2. amps-preamps
  3. 140297-1069

I like my system flat, no tone controls, no eq..........what is your preference, and why.

A poster on another thread here has encouraged me to post this. Been an audio professional and a hobbyist for 50 tears. I had my time with eq, tone controls ( even reverb and time delay units ). I am currently at the point where I need nothing to alter the recordings I listen to, nor to compensate for room aberrations. I have spent lots of money on equipment , had equipment on loan, of all types ( pretty much a bit of everything, for the most part ) and I have tweaked, and tweaked, and tweaked. I have recently tooled down to a much simpler and less expensive system, and I find I am the happiest I have ever been. Might be my amp, my passive unit, my speakers...…….yes, all of that. Yes, all of that is important, but it is the system synergy that has made me realize that changing anything with an eq or tone controls took me further from that synergy, that balance. I accept, and enjoy my recordings for what they are. Some better than others ( sq ). But, I am enjoying the brilliance of all the studio work put into them,  exactly as they were intended to be listened to. This is me. I do not believe in right or wrong, better or worse, newer vs older, yada yada yada. I have believed, and have stated, particularly in this hobby, to each his own. I hear fuse differences, power cable differences, etc. Some believe I was born a bat. I am happy of my gift, not just hearing well, but through the years, teaching myself " what it is I like ", which is the key for most of us. I am not sure where this thread will go, but I put it out there, and hope folks will drop in, even though much of it might have been stated before in other threads. Thank you A'gon family, be well, and Enjoy ! MrD.
mrdecibel
douglas_schroeder
3,281 posts
 
mrdecibel, just a clarification; I am Doug Schroeder and I write for Dagogo.com, not Doug Schneider who writes for SoundStage. We often are confused by audiophiles. A few times a year I get emails asking my impressions of a component I reviewed, but it was Doug Schneider. 

No issue; I have never met the man in all these years. Perhaps someday!  :) 
mrdecibel OP
3,065 posts
 
Yes    Yes    Yes    I have the 2 of you confused. Thank you, Enjoy ! MrD.
wolf_garcia
6,714 posts
 
I did some research and found that quite possibly Schroeder and Schneider are the same person. Nothing conclusive yet, but agents are combing through thousands of documents including high school yearbooks and restaurant receipts to get to the bottom of this issue, and plan to have completed the research before more damage has been done...or any damage has been done...or anybody is damaged by being done. Note that this investigation has been widened to include everybody claiming to be named "Douglas," and this could delay final reporting on this for at least a decade.
mrdecibel OP
3,065 posts
 
@wolf_garcia ...LMAO
mikexxyz
66 posts
 
Great thread. I’ve enjoyed reading the responses of experienced audio heads on this topic.

My second system uses a 40 year old Yamaha receiver with the loudness control that Erik mentioned. The Yamaha receiver powers a pair of Klipsch Heresy speakers. I make a modest adjustment using the tone controls, down on the treble and up on the bass, to compensation for the room.

My primary system has an old Classe’ Audio preamp/amp with no tone controls. It drives a pair of Sonus Faber Auditor M speakers. One audio magazine’s (www.i-fidelity.net) measurements show the speakers have a modest bass bump and a slightly turned down treble by design. REW measurements taken in my listening room agrees with i-fidelity.

Before I read Toole’s articles about room curves, I bought a DSP and flattened the bass bump on the SF Auditors. REW measurements showed it worked well (at that one listening spot). The trouble is I didn’t like the sound - too anemic. So now, I listen with no DSP/ no adjustments which somewhat aligns with the room curve of my Yamaha system (although the speakers are significantly different).

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