Stereo EQ in the hifi world ...?

@roberjerman,
  I've always loved the SAE stacks. It's been my goal to put one together as a 2nd system.

But how would a vintage SAE EQ compare today as far as low noise, transparency, soundstaging?
I've used many SOTA parametrics in analogue studios years ago.

@wolf_garcia  
I like hearing how transparent the Loki is.
My previous post...

since this is only a 4 band EQ, how tight is the range and roll off for each frequency setting? ie, would you use both 8kHz and 2k to treat harsh highs on early production CDs?

Can you comment on how effective it would be to tame the edge on early CDs, ie, DG ? Many labels especially classical had poorly mastered CDs in the 1980s. Close mic's and a new technology they were still trying to learn.

Note that the 20Hz and 8kHz knobs have a +/-12 db range and the 400hz and 2kHz middle knobs have a +/-6 db range...I think the 8kHz sweep covers the treble edginess issue just fine (each eq range is centered but gets fairly wide as you increase or decrease it), and the sort of tapered response of "more first and less later" is interesting and really does the job.

Thanks wolf, very nice explanation. I'm not sure what the freq. range of the objectionable mid-high to high of these digital pressings are. Perhaps in the 5kHz to 8k?  I wonder if there has ever been testing done.

It's sad so many classical recordings were ruined for eternity by record labels and engineers during that time period.
 

I'm also curious to see how an external EQ can improve brand new CDs that tend to be loud and have compressed DR. I find that it is the mid-high and high frequencies in these as well that bother me. For $129 it might be worth it just to find out.