel Muting threshold control
* Rear-panel Stereo threshold control
* Large, heavy metal tuning flywheel
* Thick, heavy aluminum faceplate and overall very substantial construction on essentially the same chassis for all three models
* Fourteens and Fifteens were all finished in silver brushed aluminum, as far as I can tell. Eighteens were nearly all black-faced, but there are some silver-faced Eighteens out there.
* Unusual rounded-corner walnut cabinets were available, along with rack-mount kits and even a screened metal rack designed to hold one of these tuners along with a matching 16 power amp and an 11, 17 or 17-S preamp (the 17-S matches the 18 styling and is simpler than the 11 and 17)
Citation Fourteen (1973-77):
* On-board Dolby B noise reduction.
* Five-gang tuning capacitor
* Ratio detector
* Large black sealed "Nine-Pole LC Toroidal Linear Phase IF Filter" made by Filtech
* Front panel features:
Switch for internal Dolby NR adapter
400 Hz reference tone at level equivalent to 50% modulation
Muting switch
1/4" stereo phone plug receptacle for tape out
L and R gain control sliders
3-position Mono/Auto/Stereo Only switch
Switch for two levels of stereo noise filtering
Large center tune and quieting meters
Horizontal drum tuning dial scale with very large numbers
Unusual green-colored backlit displays for meters and dial scale
* Rear panel features:
Fixed and Variable audio outputs
X and Y oscilloscope outputs
Composite signal output for external 4-channel adapter
75- and 300-ohm screw antenna terminals
75-ohm antenna coax F-connector
Switched AC convenience outlet
* Specifications:
IHF Usable Sensitivity: 2.0 µV
Selectivity: 60 dB
Limiter Saturation: > 2.0 µV @ +/- 75 kHz (-1 dB)
THD @ 1 kHz: mono: 0.25%, stereo: 0.35%
Signal to Noise ratio: -70 dB minimum
Image rejection: < -100 dB
Fundamental Plus 1/2 IF: > -100 dB
IF Rejection: < -100 dB
AM Rejection: 60 dB minimum
Capture Ratio: > 2.0 dB
SCA Rejection: Inaudible
Pilot Signal Rejection: < 50 dB
Subcarrier Suppression: < 400 Hz, -13.7 dB @ 10 kHz, Maximum error: +/- 0.5 dB
Nando.
vs the Phase Linear PL5100 II
