Bargain interconnects to tame treble & boost bass?

Trelja...It took me months of fiddling around to learn how to set up and use the DEC2496. And I are a engineer!

The line level setting is one thing that I found very important, but which many users probably don't bother with. You can monitor the input (electrical) levels using the METER mode. It will, among other things, log the maximum level seen during the course of playing a CD. The procedure I used is as follows. It applies when the Behringer is between the preamp and the power amp, and is cited to illustrate the basic idea. (If you use the digital input this may not be necessary).

1..Mute, or turn off, the power amp.
2..Play a CD that includes some loud parts. (I actually used a test CD put out out by Denon that includes test signals at specific levels like -20dB).
3..Crank up the volume control until the level runs around -20 dB on the green LEDs. (Remember this is dB down from the 0 dB reference). If you use the Denon test CD this -20dB setting can be done exactly.
4..Back off the volume control a bit, and then turn up the power amp gain to what you think is loud.

In my system this setup procedure results in typical music signal running about -20 dB much of the time, and the peak for a whole CD being -6dB or less for both channels. I never see CLIP. However you do the setup, this should be the goal. The basic idea is to make the MSB (bit 16) of a CD correspond to the MSB (bit 24) of the Behringer. Hopefully this will happen automatically if you use the digital input.

Yes, a lot of subletys to the DEQ2496, Eldartford. Thanks for making my learning curve a lot shorter! It always pays to follow someone who has already conquered the learning curve.

Last night, I spent a good amount of time with the Behringer, first with the integrated, then my monoblocks. After listening, I must say you are right, the active EQ seems to add nothing more than the "Bypass All" functionality, which is a true accomplishment. No, it's not 100% of what is going into the unit, but it's sooo close, I can think of no high end audio preamp that even gets within the same area code as the Behringer.

With the Atmas, I was able to dial in a bit more upper bass, while cutting back on things a bit around the crossover of my loudspeakers and smoothing out the sound. Now I just need the microphone so I can run the curve of the room, and have the unit apply the appropriate compensation.

Seems like the Behringer is going to be staying, and it will hopefully cure my room anomalies. Right now, I can't think of too much available in today's high end market at $300 that will solve more problems than the Behringer. Problems that many an audiophile aren't aware of, ignore, deny, or go to a lot of trouble to apply room treatments that may create as many issues as they solve. If things continue to progress as they are, the Behringer DEQ2496 is certainly going to have my recommendation.

Thank you again!

Trelja...And it ain't even broken in!
Were you able to get those green -20dB LEDs flashing?

Tvad, just an FYI, but while using the DEQ2496, you should definitely try using it with it's stock power cord first. That eq was one of only 2 pieces of gear I've ever heard that didn't sound better with an aftermarket PC. Also, be aware of it's high output level with the back-panel switch set to +22 db. It may very well cause overload distortion in whatever you feed it into. Unfortunately, I found the lower-output setting to sound really inferior.