Equalizer in a Hi Fi system

tlcocks: Enjoy!  I don't use/ like headphones unless I am in a plane!  I never had a need for them such as neighbors nearby that may get disturbed.  I used them occasionally long ago when I used to DJ some and use them once in a while when mixing, recording, or mastering myself playing guitar, synth, theremin or drums and in my humble home studio and that's all. 

I prefer to feel the sound in conjunction with hearing it whenever I listen to music.

I do too. Totally prefer loudspeakers. Like thought to bounce back and forth between the two. The headphone chain has the edge with resolution. But feeling the music and timbre…speakers win

the ultimate list of One set of controls, Stereo EQ

Gearspace thread 

This is where I’ll go first if I ever need to hunt for an EQ that’s true stereo. Great comprehensive list. Was wrong about SPL PQ. It’s not true stereo linked

@mirolab , any experience with Hendyamps Michelangelo?  This piece looks extremely compelling to me. 

@ellajeanelle Your complaint about noisy EQ is justifiable by your comment that you’ve tried many 31-band and graphic EQs. Graphic EQs are the worst! They were designed for live sound where you need to get quick control of a room, but all those bands of narrow EQ each add noise, and phase issues.

What you want for fidelity is a studio EQ with a few bands of wide-Q for minimal phase shift. If possible, you also want ganged controls, so that you only adjust one knob for both channels. Adjusting L & R channels separately is not only a drag, but difficult to keep balanced. @tlcocks is a big fan of the Charter Oak PEQ and I’ve had great luck with the Skyline M3D. There are others, but with studio EQs, you will not get the noise that you get with 15+ band graphic EQs.

@tlcocks Til now, I didn’t know about the Hendyamps Michelangelo, but it sure looks compelling! And the same price as the new McIntosh. With 8 bands, the Mac gives you far more control of the low end, but I’d bet the highs are sweeter with the tube EQ & air band control. There's a Sound On Sound review that says this EQ has a bit of "character" which is desirable in the studio when mixing.  Maybe not the best choice for a playback system however.