Noobie question ...

i deal with no tone control preamps by avoiding them like the plague, maybee in 1972 cheaply made tone controls interfered with the signal but im not buyin that theory now days.

here is what i find to be the silliest thing about all the claims made about tone controls interfering with the signal,i read all the time where guys claim their speaker wires gave them better bass or mids or even tube rolling to find just the right sound when a simple twist of a knob does the same adjustment only alot better & alot cheaper.

unless you want to end up tweaking your system endlessly or listening to recordings that make your rig sound good stay with tone control preamps.

i tried a few HIGHLY ACCLAIMED non tone control preamps & was not the slightest bit impressed nor did i notice any improvement in sound,only draw backs.

this is one of the biggest myths in hifi.

tone controls you need for bad records. if you don't have bad recorded material than you don't need tone controls. so the best one imo should have tone controls and bypass direct switch if you don't need them.

Hmmm .... your not yielding this "Noobie" a fair choice. Look at solid state and your options will change. It's really a resonal preference and that is all ......

I agree with zenieth -- personal preference. Lots of people like to pour ketchup all over their sirloin. Those of you who feel strongly about tone controls should know that each pot only affects one frequency. So all you can really do with them is raise or lower the volume of that particular frquency. If you want choice about your contour/correction, then you should buy an equalizer and learn how to use it. I believe that is what Kal meant about them being too crude.

equalizer... is probably where i was going with this question. however, there are less and less of them that are available on the market. recordings are getting better and better, i guess. still, cd's that are produces for mass market in my opinion have extenuated tones to compensate for poor stereo system ...