laurenc319 Posted October 26, 2005 Share Posted October 26, 2005 hi, I've been listening to my 1979 Cornwalls with my Wright mono 3.5s for the past couple of weeks. The Corns were updated with type B crossovers from BEC. I always thought they were a bit on the bright side and am thinking of rope caulking the squaker. Tonight I hooked up my EICO HF-81 to the Cornwalls and started to listen. Still a bit on the bright side. Turned the treble control from 12 to 11 oclock, and ..... BINGO ... sonic bliss. Solid bass, lush midrange and highs right on. Tone controls.. the audiophiles joke, more in the signal path, more caps and resistors and etc. Well let me say this little cult amp sounds just right with the treble at 11 oclock. Compared the the 2a3's in general the EICO pp EL-84's are slightly more mellow and lush. Not as exacting as the 2A3s, not as precise but in every way I can think of, they are just as enjoyable. good listening , Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazytubepower Posted October 26, 2005 Share Posted October 26, 2005 Well I say go for whatever sounds good, and do not listen to the others as long as you know it sounds better. James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrot Posted October 26, 2005 Share Posted October 26, 2005 A piece of equipment that has tone controls is not necessarily flat when the controls are at 12 o'clock anyway. So, certainly, adjust them to where they sound best. The signal runs through the controls anyway, even if they are set flat. The purist approach is not to use tone controls, no matter what (this is assuming the equipment has them). But it does seem too extreme, doesn't it, to listen to an overly bright recording and not to touch the tone controls to compensate for it. Time to sell the Wrights [] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audio Flynn Posted October 26, 2005 Share Posted October 26, 2005 I have gotten past the no tone controls perspective. Mostly use it to compensate for poorly mastered music software; CDs more than LPs of course. Some CDs I have to turn down the bass significantly; 30-40 degrees maximum most of the time other occassions. Still only mess with it about10-20 percent of the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laurenc319 Posted October 26, 2005 Author Share Posted October 26, 2005 hi, ": A piece of equipment that has tone controls is not necessarily flat when the controls are at 12 o'clock anyway. So, certainly, adjust them to where they sound best. The signal runs through the controls anyway, even if they are set flat. The purist approach is not to use tone controls, no matter what (this is assuming the equipment has them). But it does seem too extreme, doesn't it, to listen to an overly bright recording and not to touch the tone controls to compensate for it. Time to sell the Wrights " No, I'll not sell the Wrights, they do too many things right, I'll either caulk the squakers or look for a vintage preamp with tone controls. It will be fun to do both and compare. Anyone got a rebuilt Dynaco preamp ? Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted October 26, 2005 Share Posted October 26, 2005 hi, I've been listening to my 1979 Cornwalls with my Wright mono 3.5s for the past couple of weeks. The Corns were updated with type B crossovers from BEC. I always thought they were a bit on the bright side and am thinking of rope caulking the squaker. Tonight I hooked up my EICO HF-81 to the Cornwalls and started to listen. Still a bit on the bright side. Turned the treble control from 12 to 11 oclock, and ..... BINGO ... sonic bliss. Solid bass, lush midrange and highs right on. Tone controls.. the audiophiles joke, more in the signal path, more caps and resistors and etc. Well let me say this little cult amp sounds just right with the treble at 11 oclock. Compared the the 2a3's in general the EICO pp EL-84's are slightly more mellow and lush. Not as exacting as the 2A3s, not as precise but in every way I can think of, they are just as enjoyable. good listening , Larry Larry, Not to put down your little jewel but the EICO's are not known for the best controls. You could possibly be listening to them in there proper position at 11:00 []. Seriously though.. I bet there is something slightly wrong with your amp or you wouldn't have to mess with the controls. The last thing anyone I know that has experience with a HF81 is that they are bright in anyway. Craig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted October 26, 2005 Share Posted October 26, 2005 hi, I've been listening to my 1979 Cornwalls with my Wright mono 3.5s for the past couple of weeks. The Corns were updated with type B crossovers from BEC. I always thought they were a bit on the bright side and am thinking of rope caulking the squaker. Tonight I hooked up my EICO HF-81 to the Cornwalls and started to listen. Still a bit on the bright side. Turned the treble control from 12 to 11 oclock, and ..... BINGO ... sonic bliss. Solid bass, lush midrange and highs right on. Tone controls.. the audiophiles joke, more in the signal path, more caps and resistors and etc. Well let me say this little cult amp sounds just right with the treble at 11 oclock. Compared the the 2a3's in general the EICO pp EL-84's are slightly more mellow and lush. Not as exacting as the 2A3s, not as precise but in every way I can think of, they are just as enjoyable. good listening , Larry Larry, Not to put down your little jewel but the EICO's are not known for the best controls. You could possibly be listening to them in there proper position at 11:00 []. Seriously though.. I bet there is something slightly wrong with your amp or you wouldn't have to mess with the controls. The last thing anyone I know that has experience with a HF81 is that they are bright in anyway. Craig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkrop Posted October 26, 2005 Share Posted October 26, 2005 Reverb?[] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted October 26, 2005 Share Posted October 26, 2005 hi, ": A piece of equipment that has tone controls is not necessarily flat when the controls are at 12 o'clock anyway. So, certainly, adjust them to where they sound best. The signal runs through the controls anyway, even if they are set flat. The purist approach is not to use tone controls, no matter what (this is assuming the equipment has them). But it does seem too extreme, doesn't it, to listen to an overly bright recording and not to touch the tone controls to compensate for it. Time to sell the Wrights " No, I'll not sell the Wrights, they do too many things right, I'll either caulk the squakers or look for a vintage preamp with tone controls. It will be fun to do both and compare. Anyone got a rebuilt Dynaco preamp ? Larry If you love your little HF81 why venture so far away? EICO made a wonderful little preamp that is very much like a HF81 called the HF85. I happen to have an absolutely prestine example here. I had some plans for it in the future but you may have some luck twisting my arm into selling it since the future just never seems to get here. I'd take a HF85 anyday of the week over a PAS preamp. Craig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpm Posted October 26, 2005 Share Posted October 26, 2005 I don't buy your jive NOSvalves. Because a person's rig sounds better with the treble rolled off a touch doesn't mean there's anything inherently wrong with the amp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrWho Posted October 26, 2005 Share Posted October 26, 2005 I don't buy your jive NOSvalves. Because a person's rig sounds better with the treble rolled off a touch doesn't mean there's anything inherently wrong with the amp. especially considering two amps were exhibiting the same results...sounds like a source material problem to me (in which case that is why the tone controls are there). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve Posted October 27, 2005 Share Posted October 27, 2005 Larry I have always used tone controls, with all the systems I have owned from a teenager (yes, the 70's) until now..on all my intregrated or preamps, from Marantz, Harmon Kardon, Accuphase, Adcom, Craig's (NOSvalves) Scott, and finally my McIntosh C2200..in fact, my search for a tube preamp concluded with the Mac, as I couldn't find another WITH tone controls. Then a funny thing happened..I find the McIntosh sounds a whole lot better without the tone controls in! I never thought I'd be making this statement in a hundred years..I always thought all my previous preamps sounded horribly thin without tone controls! I still don't know what to make of this.. But, here's the bottom line. If I WANT to add/subtract some bass/treble on horribly recorded CDs or other sources, I have that option. And, I have used them on some occasions! So use them without any guilt.."audiophile" tag be damned!! People without that option either suffer through poor source materials, or just give up listening to them altogether! Regards, Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heresy2guy Posted October 27, 2005 Share Posted October 27, 2005 I'm amazed at how many people fall for the "don't touch the tone controls" crapola that almost all of the self-proclaimed blue-blooded "audiophiles" try to shove down your throat - it's total BS. If you're going to follow that line of thinking, then why are you here and why do you have Klipsch speakers? Don't you know that nearly every "audiophile" looks down his nose at Klipsch and basically considers them to be obnoxious, coarse, crude, and extremely vulgar loudspeakers??? To me, the tone controls are there for many reasons like helping you adjust the music due to: a) bad recordings, differences in audio equipment & speakers, c) differences in room designs and their associated harmonics, and d) your own individual, personal taste....or any combination of the above. In my view, anybody who believes in that old "you've gotta leave the tone controls flat" nonsense is, very simply put, a sucker. By the way, there have been several threads in this forum over the past few years focusing on this very issue.... -H2G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxg Posted October 27, 2005 Share Posted October 27, 2005 I have had systems with tone controls and systems without - my current system is without. Whilst I dont see anything inherently wrong with using them if you have them once in a while to compensate for a bad recording I think they serve to mask rather than solve a problem. If you have a system where they are used constantly then chances are there is something else wrong in the system. Fixing whatever that is (it might be your room, your source player, and issue with either amp or pre-amp) will usually yield better results than merely turning the blunderbuss tone controls this way or that. A bad recording, or a bad room, is exactly that - tone controls may make either more bearable but they are not a panacea for all ills. I think if you are going down that route a bypassable equalizer offering more subtle adjustments might be a better option even if that does mean another item in the signal path. Again though - it is trying to take something that is wrong and disguise the problem rather than fix it. Can't say I have missed not having tone controls over the last 3 years or so.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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