who wants tone controls on your next preamp?

Onhwy61,
You hit the nail on the head. If most audiophiles had any idea of what all can be achieved though the use of mastering level studio gear, they would quickly realize how silly the high-end's cable, component and tweaks/isolation/power-devices' "swap-trial-and-error rituals" really are.

One of these days, I'm going to have to make some time to post my reference system; as I'm now able to achieve everything that I want from it's sound reproduction, and all at a turn of a knob or two and/or a click of few switches. It so far beyond the realm of the high-end audio world that it makes the dogma of the audiophile's "purist's approach" appear not only stale and archaic but sheer lunacy!

You would think that with so many intelligent individuals in the ranks, more would have already figured it out; that it's all, after all, "The Great Audiophile Swindle!" But I guess that you need to know a little bit about the recording process, sound reproduction, acoustics, psychoacoustics, electronics and musical timbre, along with some common sense, to figure it out.

Carlos269- You are so right. We are lemmings into the sea! "Don't mind the man behind the curtain." On the other hand, what would I do with my free time if I didn't buy new stuff, change stuff around, spend hours listening to my rig, and log onto every audio website I can get my hands on?

If your preamp/amp has inserts, or a tape loop/monitor arrangement, the ideal method to give you sound shaping flexibility is to employ a top flight studio eq unit...

This will in 99% of cases provide a far higher fidelity and configurable/defeatable option than any internal circuit.

Manley make a couple of superb units, as do NEVE, and GML amongst many others, there are also numerous superb tube based mastering quality eq's, some active, some passive (i.e: no boosting, only cutting) which may prove equally effective or moreso !

Funny how some people 'can' the concept of EQ, when in fact most cables, speakers, etc... are all 'voiced' far from neutral by the designer !

More often than not the biggest EQ which many people are in denial of is their listening room/speaker interaction, so instead of treating the cause, they spend money in all the wrong places...'audiophiles' I think they call themselves, when in fact they have never taken time to study rudimentary acoustics theory, and understand very little about the actual recording or reproducing process.

All of that is fine of course, one doesn't need to be a Cordon Bleu chef to appreciate fine food, however more money often equates to less cents ;-)

Carlos, why did you wait until I spent so much money on gear to tell us/me my approach has been wrong all along? :) So yeah, show us an easier, more efficient and affordable way to do this.

I'm 42. I never had a stereo growing up. In the late 70s, the older kids in my neighborhood or my friends brothers all had stereo systems. I couldn't wait to earn some money and put together my own system. Back then, to me, these systems sounded awesome and....they all had tone controls. I don't remember looking for more bass or treble extension, it was all there if we needed it. These days, if your components are lacking in a given area, it seems like it takes a lot of effort to diagnose where the problem is and a lot of money to fix it with a room treatment, new cables, component swap ect.... I'm not pro or con either way on this, but it would be nice to turn a knob or push a button rather than investing in new cables, speakers, or whatever to get the sound one may prefer.

If you go to a quality steak house type restaurant you'll always find salt and pepper on the table. The chefs cook the food to your specification, but as the eater you have the option to slightly season your meal. That's kinda' what well designed tone controls can do. They give you the ability to add (or subtract) some of tonal flavor to a recording.

Some people have mentioned using studio oriented EQs. If you want to explore along those lines I would strongly recommend "program" type EQs over standard graphic or parametric designs. The Manley is an all-tube, passive design. Another interesting design is the Dangerous Music Bax.