thebes Posted October 14, 2004 Share Posted October 14, 2004 Bass, Balance Treble. Those magic knobs on the amp/receiver. Much more than an illusion of control but a defacto means to change what you're hearing. A lot of us still use gear withhout remotes, but even with digital equipment we still have the same three "knobs". Sure I fiddle around with them from time to time but basically they are set straight up, "flat" I guess it's called. Question is, is this optimum, or merely a starting point to musical nirvana. I mean, didn't the designers of these amps have that in mind when they "tuned" these things or was it simply designed to place their "zero" settings so it appealed to the greatest number of average joe buyers. I guess I'm asking how to you guys deal with these three knobs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3dzapper Posted October 14, 2004 Share Posted October 14, 2004 That's easy, I don't have any. The Blueberry and Mono 10s are free of any of those inconviences. But, I'll tell you a deep dark secret: that's what trying different tubes, interconnects and speaker cables is all about, customizing the sound to you and your envrionment. Just the same as those three knobs. Twist them suckers to your hearts content. Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
analogman Posted October 14, 2004 Share Posted October 14, 2004 ---------------- On 10/14/2004 6:51:32 PM thebes wrote: Bass, Balance Treble. Those magic knobs on the amp/receiver. Much more than an illusion of control but a defacto means to change what you're hearing. A lot of us still use gear withhout remotes, but even with digital equipment we still have the same three "knobs". Sure I fiddle around with them from time to time but basically they are set straight up, "flat" I guess it's called. Question is, is this optimum, or merely a starting point to musical nirvana. I mean, didn't the designers of these amps have that in mind when they "tuned" these things or was it simply designed to place their "zero" settings so it appealed to the greatest number of average joe buyers. I guess I'm asking how to you guys deal with these three knobs? ---------------- Use the balance control to achieve "balance" between the two speaker's outputs as heard at your listening spot. You can best fine tune this with a test tone recording and a sound level meter. If you don't have these your ears will work, use FM interstation noise and adjust so that neither speaker "sticks out" or appears to dominate your sound stage. As far as "tone" controls go, their quality and effectiveness will vary with equipment and design. To keep it simple, trust your ears, if the music's too bright for your tastes back off the treble accordingly, same for the bass control. Perfectly "flat" output, (if there is such a thing) probably will not sound correct to most ears in typical, flawed, real world listening rooms,(like in my condo).Set you controls where you enjoy the sound the most, THERE IS NO RIGHT OR WRONG WAY if you find the sound pleasing. Hope this helps. With regards, Analogman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrWho Posted October 14, 2004 Share Posted October 14, 2004 I put them knobs to where it sounds the best and I find that I'm always tweaking them a little here and there... I'm always listening at different volume levels which means I'm always fighting the loudness factor and then I'm always listening at different times of the day. You will notice how much better your system sounds at the end of the day when you're totally relaxed and resting in a very comfortable position, versus plopping your butt down right after running 10 miles. Being relaxed (absorbative may be a better word) is the first key to audio nirvana. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Robinson Posted October 14, 2004 Share Posted October 14, 2004 Yeah, I've got monoblock SET amps with a simple pre-amp. Just an input selector knob and a volume knob. For HT, I have all the "knobs" set to neutral. I find little need to tweak them, honestly .... When I had my HK430 and KG4's, I touched the bass a bit (1 notch), but that was about it. Klipsch speakers really sound great at most neutral settings! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IB Slammin Posted October 14, 2004 Share Posted October 14, 2004 ---------------- On 10/14/2004 6:51:32 PM thebes wrote: Bass, Balance Treble. Those magic knobs on the amp/receiver. Much more than an illusion of control but a defacto means to change what you're hearing. A lot of us still use gear withhout remotes, but even with digital equipment we still have the same three "knobs". Sure I fiddle around with them from time to time but basically they are set straight up, "flat" I guess it's called. Question is, is this optimum, or merely a starting point to musical nirvana. I mean, didn't the designers of these amps have that in mind when they "tuned" these things or was it simply designed to place their "zero" settings so it appealed to the greatest number of average joe buyers. I guess I'm asking how to you guys deal with these three knobs? ---------------- Flat is flat. If settings are at "zero" and reperduction is not good, then speaker placement, room treatment, ect. should be adusted. Regards, Terry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IB Slammin Posted October 14, 2004 Share Posted October 14, 2004 ---------------- On 10/14/2004 6:51:32 PM thebes wrote: Bass, Balance Treble. Those magic knobs on the amp/receiver. Much more than an illusion of control but a defacto means to change what you're hearing. A lot of us still use gear withhout remotes, but even with digital equipment we still have the same three "knobs". Sure I fiddle around with them from time to time but basically they are set straight up, "flat" I guess it's called. Question is, is this optimum, or merely a starting point to musical nirvana. I mean, didn't the designers of these amps have that in mind when they "tuned" these things or was it simply designed to place their "zero" settings so it appealed to the greatest number of average joe buyers. I guess I'm asking how to you guys deal with these three knobs? ---------------- ......I guess I'm asking how to you guys deal with these three knobs?...... It's just like the Twins. Slammin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daddy Dee Posted October 14, 2004 Share Posted October 14, 2004 Right now I'm using the Peach preamp and it has no tone controls. Most of the time that's o.k. However, there are some CD's which are not recorded with the proper EQ and need some bass boost. Also, there are times listening to lower volumes that having a "loudness" switch would be very nice to fill in the bottom end. I think it's too bad that audiophiles have gotten their drawers in a wad to the extent that the serious audio market no longer offers tone controls. There are times when tone controls are very useful. But the bear designers can't add tone controls because the philes won't take their gear seriously. Very few exceptions... Van Alstine and Carver do offer this on some preamps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daddy Dee Posted October 14, 2004 Share Posted October 14, 2004 Right now I'm using the Peach preamp and it has no tone controls. Most of the time that's o.k. However, there are some CD's which are not recorded with the proper EQ and need some bass boost. Also, there are times listening to lower volumes that having a "loudness" switch would be very nice to fill in the bottom end. I think it's too bad that audiophiles have gotten their drawers in a wad to the extent that the serious audio market no longer offers tone controls. There are times when tone controls are very useful. But the bear designers can't add tone controls because the philes won't take their gear seriously. Very few exceptions... Van Alstine and Carver do offer this on some preamps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
76scalas Posted October 14, 2004 Share Posted October 14, 2004 I modified my Dynaco preamp to bypass the tone controls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted October 14, 2004 Share Posted October 14, 2004 The Peach has a "tone control" -- it's called Lo-Z mode. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike stehr Posted October 14, 2004 Share Posted October 14, 2004 Stepped attenuator and a on/off switch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strabo Posted October 15, 2004 Share Posted October 15, 2004 My tone controls are set to bypass on the Anthem, and the PAS 3 is wired to bypass them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edwinr Posted October 15, 2004 Share Posted October 15, 2004 No tone controls either. I must admit I do miss 'em. A properly designed set of bass and treble controls would be useful sometimes, particularly when I'm listening to radio. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scotbuck Posted October 15, 2004 Share Posted October 15, 2004 Greetings, From my experience, there's no such thing as a "flat" response. All components have a sonic signature; when they're connected in an audio system, they transfer that signature to the other components. Therefore, if one had, say, a Sumiko cartridge on their TT then switched to a Sure, the "voice" of the front end would change. At that point, tweaking the tone controls might be helpful. As a lark, I've experimented with using the preamp-out of my Audio Note with a QED 440 power amp; I then compared the sound with the QED's matching preamp. Totally different sound (and not just due to "toob" vs SS). To approximate the sonic signature of the Audio Note, I had to adjust the QED preamp to bass=2:00 and treble=1:00. This begs the question: which is "right"? Is the Audio Note too bass and treble heavy or is the QED to midrange prominent? Or did the QED engineers assume that folks would tweak the tone controls so they put the middle "flat" notch at a place that encouraged adjustment? Of course pondering these questions takes time away from listening to music! Therefore, I prefer to simply assume that I can tweak away until it sounds good to me, then sit back and enjoy... Take care, Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daddy Dee Posted October 15, 2004 Share Posted October 15, 2004 ---------------- On 10/14/2004 10:32:17 PM DeanG wrote: The Peach has a "tone control" -- it's called Lo-Z mode. ---------------- Dean, to your ears, what difference to you hear in LoZ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edwinr Posted October 15, 2004 Share Posted October 15, 2004 ---------------- On 10/15/2004 8:14:28 AM mdeneen wrote: And so it's a real dillema. Adding a cheapie tone control hurts the serious appeal, adding a proper one raises the price very significantly for something used "once in a while." I dunno. mdeneen ---------------- I didn't think about the cost equation. When you factor in higher costs for quality tone controls, then I'm just as happy to do without. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunnysal Posted October 15, 2004 Share Posted October 15, 2004 In general I find I have the bass pumped up one notch or two (my tone controls are resistor ladders not pots), sometimes I drop the treble a notch or two on older hissy recordings. the tone changes somewhat from recording to recording and I adjust to suit....regards, tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Royster Posted October 15, 2004 Share Posted October 15, 2004 No tone knobs for me! Line stage all the way. Roll tubes, tweak speaker position, play with room, toy with interconects and speaker cable, now thats what i call a involved hobby or sickness as my wife says. If the recoring is bad, I find that I don't listen to it. Just me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShapeShifter Posted October 15, 2004 Share Posted October 15, 2004 Mine are as following for the different systems. Klipschorns w/Cary SLP 94 Preamp - No Tone Controls Cornwalls w/Fisher 800B - Controls Flat Klipsch Bell Fronts/Cornwall Rears/w NAD 761 HT Receiver - Flat* Quintet Micro Sys w/Onkyo TX-DS484 HT Receiver- Flat* *FWIW - Both systems do have subs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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