@wolf_garcia ...LMAO
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.
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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). |
Have a top o the line Onkyo eq 540 not hooked up in years, no tone controls on my preamps used. B&K pro 10 mc onkyo p308-never used, always at zero sanders sound preamp- no tone controls sounds better Ted when I can hear the sound straight from the amp/preamp speakers. Seems more matural mYbe somed I’ll hook up the EQ. TIL THEN it’s straight wire only. |
Back in the day I couldn’t wait to bypass the tone controls on my Dynaco Pas 3x. All the cool people did it (yes, it did sound better on most records). I use equalization extensively with my pro audio gear (API 5500 for analog, but there are excellent digital solutions too; the DBX DriveRack units are ubiquitous. The EQ in my Bose ToneMatch engine that I use for small gigs is excellent). You have to adapt to a room quickly. Graphic EQs for quick adjustments, and parametric for dealing with comb filtering and feedback. I guess the assumption is the EQ is set while recording and during mastering. The results are ostensibly as good as possible, but they are always a compromise. The record companies have to master their records so they sound good on a car stereo, earbuds, or a bluetooth speaker. Some companies will master for us HiFi nuts, but you have to seek them out (I could go on about MQA - makes me wonder if the motivation is to appeal to the 1% audio enthusiasts or to sell new product, but I digress...). I think I’m going to try the Schiit Loki. Might be fun! |
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