Preamps ... no bass or treble control?

I'm aware that if you invest enough money into your gear, the sound quality reaches such a degree that tone controls are an unnecessary circuit that would ultimately degrade the signal, I've been there. It is also true that preamps with tone controls are generally midfi or less but there are a few quality preamps out there that have incorporated tone controls with little effect on the overall sound quality. I have found even using the highest quality preamps (ARC Reference ll MK ll) and then inserting the B&K PT3 with tone adjustment, at times raised my musical enjoyment to a higher degree with some music. But we live in a free country, if you want to use them, no one will come to your home and arrest you! I don't have audiophiles sitting in my living room taking notes when I play my music, so ultimately I have to please myself regardless of what preamp I'm using. You can do whatever turns you on.

If  we accept Dr. Greenman's assertion that tone controls are represented by a transfer function, then then any mechanism altering tone is represents that transfer function, whether cable or amplifier. Note also that the room represents an entirely different, and far more complex transfer function. This is why equalization cannot fix acoustics - equalization can only affect the input of the system into the room. Acoustics is the output of the room into the ear. The transfer functions are separate. Changing a value in the frequency domain has no impact on the reverberant domain. The acoustic transfer function of the room remains constant unless physically changed by absobtion, reflection, or room geometry.

 

 

 

Holy necro-thread, Batman!