Does a graphic equalizer show where your amp is lacking?


 I am a fringe relatively unknowledgeable audiophile. I purchased a year ago on  Audiogon both a Technics SUG700 integrated amp and Canton 9k reference speakers with shaker cables, my source is a Marantz CD player all interconnects are 35-year-old monster cable. It is a very revealing system. Having said that I recently purchased a Schiits Loki equalizer and was surprised at the amount of added detail it provided to the music most noticeable in the higher frequencies i.e. violins have more sparkle and inner detail.  My question does this mean the sug700 is lacking in that regard.Also since the Loki alters the sound is this like having different speakers simply by altering the sound signature of the Cantons by boosting or suppressing its various frequencies? What is the downside to equalizers other than adding another piece of gear the signal travels through?

As an aside I read a post on here about Chinese knock-off audio goods so for the fun of it my price of admission was around $20 for a pair of knock-off Van din Hull interconnects normally costing a few hundred bucks. Well, I got what I expected JUNK wrapped in a Van din Hull cover. It played ok until I turned up the volume when my amp told me "signal overflow" whatever that means( clipping ?). Anyway removed the ripoff and attached my old Monster interconnects and no more signal overflow just sweet music. If these were the real deal they are defective as evident when taking it apart, just sloppy workmanship! One example the center pin on one RCA interconnect was not only poorly coated but half of one pin was cut through! The copper strands were sloppily crimped with many strands not where they should be  and no soldered connections just press fit. 

scott22
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Regarding the use of your Loki, in order to improve your high frequencies did you actually rotate your high frequency control or did it just sound better plugged into the circuit? If you did, how much?

Your present interconnect and speaker wire could be a major impediment to good sound. On the more inexpensive side I would suggest you get some IC's from Blue Jeans and some new speaker wire as well, perhaps the Canare 4s11. Don't even think about whether or not your amp is adequate yet (if ever) until you have at least put in some decent economy wires.

A graphic equalizer boosts or cuts certain frequency ranges in volume. It has less control over the frequency range than a parametric equalizer (which, as the name indicates, allows you to set parameters on the boosts and cuts).

So it is kind of like changing the music to make certain parts of it sound louder or softer. This is not really analogous to changing the speaker, in the same way you might ask a pianist to play certain keys harder or softer but it will still sound like the same piano.

Since it is easier to hear louder things, and harder to hear softer things, just because you now notice something more does not mean that what you were hearing before was incorrect or that your equipment was lacking. (Like above, same piano, just some notes louder or quieter now.) Without doing a measurement of your speaker's frequency response in your room, you can't really say for sure that the boosts or cuts you have added are making things more correct or actually less correct, even if it sounds better to you.