jpm Posted March 15, 2005 Share Posted March 15, 2005 My preamp has no tone controls. On certain CDs it would be nice to accentuate the bass a bit. My speakers are pretty much in the corners and I don't want a sub. What can one do other than buying a preamp with controls? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxg Posted March 15, 2005 Share Posted March 15, 2005 An equalizer - preferable defeatable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aviserated Posted March 15, 2005 Share Posted March 15, 2005 BEST BUYS sells a nice looking version with built in bypass feature. $99.00 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m00n Posted March 15, 2005 Share Posted March 15, 2005 I couldn't live without tone controls. I'm a blacksheep audiophile. I crank both the treble and bass all the way up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Posted March 15, 2005 Share Posted March 15, 2005 cheap ADC 300 EQ for sale on eBay that I posted an alert to when? last week? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boom3 Posted March 15, 2005 Share Posted March 15, 2005 My secondary system (non-Klipsch) has a Sumo Electra preamp with bass and treble controls. The Electra is one of the best preamps ever made, if you can find it through the usual auction sources or somebody on this forum. My primary system (Cornwalls in each room corner plus a homemade center speaker) has several different tone controls modes from the Yamaha RXV2500 receiver. Right now I am running with no "bass" or "treble" per se dialed in, but with the Yamaha YPAO (whatever that stands for...) measurement-based system EQ enabled. I got my Rives Audio test CD and will check the system with my SPL meter soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunnysal Posted March 15, 2005 Share Posted March 15, 2005 there is nothing wrong with a preamp that has tone controls, unless the implementation is poor. by that I mean it uses a poor tone circuit desgin or poor quality parts. my marantz 7T has one of the best tone control implementations IMHO and I use them quite frequently to adjust sound from CD to CD or LP, etc....alternatives to tone controls? well good ole EQs, but I tend not like like potentiameters as much as resistor ladders...tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daddy Dee Posted March 15, 2005 Share Posted March 15, 2005 I agree that well implemented tone controls can be very nice. There are certain recordings which simply need some help to sound right... also, compensating for the sonic environment in one's listening room. Too bad for Audiopiles. They have their drawers in a wad over tone controls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg928gts Posted March 15, 2005 Share Posted March 15, 2005 Any time I've added an e.q. or a preamp with tone controls, the sound quality of my system drops off a peg or two. In fact, last night I was switching some things around and ended up using my AES preamp (no tone controls) in my system, when normally I don't use a preamp, just an attenuated volume control, and even that had a negative affect on the sound quality. It is hard when you've become used to the sound quality of a simple and pure signal path from CD to speaker, yet you long for tone control. I never thought I'd be like this, and yet here I am. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minn_male42 Posted March 15, 2005 Share Posted March 15, 2005 ---------------- On 3/15/2005 11:55:01 AM m00n wrote: I couldn't live without tone controls. I'm a blacksheep audiophile. I crank both the treble and bass all the way up. ---------------- with RF-7's ??????? is your room heavily padded??? like a padded cell???? with my KLF-30's i did run the auto eq program on my elite 55txi and the highs were cut slightly and there was a little increase in the midbass... but otherwise i bypass the bass and treble controls totally i agree with greg.... every time i tried an equalizer in my system, the overall sound was worse... there was more hiss and/or the noise floor was raised.... but if an eq works for you - go for it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebes Posted March 15, 2005 Share Posted March 15, 2005 It's a conspiracy I tell 'ya! That may be my new signature. Until recently I didn't even know people actually made gear without tone controls. Then I lucked into a really good amp and needed a pre-amp, so I get one highly recommended I might add from various folks here, and it has no tone controls. "What the Hell!, I say. So I ask some questions and find out the higher the audiophile ladder you go the less control you have and the less gizmos on the whatchamcallit. "Ok", I say, "so what if a particular recording doens't sound right and I want a little more bass or smidge more treble" "Simple" they say (with a certain amount of gleefullness and perhaps a smirk or two), "you need room treatments, which mean contractors, a bulldozer or two, some things called brass traps and a willingness to contort your entire body 3 and 1/4 inches to the right to achieve sonic bliss". In other words, instead of fiddling with a knob, you have to either buy a new house or put six figures into re-arranging it to suit your system. I swear this entire hobby was invented by the British, because they are the only ones quirky enough to really get it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted March 15, 2005 Share Posted March 15, 2005 I used to need tone controls. Then I upgraded my TT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark1101 Posted March 15, 2005 Share Posted March 15, 2005 Well, I'm from the old school I guess because I still use an EQ (DBX-1231 works very nicely). I find that the source material out there simply varies too much to not adjust tone once in a while. Of course that is just me. The majority of the EQ adjustments I make are reductions in bass output. Now if I worked with Gary, I would just buy the nice TT and be done with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted March 15, 2005 Share Posted March 15, 2005 ---------------- On 3/15/2005 9:45:29 PM mark1101 wrote: Well, I'm from the old school I guess because I still use an EQ (DBX-1231 works very nicely). I find that the source material out there simply varies too much to not adjust tone once in a while. Of course that is just me. The majority of the EQ adjustments I make are reductions in bass output. Now if I worked with Gary, I would just buy the nice TT and be done with it. ---------------- HA! We both know better. My wife bought it for me. She just doesn't know it. Call me sometime and I'll let you know how that works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyKubicki Posted March 16, 2005 Share Posted March 16, 2005 Its funny...I got used to no tone controls on my Audire preamp. When I got the Scott, I pretty much leave the bass and treble flat or just a sleight adjustment. there is only one recording I have that was recorded extremely thin, and even then I don't touch the tone... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leok Posted March 16, 2005 Share Posted March 16, 2005 Try a preamp with tone controls. If you find it does more damage than good (as I always have) there's your answer. If it works, you're there. Lack of bass using Klipsch speakers can be due to distortion adding amplitude and trash to the midrange. If that's the case, although you may recover bass using tone controls the entire presentation will probably just get muddy. Leo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted March 16, 2005 Share Posted March 16, 2005 So our Moon is a proponent of the 'smiley face' eq curve! Don't make me come up there! Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audible Nectar Posted March 16, 2005 Share Posted March 16, 2005 I am in the "I like tone controls" camp. It's a fact of life that many recordings aren't mixed perfectly, or to our liking, especially on older recordings. I like a bit of flexibility to attenuate on occasion. I find I use tone controls rarely - and when I do, it only amounts to a range of 11 - 1 o'clock on the knobs. Any further attenuation (to me) signifies there are other problems (wrong speakers, wrong room, wrong gear, etc). I have no tone controls in the theater system (other than sub EQ), but I don't do the serious music listening there, either. I find I am the exact opposite of what it seems most 2 channel junkies would do, which is to go the "purist" route - no EQ or tone controls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m00n Posted March 16, 2005 Share Posted March 16, 2005 ---------------- On 3/16/2005 8:38:38 AM colterphoto1 wrote: So our Moon is a proponent of the 'smiley face' eq curve! Don't make me come up there! Michael ---------------- Yes... Always have been, always will be. I've tried leaving them flat... Just sounds lifeless to me. When you come, make sure you bring you're cornwalls so you can drop them off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfogg Posted March 16, 2005 Share Posted March 16, 2005 My pre-amp offers the typical treble and bass control as well as a spectral tilt function. The pre-amp also always knows what the SPL at the listening position is so it can apply a SPL dependent form of Loudness as well. It also has 70 parametric EQ filters available on it. When the controls are set at 0dB, Loudness or the parametrics are turned off they have *zero* effect (measurable or audible) on SQ. Thats because they are all down through software, when they aren't being used they simply have no effect on the signal. I find it is very useful to have these features. The Loudness keeps the bass nicely balanced even at low listening levels without ever getting boomy or overbearing as I turn up the volume. The Tone controls are useful for bad recordings or for when I want to change the systems sound a little. The parametrics do a great job of reducing bass resonances in the room which otherwise cause muddy sound and hide details. Shawn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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