2. amps-preamps
  3. 986669323

To tone control or not to tone control

I recently stepped up to a Conrad Johnson PFR preamp to mate with my CJ MF-2200 amp (200 wpc). Was previously running an Adcom GTP-450 pre/tuner which had bass/treble controls which help to compensate for those recordings which are recorded poorly. Though the CJ PFR sounds really good on most of my cd's there are some of my favorite artists whose recordings are really pitiful. Is there a good tone control which I can use on the PFR to use for these poor recordings? Is there a way to connect both preamps to one system. I do have an older cdp that I could connect to the Adcom preamp for the poor cd's and use the main system for the good stuff. I have also thought of trying a subwoofer to help with filling in the bottom end since most of the poor recordings are R&B and Rock N'Roll and that is where they seem to be lacking the most. The rest of my system consists of a Sherwood Newcastle 980 cdp and Infinity RS 5000 speakers (12 yrs old) and next to be replaced. As always your help is appreciated
artemus_5

Showing 1 response by cornfedboy

cornfedboy
1,645 posts
 
just an observation about the lack of tone controls on highend pre's: accuphase includes remotely controllable tone controls on their top-of-the line all digital dc-330. the control can be bypassed but if engaged allows you to select 2 frequencies in the "high" (2khz, 7khz) and "low" (200hz, 500 hz) ranges and adjust any or all of these frequencies in .5db increments. i have rarely used this feature but have found that it does not "distort" the sound, presumably since it works entirely in the digital domain.

accuphase also offers a 64 band digital "voicing equalizer" that may function as a super-sophisticated "tone control" allowing you to compensate for room anomalies. this product, the dg-28, as well as the dc 330 are quite pricy but they do work. there are less-expensive choices, too, including those sold by z systems. -kelly
More to discover