Noobie question ...

equalizer... is probably where i was going with this question. however, there are less and less of them that are available on the market. recordings are getting better and better, i guess. still, cd's that are produces for mass market in my opinion have extenuated tones to compensate for poor stereo system ...

Mr. Noobie -

Fair question sir. Just to advance your education a bit... equalizers are used for two distinctly different processes.

In recording an EQ (equalizer) is used to correct or eliminate a specific frequency usually to make it easier to get a blend or to make up for a previous mistake... this is the whole fix it in the mix thing which rarely works out for anyone but the studio owner.

In playback, an equalizer is used to correct the interaction of the speakers and the physical aspects of the room. In other words the way the sound waves interact with the environment.

This is the only way to correct a room - but you need to understand that the goal is to set it to neutralize the problem and forget it. That is the antithesis of using it as a tone control. The whole concept here is to build a neutral reference system which accurately reproduces the source. That's why you set the EQ to fix the problems in the room then leave it alone.

The good folks at Rive Audios are frequent posters and are quite expert in the whole subject of room treatment and equalization... you might want to look at their stuff and some of the posts on room tweaks as you get into this a bit more. As it turns out, tweaking the room itself is often more cost effective and sounds way better then pouring more and more into gear...

c'mon any good audiophoole knows you use interconnects and power cords for tone controls!

Tone controls are for people who cant stand wehats on the record. The band has put what it wants on a recored. Then fools want to addd bass that the band did not add. Tone controls are for midfi low fi fools

doing away with well engineered tone controls and phono stages allowed uncle joe to start his own audio company selling tweeks.