Mcintosh MQ112

Who gives a crap what others think about how they sound?
 If you like them,that’s all that matters...
I'm not a big fan of Eq's,IMO all you are doing is masking the root of the issue..
 Measurements from reviews show they can sound forward & bright with the wrong amplification..I would say if they are sounding bright to you,warm them up with a tube preamp & look at your cables..
 Room acoustics can also make some speakers sound bright,perhaps some treatments might help...Good luck..

FWIW, my 802 D Diamonds are neutral, not bright at all.  You need to work on setup.  As a quick place to start, play with speak toe in.  Start with no toe in at all.  You might find Paul McGowan's book on speaker set up helpful from his series The Audiophile's Guide.  Another option would be to seek the help of someone to help you optimize your system in your home.  I can assure you that your speakers are excellent when properly set up.

If using an EQ makes your listening more enjoyable then use one. But i would try something less expencive to try, like the Schiit Audio EQ's they are clean enough and work well to let you know if an EQ is something for you. And wont cost more then a couple hundred bucks. 

The brightness might depend on the source material.  I usually find that good recordings do not sound bright at all.   What preamp do you have ?  On perceived bright recordings, maybe, just adjust the preamp tone controls ?  ie.  one or two clicks down on the treble and one or two clicks up on the bass.  

@glennewdick Wrote:

If using an EQ makes your listening more enjoyable then use one.

I agree!

@onehorsepony Wrote:

Before tossing them aside, what do you feel about adding a Mcintosh MQ112 equalizer after my preamplifier?

I would say good idea,  I use a White Instrument 4100 EQ ten bands per channel.

Mike

The B&W 800 series are not excessively bright, and certainly not crap. In general, they are a tad bright... which is why they are often paired with MacIntosh equipment which tends to lack detail and is strong in midrange and bass. If they seem excessively bright, then it is a question of electronics and setup. I own five 805 Matrix... they sound great. Equalization should be reserved for very inexpensive systems or extraordinary setup problems. It is symptomatic relief, best fix the problem. 

To really help. We will need to know the rest of your components and setup. There is a place to put photos and ID equipment under your user ID; Virtual Systems. With this we could probably bring specific recommendations. 

Most likely source of excessive treble. Trebly electronics, speakers pointed directly at you... so toeing out the speakers can help. 

@jetter Wrote:

The old advice about sound degradation using EQs is just that, by and large an old wives tale.  Without an EQ you are locked into what the designers thought was the sound you like.  Adding an EQ to slightly tweak your sound to your preference is both fun and satisfying.  

I agree! 

See paragraph below from the designers of my speakers about EQ.

''RAMIFICATIONS OF THE NEW DESIGN APPROACH 1. The room curve will be fIatter; equalization will be more accurate Studio monitors are generally equalized as a matter of course. Control rooms are rarely as smooth at low frequencies as may be desired, and mounting conditions for the monitors are not always _ideal. Further, the user's concept of monitor equalization balance may not agree with that of the manufacturer. Even though we believe that constant coverage monitors will require less equalization than previous designs, the need for equalization may still exist,'' See full article here. 

Mike

I have the Schiit Lokius that cost $300.  It is not remote control but I have it in the tape loop of my preamp which is RC.  So I can use the preamp RC to have it equalizing the sound or not with the push of a button.  But I cannot adjust the bands using RC.  For my purposes it is all I need.

The loki max cost a good deal more but to have EQ on the fly sounds great.  There was one on the other sale site that I was eyeing but I decided I didn't really need it.  It was for sale there for months, but just two days ago it was gone.

Schiit of course has a trial period.

@onehorsepony 

Some speakers just sound inherently brighter than others, such as B&W, Magico, Focal, and many others, but by no means does this mean they're crap or incapable of sounding incredible.  That's ridiculous.  Sonus Faber, on the other hand, tends to sound just the opposite of the aforementioned speakers.  This principle also applies to high-end components as well, such as amps, preamps, DACs, etc.  That's why system synergy is critical.  Make no mistake, your B&W speakers have the potential to sound absolutely incredible if paired with the right electronics and cables, which is fundamental to putting together a great sounding high-end audio system in the first place.  Happy listening.           

LM great for small band adjustments. Falls apart sonically with bigger moves. There pro pieces that sound better. Have heard many in my home that best LM. I own one that I love. Not made anymore but a total gem. Have not heard the MQ112 but want to. 

Live near enough to me in Plainfield, NJ, 07062?

I got hearing aids and a dual 31 band equalizer at the same time, thinking the eq might do a better job if I plugged the inverse of my hearing test into it. Turns out the hearing aids have a program for live music that is full frequency without compression, sounds darn good and the perforated cups allow a mix of sound in to preserve imaging (my biggest concern).

so I am not using the equalizer. It has a bypass switch, zero noise,

Thus you could try it before spending any real money.

from amazon, I took it apart, examined it's innards, it is an exact clone of DBX 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NAK4BE8?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_1

btw, why not start by measuring what your speakers are delivering at your listening position in your space with test tones and a SPL?

I could help you find a used copy of this CD with 29 1/3 octave tones (tracks 9-38)

https://www.discogs.com/release/7290000-Various-Amazing-Bytes?srsltid=AfmBOopWzyXq35pr3WXSHbpsnWLyWtchUM9JAgkXdk62tV1Rh7v6ZYtM

and an inexpensive SPL meter is all you need, you get 'relative' truth, (no need for expensive calibrated exact truth) make sure it has a threaded hole to mount on a tripod at seated ear level

https://www.amazon.com/RISEPRO-Decibel-Meter-Digital-Sound/dp/B01EZZ8B5Q/ref=sr_1_6?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.5D-pYnZdi199rw8zA4ihTCAwiVfureRhXVuoooC0i0bgGnJimMECG-I-DWjFXgFLqx_RK4mr13LJxFDpwMsLaOp3BXlTQa_LYbAUZmpIYziIbg_NNBKq4GfuSvYjbcx-tuh-bD4rkm30kZwVURuyR7xG5tAi_-Ba68P7Gof2sg08_0St9rDdS-K67tCfOpbZi-MAt4s5Suq0HYVZf42eV7yxcGQ7Iq5_2SuhDhV1kVw.0iigoeycEZ3V5NQwwUTLEOMeJoJHK4O699y849SG3so&dib_tag=se&keywords=spl+meter&qid=1749931251&sr=8-6

I have a MQ112. It is very nice! I don’t use it for room correction. I use it when listening to favorite 60’s and 70’s Rock. The MQ112 is very fun to play with, and I feel assured it is not degrading the signal in any way. I always had graphic equalizer’s in the 70’s and 80’s, and missed them. It’s a nice piece!

@tom899 ,  how’s the 10 k band in a boost situation?  Sound good and smooth and sparkly or is it a little too low in FR and sounds brash, harsh, or fatiguing?

I usually use the 10k band to slightly cut, as some older songs are a little bright in that area, it tames them perfectly. I’m not able to use my system right now, I sold my Anthem AVM 70 and have a AVM 90 on order, maybe a week out. The MQ112 sounds very natural to me. You can easily compare with the left knob to defeat the eq in and out. It’s expensive, but I have confidence in it, and I think it will last for many years.