Good, cheap and equalizer all in the same sentence. Choose one from column A and one from column B. You don't get all three at the same time.
Brightness can be the result of distortion- this is why solid state sounds bright. Its not much at all, but the ear is keenly sensitive to higher ordered harmonics since it uses them to sense sound pressure , which is a range of over 120dB. You could reduce this with a tube circuit- either a preamp or amp, since tubes tend to have less audible distortion in this regard- that is why they are smoother!
Brightness can be the result of distortion- this is why solid state sounds bright. Its not much at all, but the ear is keenly sensitive to higher ordered harmonics since it uses them to sense sound pressure , which is a range of over 120dB. You could reduce this with a tube circuit- either a preamp or amp, since tubes tend to have less audible distortion in this regard- that is why they are smoother!