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Equalization for vinyl nirvana

Hi all,

I have a question for the Audiogon and vinyl community: do you think equalization is helpful for getting good results with vinyl playback? I ask because I'm a vinyl newbie. Recently added a nice turntable and phono preamp to my rig and have slowly been collecting the recommended audiophile jazz, blues and rock albums that I like. But with few exceptions, most of the time I'm underwhelmed by the results. Lack of bass and midrange fullness is usually the problem. Sure, I could look for another amplifier, subwoofer, better cables... but I think a simpler, more affordable solution would be to get some Eq in the loop. So I just put an order in for a Schitt Loki+ 4-band equalizer. Figure it's a low-cost way to test the theory. 

Do any of you have similar experiences or related wisdom to share?

I'm also curious about the Sunvalley All Purpose Phono Eq that Herb Reichert loves, that has adjustable eq curves (https://www.stereophile.com/content/gramophone-dreams-42-sunvalley-audio-sv-eq1616d-phono-equalizer), as well as the Decware ZRock2 eq (https://www.decware.com/newsite/ZROCK.html).

Thanks for your help!
Josh
joshindc

Showing 1 response by tyray

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tyray
562 posts
 

I’d be interested to hear what that does. Very expensive.
@lewn, not necessarily, I know that some dsp systems are expensive  but the Parks Audio Puffin is very reasonably priced with a plethora of functionality and some folks love'em.

Simple tone control on you preamp will be all you need.. 
@oldhvymec, I really enjoy the way you never go with the 'this is the way you do it and that's it' crowd and say hey if you haven't tried it, stick your toe in and try it. You might like it! When did 'tone control' become a bad word? 

Don't we use it in everything from room tone control, interconnects, connectors, tonearm, headshell, speaker wire, tubes/valves, cartridges, damping, and gosh knows what else for tone control? 

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