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The Onkyo T450-RDS Tuner
Nowhere on the
internet have I seen a review of this tuner, so here is mine. I own one.
INTERIOR
What's inside this tuner? Not much. There's a power supply, LCD display and a motherboard, and
not a very large motherboard either. The tuner is not heavy.
EXTERIOR
On the outside front panel there is plenty to look at. From left to right you will find:
a) Power switch
b) Display button (press this to see any radiotext being transmitted).
c) Character button (I have no idea).
d) A group of four buttons. The two top buttons are for RDS. The left shows PS code, PTY and AF;
the right is a scan button for RDS. The bottom two are FM and AM selection.
e) LCD Display with six class buttons beneath marked A through F.
f) Keypad with numbers one through zero. A direct/del button. A memory, mute/stereo and wide/
narrow bandwidth button.
g)Two button to the right of that which are auto tuning and preset tuning.
h)At the far right, a tuning dial.
The tuner automatically shows the RDS (PS Code) of any station using RDS. Also the RDS
indicator turns on. Some stations trip the RDS almost instantly; some take a huge signal to
indicate RDS.
For those of us who have had our fill of punching up/down buttons when tuning stations, the
tuning dial is the biggest convenience of this tuner. You can still enter the frequency manually
by punching in the digits on the keypad and pressing the Direct button (for example, for
107.9 press 1-0-7-9 Direct). The tuner changes to 107.9 instantly.
Since I bought this tuner without a manual I went months before I figured out how to add
presets.
Look at the six class buttons under the display. You can program all your presets (30
of them) under one class or you can split them up into classes. If you wanted to program
all the country stations in your area under one class, you could do it. You could put all
your favorite rock stations under another. Just remember that whatever you put in each
class has to total 30 stations. In my case, I program all my good dx channels in one class
and most of my local stations under another. I don't use the rest since the total of these
two classes totals 30. If you try to program more the tuner tells you that the memory is
full. Now, if I punch the preset tuning button, I can tune the presets in whatever class I
have selected with the tuning dial. This is cool. Definitely. I can just tune my DXable
channels or I can just tune my locals and disregard everything else.
The million dollar question is this. How do you add presets? Here's how:
1. pick a class (A through F). Press the button.
2. Select the frequency you want to add. You can use the tuning dial to do it.
3. Select a preset number (why not start with one).
4. Press the memory button.
5. Press the Class button again.
Now repeat this sequence as many times as you need to do it. If you don't like what you
added for preset number 6 you must delete it first then enter in a new preset number 6.
Pressing the Memory/Delete and Mute buttons together will clear the TOTAL memory. Don't
do it unless you intend to clear everything!
When you tune the T450, the tuner automatically selects monaural or stereo, wide or narrow
bandwidth. Sometimes it makes mistakes (not often). In these situations you can manually
override bandwidth and mono/stereo with the buttons provided. The radio will mute a weak
stereo signal sometimes, forcing you to press the mono button to hear the station. No big thing.
This radio has no signal meter/indicator. Don't look for one. It's not there. Pretend it's a car radio.
The tuning dial makes up for it. Did I say I love the tuning dial?
SENSITIVITY AND SELECTIVITY
Sensitivity is excellent and selectivity is fair in stock condition. The unit has two 150khz filters
in the narrowband position and two wide filters but it's not good enough for anyone who really
needs the selectivity. Swapping 110khz filters for the 150s does not help. What helps GREATLY
is pulling one of the two wideband filters and replacing them with either a 150 or a 110. I put a
150khz filter in mine. It surpasses my Carver TX-11 for selectivity and sounds a whole lot better
also. It sounds great! Not muddy at all but crystal clear.
Changing the filters on this tuner is easy. Board access and filter access is easy. There's no
excuse here for not doing it.
The only negative I can find about this tuner is the lack of a signal meter but a meter is really
not necessary unless you plan to do some antenna phasing, in which case you need some
kind of meter to look at, to create a null. Yes, some purist might call me a heretic for
saying this but I'm not one of those people who come home from work and immediately
read the FM Tuners list. I like good clean sound and I like great selectivity and sensitivity but
I'm not an audiophile as such. I'm a listener and a DXer. If you must have a signal meter then
this unit is not for you.
INTERIOR
What's inside this tuner? Not much. There's a power supply, LCD display and a motherboard, and
not a very large motherboard either. The tuner is not heavy.
EXTERIOR
On the outside front panel there is plenty to look at. From left to right you will find:
a) Power switch
b) Display button (press this to see any radiotext being transmitted).
c) Character button (I have no idea).
d) A group of four buttons. The two top buttons are for RDS. The left shows PS code, PTY and AF;
the right is a scan button for RDS. The bottom two are FM and AM selection.
e) LCD Display with six class buttons beneath marked A through F.
f) Keypad with numbers one through zero. A direct/del button. A memory, mute/stereo and wide/
narrow bandwidth button.
g)Two button to the right of that which are auto tuning and preset tuning.
h)At the far right, a tuning dial.
The tuner automatically shows the RDS (PS Code) of any station using RDS. Also the RDS
indicator turns on. Some stations trip the RDS almost instantly; some take a huge signal to
indicate RDS.
For those of us who have had our fill of punching up/down buttons when tuning stations, the
tuning dial is the biggest convenience of this tuner. You can still enter the frequency manually
by punching in the digits on the keypad and pressing the Direct button (for example, for
107.9 press 1-0-7-9 Direct). The tuner changes to 107.9 instantly.
Since I bought this tuner without a manual I went months before I figured out how to add
presets.
Look at the six class buttons under the display. You can program all your presets (30
of them) under one class or you can split them up into classes. If you wanted to program
all the country stations in your area under one class, you could do it. You could put all
your favorite rock stations under another. Just remember that whatever you put in each
class has to total 30 stations. In my case, I program all my good dx channels in one class
and most of my local stations under another. I don't use the rest since the total of these
two classes totals 30. If you try to program more the tuner tells you that the memory is
full. Now, if I punch the preset tuning button, I can tune the presets in whatever class I
have selected with the tuning dial. This is cool. Definitely. I can just tune my DXable
channels or I can just tune my locals and disregard everything else.
The million dollar question is this. How do you add presets? Here's how:
1. pick a class (A through F). Press the button.
2. Select the frequency you want to add. You can use the tuning dial to do it.
3. Select a preset number (why not start with one).
4. Press the memory button.
5. Press the Class button again.
Now repeat this sequence as many times as you need to do it. If you don't like what you
added for preset number 6 you must delete it first then enter in a new preset number 6.
Pressing the Memory/Delete and Mute buttons together will clear the TOTAL memory. Don't
do it unless you intend to clear everything!
When you tune the T450, the tuner automatically selects monaural or stereo, wide or narrow
bandwidth. Sometimes it makes mistakes (not often). In these situations you can manually
override bandwidth and mono/stereo with the buttons provided. The radio will mute a weak
stereo signal sometimes, forcing you to press the mono button to hear the station. No big thing.
This radio has no signal meter/indicator. Don't look for one. It's not there. Pretend it's a car radio.
The tuning dial makes up for it. Did I say I love the tuning dial?
SENSITIVITY AND SELECTIVITY
Sensitivity is excellent and selectivity is fair in stock condition. The unit has two 150khz filters
in the narrowband position and two wide filters but it's not good enough for anyone who really
needs the selectivity. Swapping 110khz filters for the 150s does not help. What helps GREATLY
is pulling one of the two wideband filters and replacing them with either a 150 or a 110. I put a
150khz filter in mine. It surpasses my Carver TX-11 for selectivity and sounds a whole lot better
also. It sounds great! Not muddy at all but crystal clear.
Changing the filters on this tuner is easy. Board access and filter access is easy. There's no
excuse here for not doing it.
The only negative I can find about this tuner is the lack of a signal meter but a meter is really
not necessary unless you plan to do some antenna phasing, in which case you need some
kind of meter to look at, to create a null. Yes, some purist might call me a heretic for
saying this but I'm not one of those people who come home from work and immediately
read the FM Tuners list. I like good clean sound and I like great selectivity and sensitivity but
I'm not an audiophile as such. I'm a listener and a DXer. If you must have a signal meter then
this unit is not for you.
Created September 29, 2003
©2003-2006 M. Bugaj
Absolutely no reprinting without permission