Eurorack,
I am delighted to comment, after being bored for several years by a-philes who cling to the dogma of audio purism. I am a violinist with lifelong experience listening to the sound from my seat in the 1st violin section in orchestras on different stages, and listening in many great concert halls from the 1st row and further back in numerous locations. I did recordings of orchestras using close ORTF cardioid microphone technique AND EQ. Most commercial classical recordings are quite laid-back, striving for ambience and the sound heard at mid hall, 50-100 feet away from the stage edge. Compared to the 1st row sound, the sound mid hall is severely rolled off in highs, sounding impossibly dulled for my tastes. The sound is more evenly balanced than the 1st row, but at the big sacrifice of instrumental detail.
For playback of most commercial recordings using EQ to boost HF, I get much more of that 1st row experience. Even for playback of my own recordings using close mike placement, when I began without the EQ, the bass was too prominent and HF were dull when played back on most speakers. This pertains to dull dynamic speakers and is less true about my electrostatic speakers. Quickly I achieved the brilliance of what I was seeking by using the Rane ME 60 analog EQ, which I bought at Sam Ash in 1995 for $600 retail. The conductor of my orchestra was unhappy with my recordings before I used EQ, but was much happier when I added EQ in the recording itself. He was not an a-phile, and had a mass market audio system, but certainly as a musician he had an educated ear.
It is true that EQ can distort the tonal balance of the music if done carelessly, and introduction of additional electronics is undesirable. But these factors are vastly 1000 to 1 outweighed by the benefits of increased clarity, spaciousness, air. Audio purism is inappropriate because all speakers are hopelessly distorted compared to natural instruments, regardless of how much money is spent on preamps, amps, sources, cables. I prefer the sound of my electrostatic speakers with my good sounding ancillary components WITH MY EQ, to a live concert sound from further away than the 5th row. The 1st row center is the best in the audience, but still nothing like the excitement of being on stage hearing it that close.
I don't have any experience with digital EQ or other analog EQ's like Levinson Cello Palette. Using the Rane in its flat setting without EQ, it was more neutral with greater clarity than the Spectral DMC 10 gamma line stage. Regardless of how good you think your current system is, without EQ it is nothing compared to what it would be with any decent EQ. Go for the GAS!!!!!! Use the EQ judiciously and experiment to see what sound suits you. Then when your rich friends visit, tell them you have a new mystery component they are hearing. Then reveal the truth. The honest ones will be delighted and thank you for the education.
