Yes there are cheap televisions = that were made a few years ago that did not have as sensitive tuners as a new converter box. But not all converter boxes are equal. There is no minimum standards of how well a converter box has to work to be able to be sold in a department store for $40 + each.
The most important part to remember is that if you hold your arm in front of your face, you can see your arm, as you move your arm around the side of your head it gets harder to see your arm with your eyes, when you hold your arm behind your head, you cannot see your arm at all. The same is true with a UHF signal, if you have your antenna pointed in the wrong direction or even off center too far - you are only going to get poor to no signal at all.
It is important to use a good quality antenna which receives both UHF and VHF signals. If your station is 40 or more miles away from your house - you will need a high quality antenna like a Winegard 8200U and possibly even a pre amplifier.
If there is a mountain between you and the transmitter, even a good antenna and pre amplifier will not receive the signal. A amplifier only amplifies the signal that is present, it cannot amplify something that is not there. The only real purpose of the amplifier is to compensate for long runs of wire and loss from splitters and connectors.
The best signal you can have is what ever is at the antenna.
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