1. Home
  2. amps-preamps
  3. 1111472080

Colorizing The Sound

For last 7 years I've been using "regular" audio system which consisted of CD player, equalizer, SS integrated amplifier and speakers. Every element in this system was purchased as new for the price ranging from 600 dollars for CD player to 1K for amp. Now I replaced everything by Oracle Turntable, DK Design integrated amp and M.Logans speakers. The turntable connected to amp with 700 dollars cable and speakers use 500 dollars version. Everything is above an average...or at least better than I had before. The soudstage now is wider, deeper... The overall sound is - I would say - more intelligent, sophisticated.. Like a good old wine.....Most likely I didn't yet grow to the level of expertise to start to appreciate the real hi-fi quality...but I really do miss those bass and treble knobs I had on my old amplifier. While (according to what I read here) having them on amplifier would ad some unnecessary electric circuity...I really think they play important role in creating richer and more colorful sound.
On top of bass and treble controls of my old Yamaha amplifier I used equalizer which probably tripled colorization of sound. Many of you could say that those equalizers and bass/treble controls just distort the music throwing it away from real, flat sound a good amplifier delivers...away from the sound of real unamplified instrument.
I wonder what you guys use to substitute missing treble/bass controls? Are there any electronic devices(may be equalizers?) which let control (to add or to subtract) tones of music? Please correct me if I am wrong.
sputniks
sdatch
204 posts
 
Given that your DK Design integrated is a tube solid state hybrid, you might want to try swapping in different tubes to taylor the sound to your liking. Tube replacement can be expensive, but for the less technically inclided, it is an easier way to customize your sound that swapping caps and resistors.

Best of luck,
eldartford
4,262 posts
 
Equalizers today are not your father's equalizers. All the talk about degrading the signal is left-over myth from long ago. Rather than argue with people whose minds are made up, I suggest that you simply try one and see for yourself. Personally I like the Behringer DEQ2496, which will do the room equalization chore automatically.

The signal that was put on your CD or LP has been equalized, or worse, by the recording engineer. Also, even if the recording engineer did his job well, he had no way of knowing about the peculiarities of your system, your room, and your ears.
viridian's avatar
viridian
4,184 posts
 
This is one of audioland's dirty little secrets. The signal passes through miles of wire in the recording console, often with seperate EQ, compression and processing indepedently applied to each track. The producer, engineer and mastering technician all have their chance to "sweeten" the signal. Then we are Satan's sound men for passing it through a pair of bass and treble controls, which may actually correct certain frequency response and phase anomolies created in the preceding processing, and yes, trading some transparency for it. Are we supposed to move our furniture and change our cables each time we want to play one of those Mobile Fidelity recordings that have screwed-up frequency response, not to mention the gazillions of other recordings of beautiful music that suffered at the hands of record industry hacks? El is correct as well, the newer EQs, which operate in the digital domain, have much less deleterious effect on the signal, though us analog guys probably won't want to digitize the signal just to use them.
newbee
4,093 posts
 
I can't recall seeing any provisions for adding an equalizer to the DK integrated amp. If I'm correct you would have to insert it between the source and the amp, but you have two sources....

If I'm wrong, get an equalizer and put it an a tape loop where it can be switched in and out as necessary.

However, reading into your post what I detect is that you are unhappy with the overall sound of your speaker/amp combo in general. If this is so it could be due to several reasons. Proper speaker set up is a big one. Neither your speakers nor your amp are particularily euphonic (warm) tonally speaking and could easily sound cold in combination. Proper set up and room treatments are essential.

Tube swapping referred to above might help also. Get some tubes reported to be warm in tone. FWIW the Siemans generally recommended are not, as a brand, known for being warm. Think something like Mullards.

And when all of that fails, think of getting a warmer toned amp. Everything that I have read about the DK so far doesn't suggest to me that it has an overly warm mid range, but then I'm a tube amp enthusiast so maybe my expectations are too different to judge.
joeylawn36111
574 posts
 
Eldartford - you have any opionions on the Behringer T1951 Tube Parametric equalizer? It uses 12AX7's and has a 'warmth' control.
More to discover