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Loudness - Why has the industry stopped producing amplifiers with this feature any longer?

I listen to music at all times of the day and night (solid sleep eludes me the older I get).  My favorite times are when the family is gone and I can select the listening level, mostly moderate to higher volumes.  But the simply fact is I find myself listen at lower levels much more often then my preferred listening mode.

Piggybacking on a discussion regarding low level listening here on Audiogon, I'm posing the question:  Why has the majority of industry stopped producing amplifiers with this feature any longer?

I look forward to your input
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mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,570 posts
 
hayw, bass and treble. 
unreceivedogma's avatar
unreceivedogma
980 posts
 
I have no loudness or tone controls. I’m sure others have explained better than I can why the shortest distance from A to B is an engineers goal. 

If you MUST have a tone variability option, tone controls provide more flexibility. Loudness was a cheap way to compensate for poor circuitry and parts in cheap components. 

I have one in my Dyna PASS. That was a long time ago. Dyna was good in their day. 
musicfan2349's avatar
musicfan2349
236 posts
 
I used to have an ARC SP3a that had something called a "Contour" control. Basically, it was a tuneable "loudness" control. I don't recall seeing it on any subsequent models. If the tone controls were activated you could control the curve to add more bottom end for low listening levels. I never used it all that much. Being as this was mumblety years ago, I seldom listened at low levels anyways. But I could see it as a handy tool for apartment/condo dwellers or for background level music. 
Cheers... 
limomangus's avatar
limomangus
1,426 posts
 
It fell out of favor, when people  were told set there tone control to  neutral and loudness switch off.
cakids
166 posts
 
Schiit Loki.
This 4 band tone control is marvelous. I use it as a loudness switch for low volume evening listening. For some harsh recordings I tweak the mid-high and high freq controls - but very infrequently. So once set, I just switch it in or out as needed. My Manley Stingray integrated amp allows me to do this with the remote.
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