Onkyo Integra T-417 (1979)

The Integra T-417 is an FM-only tuner from Onkyo's Integra line, released in 1979 at a list price of ¥65,000. It's a Japan-market unit. The receiving range is 76 to 90 MHz, the Japanese FM band, and the full model designation is "Super Servo / Quartz Lock FM Stereo Tuner." It was aimed at the upper tier of standalone tuners of its day. Period sources list it as a rival to the TRIO KT-1000, alongside the DENON TU-900, Lo-D T-50A, SONY ST-J75, and YAMAHA T-7.

The interesting part of the T-417 is the front end. It has a 7-gang variable capacitor and a quartz lock that PLL-controls the local oscillator, so the IF frequency always sits at 10.7 MHz. The quartz lock circuit is stated to be nearly identical in principle to the one in the Onkyo T-455NⅡ. IF bandwidth switches automatically between two stages. WIDE is for strong, high-S/N stations and uses a wide-band 4-element linear phase filter with group delay within ±0.2 μs. NARROW is for crowded band conditions, and adjacent-channel selectivity jumps to 85 dB. The RF and mixer stages use three dual-gate MOS FETs, and the detector is a wide-band balanced ratio detector. The MPX section is built around a PLL IC with a pilot canceller. The audio output stage is a Super Servo DC amplifier.

The front panel is thick silver hairline aluminum. There are three meters: a linear signal meter up to 80 dBf, a deviation meter that can switch to multipath display, and a tuning meter. The antenna terminal is F-type, with A/B switching via relay. There is a 440 Hz air-check calibrator, and both variable and fixed audio outputs. The tuning knob has a touch sensor that disables the quartz lock while your hand is on it. The lock engages when you release the knob with the tuning meter centered.

The period specifications are strong on paper. Practical sensitivity is 0.9 μV/10.3 dBf (75Ω, IHF). S/N ratio is 90 dB mono and 86 dB stereo. Stereo separation is 55 dB at 1 kHz in WIDE mode, and mono distortion is 0.025% at 400 Hz in WIDE. The unit uses 12 ICs, 56 transistors (8 FETs), and 43 diodes, and draws 14W. Dimensions are 435 × 108 × 384 mm, and weight is 7 kg.

Documentation on the T-417 is thin. No official service manual has surfaced, and most of what's known comes from Japanese database entries and a detailed 2025 repair log by an owner who bought the unit new as a teenager 45 years earlier. The repairer's notes say the quartz lock gives real confidence that tuning stays put. The sound is typical of a good ratio-detector design, with treble described as slightly on the delicate side. The dial scale illumination is described as genuinely beautiful, with the meters and indicators harmonizing with it. The tuning knob's "pulling toward stations" behavior turned out to be a fault of the touch sensor circuit, not correct behavior. Coils and trimmers drift after roughly a decade, so realignment is expected on these now. The tuning capacitor noise issue ("バリバリ地獄" - crackling hell) was cured by cleaning the variable capacitor.

One more note from the repair log: the T-417's service manual was not found, so the repairer used export tuner manuals for the T-9 and T-4090 as reference. The [AIR CHECK] switch is no longer available as a part. The RCA and F-type terminals are prone to rust if left exposed, and dust caps are recommended for unused terminals.

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