is it qood idea to use an Equalizer with amp

Mjniz31, you have not stated the reason for adding EQ. Is it to compensate for problem areas in your room or is it to correct for poor recordings or weakness in your system?

Elizabeth, in retrospect I do agree with you on one point... the fewer A-D and D-A conversions you have in the signal path the more transparent the sound will be.

Frank

I disagree with you Elizabeth... have you actually tried all the various kinds of equalizers you've mentioned in a "high-end" system?

Have you owned a unit with advanced digital room correction like the Lyngdorf or DEQ units? Have you used the Behringer DEQ2496 full-range in your system? And have you tried a unit like a basic DBX 1231 in balanced mode in a high-end system?

I can say that in my system the dbx 1231 sounded very clean, low-noise, and musical with no apparent grunge. Playing the system in my large room without EQ makes no sense. The dbx only costs about $350 and will work very well for those folks who just require a modicum of EQ and don't have the funds for something like a Lyngdorf, which works even better but costs much more. I've not used the Behringer DEQ2496. I've heard some say it's good for bass EQ and for its built-in RTA, but maybe not great for a full-range EQ. But I haven't heard it with my own ears in my system so I can't confirm that.

I'd be curious to hear of your actual use of the EQ's you've mentioned in your own system, because your conclusions/assessments don't align with my experience.

if most of your recordings are bad.

I have an EQ, Luxman G11 - completely recapped and brought back to spec. This was a $500 EQ in the day. I use it with my Cary tube preamp, Monarchy amps, Usher speakers. I have it connected to my system using a home brew selector box (like a tape loop) so I can remove it from the circuit entirely. Like using it for some poorly mixed material or live recordings where the bass and/or highs are rolled.
Even with the EQ in the circuit and set to neutral settings - very hard to detect. So, in my opinion they can be used in a high system but best have a set up where it can be isolated from the signal path

Let your ears answer the question. All in audio is about the ears. If it sounds better, it is for you and that is all the really counts. Don't let 'old wife's' tales rule.

It depends on how bad your room acoustics are. From the sound of things you have little or no experience using an equalizer and you kind of have to know what you're doing in order to get good results.

But I have used both a relatively inexpensive dbx 31-band graphic equalizer and a Lyngdorf digital preamp with digital room correction and have gotten very good results. The system sounds much better with the EQ than without. That said, as I mentioned above, there is a learning curve--also, every aspect of sound quality cannot be fixed with an equalizer.