Graphic equalizer to Preamp question

Hey folks, I've just won this Kenwood KC-209 Preamp from eBay.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Kenwood-KM-...Oa0u9Tqu1qkUgABTW4keY%3D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc

Now, this preamp already comes with a graphic equalizer control. So wouldn't this defeat the purpose of needing to connect a separate equalizer component?

There is a tape 2 (monitor) function on the preamp. Usually it's there for an equalizer. So this made me curious.

So, connecting a graphic equalizer to this preamp that already has a built in equalizer...
Can it be done?

 

yes, you can connect a GEQ through the tape monitor in / out. it looks like it may have a defeat switch for the onboard EQ- which could bypass it and possibly sound better than all the built-in controls set to flat.

 

The second tape connections are meant for a second tape deck so you can record from one tape to another. This was common enough in the 1980s and 1990s. I have an Audiolab 8000A integrated amp and that has two sets of tape connections.

If you wanted to connect a graphic equaliser I would have thought you could take the 'out' from the pre-amp and send it to the EQ. The EQ then connects its 'out' to the amp. This would EQ everything you play through your amp but not anything you record.

It's possible you can EQ as you record using the on board EQ.

 

The Kenwood graphic EQ iso centers are non-harmonically related so you may be better off to use the on board EQ. Most EQ units are 10 band, with iso standard centers in octave steps, which adds harmonic distortion with the increase of EQ. The Kenwood EQ will not sum the distortion artifacts, (again the centers are not in octaves) so it should be a clean sounding EQ. The better sounding graphic EQ units are generally 2/3 octave and 1/3 octave types, not the typical 10 band. If you have a 10 band to connect, perhaps you could compare it to the Kenwood EQ? Of course the purist approach is to bypass the EQ to preserve the integrity of the signal.

 

$19 with FREE shipping?!? Pretty nice price.

Why do you want to do all this EQ?

 

Yeah, I got pretty lucky there. I'm surprised nobody else tried bidding on it after me!

And well, I have a few matching EQ components hanging around, they are stored away doing nothing, so I thought it would be cool to add one to this setup. And maybe help me analyze the sound better. Make it sound nice and accurate ya know? But if the built-in EQ works best. That will do just fine.

 

What don't you like about the sound of your system that makes you feel you need EQ? Speaking as an acoustic engineer, graphic EQ cannot fix a lot of acoustic problems which happen to be time based. IF you feel you need a lot of equalization, you probably need different speakers. Sometimes a slight bit of EQ can help badly mastered recordings, but graphic EQs often aren't really set up to help that because of the frequencies they cover and the spread.