Preamps ... no bass or treble control?

Hpims
....When tone controls are at 12 o'clock ....can one generally expext the tone controls to be out of the circuit....or is that an extra feature on your Mac

Thanks for the feedback. The Adcom is an older GFA-545. I'm thinking of getting some Tyler Linbrook Signature speakers. If I do, I will be looking to replace the Adcom shortly thereafter.

at 12 oclock they are out of signal.....pretty cool

Hpims is right about the Mac. Quad used to have a pretty good pre-amp with similar items but called them something other than tone controls; I can't remember what.

I think two reasons exist for not having tone controls:

1) It's still considered "less than purist and therefore not cool" to have them.

2) The designers don't have to address them as it would take more skill and work.

Not saying designers are lazy but why should they waste time and effort when we are demanding them? I remember calling conrad-johnson in 1990 asking when they would start supplying remote control volume with the pre-amps. I was told in a rather haughty tone, "We will never include remote controls. They do nothing but degrade the sound." Theirs are now the state of the art and accepted as the norm. It would be nice if we would start demanding the same effort applied to proper tone controls, and the companies would start compying.

Tone controls effect the time domain and phase characteristics of the single. Most operate over too great a range for them to be useful. They also affect the harmonic structure of the music.
Manufacturers who design for the so called "High end" will not use tone controls for the very reasons I stated above. High end is about sonic accuracy for better or worse.
As for the 12 o'clock setting, many of the manufacturers have the tone control circuit out at this position. There is a benign (null) point with most all of them somewhere. NAD used this back in the 70's. Also, some feature a tone control defeat switch so you can have both features.