Dynaco FM-1 (1959)

Name: Dynaco FM-1
Brand: Dynaco

The Dynaco FM-1 was the company's first FM tuner, introduced in 1959 according to Stereophile. A 1969 Audio advertisement said it was still selling well after nine years (May 1969, p.37). It used ten tubes. It set the pattern Dynaco would follow for years: sell it as a kit or factory-wired, keep the price low, and don't make older models obsolete when something new comes along. The FM-1 sold for $99.50 as a kit or $149.50 wired, per Audiolab.

Dynaco's own advertising in the late 1960s said the FM-1, after nine years, still outsold all other mono tuners combined - and that it could be converted to stereo at any time by adding the $29.95 FMX-3 multiplex module (Audio, May 1969, p.37). A HiFI-Stereo 1969 advertisement called it the "$79.95 mono FM-1" (HiFI-Stereo, April 1969, p.40). The FM-3 stereo tuner that followed in 1963 was explicitly positioned as a complement to the FM-1, not a replacement.

Documentation on the FM-1 is thinner than on later Dynaco tuners. It measures 12.5 in W × 4.5 in H × 10 in D and weighs 10 lb. Here is what the record shows:

- Sensitivity: 1.8 µV (hifi-wiki) or 3 µV (Audiolab) - sources disagree

- Image rejection: 60 dB (Audiolab) or 70 dB (hifi-wiki) - sources disagree

- IF rejection: 60 dB

- Stereo separation: 40 dB (with FMX-3 module)

- Frequency response: 30 Hz - 15 kHz

- Tuning range: 88–108 MHz

- Power consumption: 15 W

- Uses a 3-gang tuning capacitor

- 10 tubes

The two sources conflict on sensitivity and image rejection, and nothing settles it, so both figures are listed. Production years are not documented in the available record.