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The equalizer you don't know you have

Audiophiles are amazing at finding ways to not use an equalizer or tone control of any sort. Shame because in the bass regions EQ are magic. We can talk all day long about being able to hear the felt on the seat of the third violinist, but when you have a bass mode that is 20dB louder than anything else it can ruin your experience, and no power cable in the world is going to fix it.

But while our desire for audio purity is commendable for its tenacity, you may not be aware that EQ circuits are built right into a lot of speakers. A lot of very expensive speakers.

What do I mean? Well, very few very good sounding drivers are ideal, or integrate well with the other drivers. Speaker designers compensate for this within the crossover. Those caps, and coils which you think are just there to prevent a driver from going ballistic may also be coloring your sound, in a good way. Hopefully no one starts throwing their speakers out after this. :)


Best,

Erik
erik_squires

Showing 4 responses by kenjit

kenjit
1,771 posts
 
Well, very few very good sounding drivers are ideal, or integrate well with the other drivers. Speaker designers compensate for this within the crossover.

Which is why so many audiophiles are never happy with their speakers. The EQ that is built in, has been tuned to the designers ears rather than your ears. 

If you want a pair of trousers that fits you, who should try it on to see if it fits? The person in the store, or you?

Erik, do you see now why built in EQ doesnt work?
kenjit
1,771 posts
 
speakers are there to be heard and enjoyed not measured. Therefore it is crucial that they are custom tuned to your ears only. 

Unfortunately many speaker designers rely on measurements and the result is speakers that sound horrible. 
kenjit
1,771 posts
 
whenever the conversation goes over their head.

So why dont you enlighten us if you think you are more knowledgeable than me? 

kenjit
1,771 posts
 
@bryhifi 

Custom tuning a speaker is far less profitable for the speaker industry. That is why instead they do mass production. The same with trousers. Its far cheaper and easier to mass produce sizes that go up in 1 inch increments than to custom tune a pair of trousers down to a millimetre. But thats what audiophilia is about. Its about the fine details. 

The industry has tried to deceive audiophiles into believing that there is a one size fits all approach. Unfortunately most audiophiles never buy a single speaker. Its an endless cycle of buying and upgrading all because the speakers havent been custom tuned. As a result the response overshoots or undershoots the target response and is never perfectly right. 

Bryhifi you are obviously unhappy with your speakers so you will need your crossovers redone. 

What then?  Pay a small fortune to retune again and again?
 
It wouldnt cost a fortune to retune a crossover. It might just be a case of changing a single resistor. 

Custom tuning means that every aspect of the speaker is customised to your requirements. It can involve the crossover, the choice of drivers, the cabinet the whole nine yards. 
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