David Price listens to one of Trio's top tuners, the late lamented KT7500.

Back in the seventies, Trio was a name to conjure with for many an impoverished audiophile. Trio-Kenwood Corp. - which later became just plain Kenwood - was a purveyor of fine quality affordable hi-fi separates, selling to a market not entirely dissimilar to that of Arcam today. As well as making a cracking entry-level budget turntable (in the shape of the KD1033B), it sold a number of affordable amplifiers (KA1500, KA3700, KA-405) to hi-fi nuts hungry for its well designed and beautifully made wares.

In Japan however, the company was better known for its high end esoterica - its L0-7D turntable was a pretty resounding two fingers up to the newly fashionable Linn Sondek and Oracle super decks, and there were some pretty useful electronics to partner it. The KT7500 you see here was the company's top tuner for us mere mortals, however. Costing the best part of £180 in 1978, it wasnít that much cheaper than the aforementioned LP12 anyway.

As you'd expect at this not inconsiderable price, the Trio was built like the proverbial brick outhouse. Weighing the best part of 10kg, the standard 430mm width case contains less than its fair share of air. In its place is a generously sized frame type transformer, beautifully laid out all-discrete circuitry and a flywheel tuning assembly the size of a big bit of scaffolding.

Round the back there's a switchable de-emphasis facility (giving a choice of 50 or 25 uS), in anticipation of the expected-but-never delivered Dolby FM. Along with the usual antenna connections and fixed and variable audio outs, two FM multipath sockets are provided.

At the front, the obligatory half-inch thick brushed aluminium fascia sports suitably chunky controls for power on-off, variable output level, IF band (wide/narrow), muting and AM-FM waveband selection, with a switchable MPX ('High Blend') filter. Being an analogue design - in the days before digitally synthesised tuning had ever set foot on a showroom shelf - the user interface is a joy. 

A wide, brightly backlit scale works in conjunction with two meters (signal strength and tuning) and a heavily weighted flywheel. The result is far more tactile than the plastic preset buttons we take for granted these days - it's like reel to reel compared to MiniDisc!

Power the Trio up and you'll get a shock - unlike the synthesised designs that were poised to replace it, the KT7500 is an incredibly natural and open sounding design. Itís as 'analogue' as they come, giving a sweet, lilting FM performance with plenty of detail and an eerily three dimensional soundstage. 

It's no Troughline, but then again it's far more sensitive, better built and has just a hint of the Leak's incredibly organic nature - far more so than any digital tuner of today. A great boon is its AM performance - incredibly quiet, smooth and open, it makes listening to music on this distinctly low-fi waveband perfectly enjoyable, whereas BBC Radio Five Live and TalkSport have never sounded so clean.

This Trio isn't the best Jap analogue tuner ever made - that accolade probably goes to Yamaha's far, far more expensive CT-7000. But it, and a number of other late seventies high end designs from 'big name' manufacturers (Pioneer, Sony, Sansui, Technics) make superb second-hand buys.

At under £100 for a mint boxed example, it's cheaper to buy than a bottom-of-the-range Sony from your local Dixons, and will probably outlast it too. In the meantime you'll have something that makes listening to analogue radio a surprisingly natural and satisfying experience - you might even find your CD player gets an unscheduled rest. Digital audio broadcasting - no thanks!