To tone control or not to tone control

So let's assume I have tubes. Do I use a tone control device to help out these poorly recorded CDs, or should I be listening to LPs and... and... should I use MC or Mag cartridge and should I use silver or is copper ok for the cables?

Come on boys and girls Lighten up a little. Doc makes some interesting points and has an interesting writing style as well. Frap also makes some good points also. The first digital recordings were fit only for a skeet shoot and nothing more. I don't think Doc was trying to blast tubes as much as he was the industry and its marketing techniques. Do I really need to spend $300 on an interconnect or $2500 on speaker wires? As for SS vs tubes that is a matter of preferance. Every technology has its adherents. But at the end of the day it comes down to: "This music sounds fantastic" or " This music sounds crappy". I am trying to obtain the former at the least amount of hassle and money.

Artemus, I would be interested in the results of the tone-control "tricks" suggested above -- if U have the time & feel like it, do give us feedback.
Thanks!

Bruce, I did not give you the negative votes, but I too have plenty to spare as people are obviously a little thin-skinned about anyone that would suggest that all is not well here in the land of hi-fi, and that not all of their manufacturing brethren are pure.

And I do agree with Frap that tubes do go easier on the tunes, especially in the mids and highs. My premise is that even given a modest rate of innovation, solid state SHOULD have advanced by this point to the degree that there would be no argument (and we should have tone controls, of course).

But Artemus has really hit the essence of what my "beef" (really it's just disappointment) is, and that is that instead of advancing the state of the art, we've gotten nothing more than expensive cables, bullshit promotion, a sullied and prostituted audio press, and all ungodly manner of expensive and ridiculous tweaks (Can you believe that rational adults spend time and money shining light on their CDs before playing them ... I guess they forgot to read the part of the instructions that tells you to chant "ooga-booga" while doing it).

In the end, I think that unless we are willing to acknowledge and speak the truth about our disappointment with high-end audio, then we are willing accomplices in this whole conspiracy. I honestly believe that industry professionals peruse these sites, and I know that they listen to their dealers. If they heard a constant refrain of "we've had enough and we're not going to take it anymore" then perhaps their basic survival instincts would kick in and we'd see some movement. Maybe not?

I am convinced, though, that given the current state of affairs where consumers simply parrot the steady diet of bullshit that they're fed and then gladly turn over their money, nothing will ever change. Why should it?

Doc, there is an interesting article this month in Listener magazine about the differences in tube and transistor amplifiers. The premise is that although both distort the signal, tubes do so in a more musical way, which is more pleasing to the senses. Not a new revelation but it is explained pretty well in the article.

I am also in the less is more camp. I am using a passive preamp with homemade cables to connect about $30,000 worth of components. I sold $8000 worth of cables recently and even though they did change the sound of my system, I am not convinced it was any better. I have tried various tweaks and found some do change the sound but believe that one's time is better spent choosing the basic components and working with speaker placement and room tuning. Once this is accomplished, I would rather spend my time listening to the music than obsessing about whether putting green ink on my CDs will make them sound better.

I also find it interesting, like you, that some people get offended when you disagree with them. I welcome the discussion.

Guys (gals), don't know if I offended someone(s), I have got -2-2 on all my posts on this thread. Whoever it is, help me do better rather than expect me to understand what i obviously do not. We're here to exchange info, experience around music and its reproduction -- or am I wrong?