EQ before Preamp?

Rodman99999...Once upon a time Mil Spec components were superior. Perhaps you are unaware that military equipment, at least that I am familiar with, today strives to use only commercial design parts which, because of the volume of production are often better and particularly more reliable than low production custom designs. Also, as a matter of policy, effort is devoted in the circuit design part of the job to make the circuit insensitive to variation of component parameters. We HAD to do it this way because even the most precise component will change characteristics when you fly it through a nuclear blast or, for satellites, through the Van Allen radiation belt.! But, after learning to design circuits this way it has become evident that there are other benefits. Important benefits. Save the taxpayer money!

I agree that capacitors in the signal path can affect sound quality. I have a few. But they don't have to be a particular brand and sprinkling them everywhere is idiotic. I have no reason to doubt that Vishay resistors generate measurable less noise, but my audio equipment exhibits no audible noise, so I don't think further reduction makes sense.

OOPS- My bad. The end of the sentence about the encyclopedia article should have read, "the goal of any critical electronic circuit is low noise AND stability."

Most people that have purchased the better power purifiers thought their systems were quiet before they introduced the new piece. The general description of the difference is, "a blacker background", I suppose for a lack of better terminology. The same way a good purifier feeding an HDTV will yield a sharper picture. My system was dead quiet(as far as audible noise) before I plugged it into my Audio Magic Stealth XXX. The powerline grunge that the piece removed allowed a greater focus to images and a broader, deeper sound stage. There are just some things that you're not aware of until they're gone. There have been tweeks/mods that I've tried that were just so much snake oil. But then there have been a lot more that really surprised me. Upgrading whatever passive components are in the signal path, and finding the right tubes have always yielded worthwhile benefits(mainly greater transparency). Actually- I've saved money by not having to replace my older Cary power amps, but simply replacing a few components with higher quality pieces. Happy listening!!

Eldartford- A question completely off the audio subject(referring to "flying through a nuclear blast"): I thought anything with Metal Oxide Semiconductors would get fried if anywhere near a thermonuclear detonation. Have they gotten around that somehow? If so: Is there a way around the effects of an EMP bomb yet?

Rodman99999...You ask..."Is there a way around the effects of an EMP bomb yet?"

Yes, but if I told you all the details I would have to kill you :-)

Actually there are multiple techniques; some obvious like shielding, but lead is heavy (bad) so we use as little as possible. As I was a systems engineer the exact details of making ICs "rad-hard" are not my expertise, but the general idea is that the runs and other parts of the chip are larger (less miniaturized) than non-rad-hard parts, and they run slower (more current). Computer memory is the worst problem, but there are some types of memory that will not only remain operable after exposure but also will not lose data. That is, unless you are reading or writing when the blast hits, so data is stored multiple times to assure a good set will be available for use when the system recovers. Also, there is an ultra-fast radiation detector which turns off much of the circuitry power so it won't destroy itself with runaway turned-on transistors. Recent generations of guidance systems have included a star tracker which observes a preselected star once we are in space, and development of a solid state video chip (CCD) that is rad hard was not easy, and an old fashioned vacuum tube!!! vidicon which is inherently rad-hard was still used in systems that were otherwise very sophisticated.

The radiation which the system must tolerate is not primarily from the enemy, but rather from our own bombs going off in a massive retaliation. (Horrible thought).

Interestingly the spec rad levels for this military application are not as high as exists in the Van Allen belts (which is why satellites don't orbit at that altitude) or inside nuclear reactors, or for some spacecraft missions.

Finally, the underground nuclear tests that we used to do were not primarily to make sure the bomb went off (as most people assume) but rather to verify under real conditions the radiation hardening of various military electronics. We know the stuff works. And so do the Ruskies, which is the whole point of the exercise.