I’m with you! While not considered high-end, I still use an NAD 1300 Monitor Series preamp with 6 bands of eq available to shape sound. I use them regularly to optimize sound (to my ears) depending on the recording, as we know all recordings are not created equal.
I also tend to use eq differently for vinyl and digital in my system, usually defeating the eq for vinyl and adding some sparkle to digital in trying to replicate the vinyl sound.