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Colorizing The Sound

For last 7 years I've been using "regular" audio system which consisted of CD player, equalizer, SS integrated amplifier and speakers. Every element in this system was purchased as new for the price ranging from 600 dollars for CD player to 1K for amp. Now I replaced everything by Oracle Turntable, DK Design integrated amp and M.Logans speakers. The turntable connected to amp with 700 dollars cable and speakers use 500 dollars version. Everything is above an average...or at least better than I had before. The soudstage now is wider, deeper... The overall sound is - I would say - more intelligent, sophisticated.. Like a good old wine.....Most likely I didn't yet grow to the level of expertise to start to appreciate the real hi-fi quality...but I really do miss those bass and treble knobs I had on my old amplifier. While (according to what I read here) having them on amplifier would ad some unnecessary electric circuity...I really think they play important role in creating richer and more colorful sound.
On top of bass and treble controls of my old Yamaha amplifier I used equalizer which probably tripled colorization of sound. Many of you could say that those equalizers and bass/treble controls just distort the music throwing it away from real, flat sound a good amplifier delivers...away from the sound of real unamplified instrument.
I wonder what you guys use to substitute missing treble/bass controls? Are there any electronic devices(may be equalizers?) which let control (to add or to subtract) tones of music? Please correct me if I am wrong.
sputniks
jeff_jones
418 posts
 
Sometimes I think 75% of retail sales were created when they took our tone controls away. Now you get the same result (a tone that suits your preferences) the hard way. If you listen to enough components and spend enough time matching things together, you can end up with a high end system proporely 'colorized' to match your preferences.
Other thing, sometimes you can call the folks who made your stuff and they can reccomend a capacitor here or a different resistance value there and help you get what you want on the cheap.
Great Luck!
twl
3,251 posts
 
Speaker positioning, room treatments, cables, and even components, can be used to impart any "desired" colorations to various systems.

While colorations might not be "desireable" by many audiophiles, all systems do have them to some extent.

The thing about most audiophiles not liking the tone controls, is perhaps not so much about the colorations, as it is the loss of signal that is present in the potentiometers used for these puposes. If they didn't cause signal loss, I think more audiophiles would accept some tone controls. Potentiometers are one of the most offensive items for causing signal loss in the circuit. We always try to have as few of them as we can. Thus, we resort to other methods to "color" our systems(if we want them "colored").
aball
2,018 posts
 
Get a McIntosh C46!
sdatch
204 posts
 
Given that your DK Design integrated is a tube solid state hybrid, you might want to try swapping in different tubes to taylor the sound to your liking. Tube replacement can be expensive, but for the less technically inclided, it is an easier way to customize your sound that swapping caps and resistors.

Best of luck,
eldartford
4,262 posts
 
Equalizers today are not your father's equalizers. All the talk about degrading the signal is left-over myth from long ago. Rather than argue with people whose minds are made up, I suggest that you simply try one and see for yourself. Personally I like the Behringer DEQ2496, which will do the room equalization chore automatically.

The signal that was put on your CD or LP has been equalized, or worse, by the recording engineer. Also, even if the recording engineer did his job well, he had no way of knowing about the peculiarities of your system, your room, and your ears.
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