Message from the Past: We were never against tone controls

I've been thinking about this lately and I'd like to point out that it's not just artists and producers who make recordings. I'm happy to compare different high-end recording of Haydn Piano Trios or the various reissues of, say, Exile on Main Street. I don't use tone controls for anything like that. I also listen, though, to plenty of music that was not professionally released or was dubiously mixed; consider the incredible collection of Grateful Dead audience recordings on Archive. Some of those are gnarly and need some help. (I used to do a lot of Dead tape trading, speaking of a long time ago, and one of my Nak decks had pitch control, thank god; I got some doozies in the mail.) Also, recordings today can come from youtube or all kinds of social media, and many need some EQ assistance to be listenable. I bet many folks on 'Gon are just as qualified to "produce" a recording as the amateurs making recordings in their basements. And, as a couple people have said, what's the harm in listening to the sound you like? 

I didn't mean to type that much! I've been looking at preamps lately and thinking about those ... knobs. (Balance control--I like that!)

One of many reasons I love McIntosh so much. Good tone controls. A DB or two of boost or cut, here and  there makes iffy and lousy sounding CD’s listenable and enjoyable. Another plus is as we all get older and our hearing starts suffering, tone controls can make all the difference in the world. 

At my age it becomes increasingly difficult to climb the stage and adjust sound to my liking.

The tone controls of my Sansui AU 7700 are very good...

I dont use them now because all my embeddings external controls are in place...

I use a filter control  tough...

Am i guilty?

😊

Yes you are mahgister.

Everyone actually has a type of tone control. It is called a volume control.
The frequency response of our heads changes with volume. The recording was mixed at a certain volume and if you want to hear what the engineer heard you have to match that volume. Recordings done at high volume will sound dull if you listen to them at low volume. Recording done at lower volumes will start sounding harsh if you crank them up. Try playing a string quartet at rock and roll levels and the sound will cut your throat. The trick is to fine the volume that sounds right to you.