Tone controls -- assuming you're ok with them, when would you try them?

A quiet EQ with carefully selected parts is better than at least half of the old school EQ's.  Especially the analog pro Behringers for instance. 

Noisy, cheap parts for the most part.  Not all were the same, but hey, if you could get a Cello... that would work. :)

You're getting pretty close to the "TMI" line for me, Erik. ;-)

@hilde45

I feel like it is important my fans get a real sense of who I am.  Also, I smell like lavender.

Some people even get the wax cleared out of their ears. That's a drastic form of tone control.

You may think this is funny, but I encourage regular use of a body wash and the shower head.  I produce quite a bit of wax, more in one ear than another and after having to have it medically removed I notice my right ear starts to clog, and the L/R balance starts to shift if I do not very regularly include aural irrigation as part of my routine.

"Sound problems can *always* be fixed without tone controls"

There’s more to life than serving your stereo. Not everyone can afford a dedicated listening room, or different speakers for different uses. Also, how, exactly, do you fix issues of the recording engineer making choices for speakers that were trendy a decade ago?

The purist ideology falls flat more often than not. Also, why NOT use tone controls if they are otherwise transparent? Why should I go out looking for a new preamp/amp/power cable if the tone control is right in front of me??

Why on earth are super expensive cables OK to use to adjust the tone, hell even buying new speakers and amps, why are those OK but not tone controls?? Makes no sense to me.

I find the anti-tone control fanatics to be the modern day equivalent of corset wearers.  Rigid adherence to an aesthetic without much practical benefit.

Hey @d2girls weren't you about to buy an Accuphase??

Another way to think of this is like this:

"I don't always drink beer, but when I do..."

Meaning, it's' good to set up your system so that it's in the middle of the lane for the music you listen to, at the volumes you listen to. If you like rock or heavy metal, get speakers for that, instead of buying neutral and jacking up the bass and treble.

But, once you know where the middle of the road is, your tone controls act as subtle adjustments.  Also, tone controls can be lifestyle tools. :)  Need to keep the speakers too close to the rear wall? Turn the bass down.

Well, thanks for quoting me but I want to address a couple of things:

a standing debate whether tone controls are worth the (likely) sound degradation

This is very equipment specific. My current integrated, a Luxman, has totally transparent tone controls. I can’t hear them do more to the sound than I want. My previous Parasound P7 pre however noticeably veiled the sound when engaged, so this seems to be specific to the implementation.

Also, audiophiles are curious creatures. We don’t always think about pros and cons, we think exclusively of the cons, or we ignore the cons of whatever our trendy solution might be. Too bright? Well, let’s’ go spending thousands of dollars on interconnects until we get it right!!

Lastly, I do think in our genetically transmitted knowledge, audiophiles too often equate modest tone controls with the heavy handed use of noisy, crappy EQ’s from the 80’s.

what do you try next?

Room acoustics are always a place to start.

At what point do you go for tone controls?

Whenever you want to. It’s not as if you are going to taint yourself or be arrested. The police won’t come and take away your gear. Take some deep breaths and try it in the privacy of your own home. Draw the shades if you are afraid of being seen. :)  But, don't try to fix a speaker with them. If a speaker doesn't sound right to you most of the time, and the room isn't it, chances are that's what needs to change for you.

For me, typically though it is late at night. I find the loudness switch a real benefit to listening at low volumes.  It's a lot better than having two pairs of spaekers, one for late night, one for the afternoon. :)

Above all, try it. Ask yourself what your own benefits and issues are when you use tone controls. :)

Best,

E