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Are tone controls worth a second look ?


Are tone controls still prohibited from ''high end''audio?

Seems to me that with all of the advances in electronic design, they starting to make sense again.

In my humble opinion, tone controls are not unlike adding, or substracting sonic flavor to music reproduction. Like switching interconnects or speaker cables that will affect the sound in X or Y manner.

I am not reffering to a technical comparison between tone controls and cables, but rather that their effect could be similar. When you think of it, cables have their own colors. And we pay dearly for this without the opportunity of a ''tone defeat'' button.

What do you think?
sonicbeauty

Showing 1 response by matinma

matinma
5 posts
 
What my recent trial experience says, that goes along with what Trelja said. As a 'sort of Audiophile myself' I thought that Loudness, Bass and Treble controls are ridiculous functions and they go against the 'high-end audiophile norms'.

But when I tried a vintage Accuphase Pre-Amp borrowed from a friend switching from my Bryston Pre BP25DA, all my previous ideas got changed. My Power-Amp is Bryston 7BssT. At normal listening volume I didn't notice any change, but late in the night, when rest of the family retired to bed and I was not allowed to play LOUD any more, I had to lower the volume. I started missing the beauty of the music. (I used to think that this frustration is normal and I take it as 'name of the game' if I continue listening that late in the night). I ventured into using these hidden knobs. I pushed the loudness control and oh my God! the beauty came back and I thoroughly enjoyed the music even at much lower volume.

I think Bass and Treble controls may also be treated as convenient options for compensating the weaknesses of any of the components in the chain, IMHO.

Having Tone Controls in the system gives you the options. Use them or don't.

BTW Accuphase Pre-Amps come with these useful options as standards.
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