Tubes? Transistors? Which are better?

Wald - diverging is OK, I wasn't squaking 'bout that; just getting back to the original point for a bit. Now then: Tone controls? TONE controls you say? Wald you don't know how much I sometimes yearn for the flexibility of my good old Lux (solid state) Ultimate preamp. Not the ultimate in resolution anymore, but it had high & low filters, plus boosts & cuts at 3 different slopes, Plus variable-turnover bass & treble knobs using all stepped-attenuators And a tone-defeat button (which was engaged >95% of the time). But when you needed to futz around with a bad source, man that thing could really clean house! The Minimalist Designs have taken all of that away (but they apparently forgot to adjust prices accordingly). I sometimes used that old Lux, via a tape-loop, for those ugly situations. It's not in the rack right now, but the idea was to have that hi-res. system capability and still be able to musically enjoy some of those borderline sources. All that can be done anymore is to swap around power cords & interconnects when you want to play mediocre-sounding recordings. That is time consuming & hardly convenient; also goes beyond what I am typically willing to do. We could have it both ways, but the only components anymore that I've seen with any kind of tone controls are some bottom-line NAD. But then again there's always Circuit City - arrrgh!

hi bob, for tone controls, mark levinson's old company *cello* made some spendy preamps w/tone-controls. but, they're solid-state! ;~) they sometimes appear f/s used, but still wery spendy. never heard 'em myself, except at a show, but they always have garnered excellent press. for less-than-perfect recordings, i have a dbx-3bx in a tape-loop, & a jvc xpa1010 surround-sound ambience processor w/settings for 20 different hall-venues, driving a 4-channel amp & corner-speakers, from a 2nd main out on my preamp. both of these are completely out of the circuit-path when not in use, and the surround-sound is out of the main speakers' signal path, even when in use. these devices are very useful for making less-than-perfect recordings enjoyable. doug

Doug you just made me remember my Yamaha DSP-1 signal processor with matching M-35 4 channel amp that I used in the same configuration as you are currently using. There are 2 ambient channels for the front and 2 for the rear. Can keep the volume low enough that it never became obtrusive to the sound while offering ambience extraction to dry recordings. I haven't used the thing for 9 years since I moved into my current room but it really improved matters on less than stellar recordings.

toobgroover - that dsp-1 was the 1st ambient-surround set-up i heard, & i wanted it *bad*!!! a few years later, s'phile reviewed the jvc-unit i now have, & they said it was in another league from *all* the processors awailable at the time, including the yamaha & the lexicon, which were also highly rated. well, it was yust a matter of time before i knew there'd be one in my system. when i finally had the $$$ & the space for one, it took several years to find one, at *any* price, forget a reasonable price! i'm glad i have it, it's really nice for good 2-channel set-ups, & makes multi-channel recordings superfluous, imho. too bad these yamaha/jvc-type audio processors never really caught on... yure right about it being unobtrusive - if it's set properly, ya don't even know it's on - until ya turn it off! :>) dig that thing out & put it to use! ;~) doug

Bob: It's interesting how respectable tone controls became when they appeared on a six grand Cello pre-amp which didn't even provide for switching them out of the loop. There are many good pre-amps from the past which incorporate tone controls which can be switched out. Since I often listen to older analog recordings, I find the careful application of some tonal modification beneficial at times. This also applies to certain sonically unattractive digital recordings. MacIntosh pre-amps from about c32 have included a 5 band equalizer (not narrow band grafic) from which the Cello pre-amp concept could easily have been derived. These pre-amps are readily available on the used market and are very durable. My approach to the utilization of such a pre-amp is as follows; Since I prefer no preamp, most of my digital listening is with source directly into amp. When I want the benefits of a pre-amp and/or tone controls I shunt the source through a simple switching box to the pre-amp. The pre-amp also of course, provides a means of listening to lps and analog tape. The second option is not exactly purist. But, I don't buy the purported superiority of that approach in every instance and it has worked very well for me. Adendum: Musical Fidelity has made a nice little add-on tone control box in the past. Perhaps it is still available.