Tone Controls etc. Any one use them? If so,why?

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Pete Norman, Mar 19, 2015.

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  1. Pete Norman

    Pete Norman Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Last time I looked, bass, treble and balance controls still appeared on some pre-amps.

    Just curious to find out user experience. Do any manufacturers indicate the turnover frequencies and
    amount of boost and cut?
     
  2. 5-String

    5-String μηδὲν ἄγαν

    Location:
    Sunshine State
    My McIntosh MA6600 has them, I never used them, never needed to.
    They are -+12 db (1 db steps) @ 30 Hz and -+12 db (1 db steps) @ 10,000 Hz
     
  3. They are as follows on my Marantz PM-KI-Pearl:
    +/-10 db @50Hz (Bass)
    +/- 10 dB @20kHz (Treble)

    I don't personally use them, but I do use the Bass/Treble controls on my Genesis G7.1 speakers. I have a setting for analog playback and one for digital playback.
     
  4. Drew D. Saur

    Drew D. Saur Forum Resident

    This is very much an area of audiophile religion, but I believe that, if your tastes in recordings run very very wide — meaning that you listen to everything from classical to big band to Motown to progressive to jazz to new wave to grunge to metal to EDM, etc, — and you don't restrict your listening to things that are well-recorded (gag), then it's very handy to have tone controls.

    I do listen to all of those things, and can tell you that out of the thousands of recordings that I listen to, only a very small handful benefit from them, and sometimes in very surprising ways. Off the top of my head, I can tell you that I like to boost the bass quite a bit when I listen to "A Whole New Thing" by Sly and the Family Stone, and I cut the bass a good amount when I listen to St. Vincent's latest release because the way it was engineered is remarkable (not in a good way). There are a few other times when I have found a benefit to cutting or boosting bass, but I can't recall them easily at the moment (it is comforting to know that the controls are there when I encounter those recordings). Very occasionally, I simply enjoy mucking with tone controls when I am in a particular mood and want to contemplate the choices a recording engineer made as a personal lesson in contrast.

    But, of course, there is the issue of Fletcher-Munson and loudness, and having tone controls is very handy when setting things up for background listening during dinner, etc. This is most certainly the time, for me, when they see the most use, and it's the only time when I alter the treble response.

    Other than that, my tone controls are usually defeated. But tone controls are really great to have when you need them or simply want them, and the notion of signal purity is really kinda silly when you understand all of what a signal has gone through before you play it at home, and when you can switch them out in all good designs. And yes, all good designs should have specs posted, but understand that the specs are often oversimplified. Generally speaking, the specs should indicate where the rolloff begins, and not where it ends. But a good design is a good design, so if the piece of equipment you are buying is a very good piece, and it has tone controls, I wouldn't worry too much about the specs of the tone controls themselves (although I do recommend analog tone controls, because digital ones are very difficult to get right.)

    I can tell you that I once had some very fancy British audiophile amplification that lacked tone controls, and I regretted it after otherwise having a lifetime of tone controls. I tried to tell myself I was happy, and that things were pure, and that I didn't need the tone controls, but I knew all along that I was rationalizing. I was so very relieved to have them back when I bought my next set of amplification.
     
    Last edited: Mar 19, 2015
  5. hodgo

    hodgo Tea Making Gort (Yorkshire Branch) Staff

    Location:
    East Yorkshire
    I no longer have them but when I did I never used them.
     
  6. BuddhaBob

    BuddhaBob Forum Resident

    Location:
    Erie, PA, USA
    I rarely use them. One of my preamps has no tone controls at all and the other they are usually switched out.

    Many moons ago, when I only had room and the budget for A25s or other 2-way speakers, I used both bass and treble controls all the time. Especially with speakers that have a -3dB below 40Hz and decent high end response, I think many people do without "tone control". Sometimes a variable Loudness control can be nice, a la Yamaha gear, if you listen at lower or, sometimes, high levels. I like that my C-80 Yamaha can switch the tone controls out of the circuit but the variable loudness control is still available and works very well.
     
    Dr. Mudd likes this.
  7. Lonson

    Lonson I'm in the kitchen with the Tombstone Blues

    I'm with Drew. My current amplifier has tone controls that are outside the signal path and I use them, boy do I, and they sure help me enjoy a wide range of recordings and sources. My DAC and my tubed preamp both have balance or gain controls and they are also often, happily, used.
     
  8. formu_la

    formu_la I'm not a robot

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    Yes, some albums need a little bass boost and treble drop. I have it set in my Marantz and can bypass it with a push of a button, to make it "flat". Can't imagine listening everything flat.
    Same goes for the multichannel setup in the receiver.
     
    Shak Cohen and The Good Guy like this.
  9. CCrider92

    CCrider92 Senior Member

    Location:
    Cape Cod, MA
    Yes, I sometimes need a change in bass and/or treble - depends upon the album.
     
    bru87tr likes this.
  10. utahusker

    utahusker Senior Member

    I have them, and haven't needed to use them.
     
    Steel Horse, Sailfree and BuddhaBob like this.
  11. Barnabas Collins

    Barnabas Collins Senior Member

    Location:
    NH
    I always feel like I need forum approval before using mine...

    seriously, I rarely use them as I never feel the need to. But if if the music sounds better to you by turning the bass/treble up or down, that's all that matters, right?
     
  12. Ntotrar

    Ntotrar Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tri-Cities TN
    My Rega amp doesn't have them, My Sansui has them but I don't use them and my Pioneer has a five band equalizer in place of conventional bass and treble knobs. I use the "tone" controls on the Pioneer as its wired to a mongrel Bose AM5 system.
     
  13. Analogman

    Analogman Well-Known Member

    Yeah, I do. These guys said it would be "OK":
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
  14. subframe

    subframe Forum Resident

    Location:
    Bay Area
    I don't have them. If I did, I would use them as needed, to change the sound to my liking.
     
  15. DLD

    DLD Senior Member

    Location:
    Dallas, Tx
    I've got four 2 channel rigs, 3 have bass/treble controls. The system where I have them set off neutral is on a rig with Camber Rega speakers. When played loud, the highs can become glary. I kick the treble back a notch on the NEC Integrated powering them. The big rig, powered by an Anthem 225 integrated and the library rig, with an Adcom pre, sound great with the controls set at neutral (or bypassed).
     
  16. tyinkc

    tyinkc Senior Member

    Location:
    Fontana, Wisconsin
    I have them on my pre-amp (defeatable) and I never use them.
     
  17. Duggeh

    Duggeh Forum Resident

    Location:
    Scotland
    My Quad 34 has quite sophisticated tone controls. I use them whenever I like what they might do to the sound of an album.
     
    Colin M likes this.
  18. russk

    russk Forum Resident

    Location:
    Syracuse NY
    Fisher 500c I love my tone controls and loudness switch for low level listening and audiobooks
     
    Ghostworld and howlinrock like this.
  19. GuildX700

    GuildX700 Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    All my rigs have them and all of them have a true bypass. More often than not I use the bypass.
     
  20. fishcane

    fishcane Dirt Farmer

    Location:
    Finger Lakes,NY
    the "cool" answer here is to say never and I have even bypassed controls on some pre's while I was "listening for the secret and searching for the sound."

    But the reality is that there is some variability in recording levels and qualities on many live recordings, amateur and professional. I have a dedicated rig for listening to these recordings and am happy to have tone controls to adjust for said variability.
     
    Duggeh, nm_west and BuddhaBob like this.
  21. tommy-thewho

    tommy-thewho Senior Member

    Location:
    detroit, mi
    I love them for lower volumes.
     
    BuddhaBob likes this.
  22. Paul Saldana

    Paul Saldana jazz vinyl addict

    Location:
    SE USA (TN-GA-FL)
    I have albums by Motörhead and The Sorrows (among others) that are needlessly bright and really are hard to listen to without a treble cut. My old McIntosh has tone controls that are not bypassable
     
  23. VinylRob

    VinylRob Forum Resident

    "Tone controls" on a mid-fi receiver? Sure, why not?!
    Dirty, distortion boosting, broad brush terraforming pots, in high-end would be unnecessary and criminal. Nope, nada, no way. IMHO
    Would presume, if your kit is right, don't feel they are needed... but to each their own.

    Happy tonal Listening!
     
    Metralla likes this.
  24. Robin L

    Robin L Musical Omnivore

    Location:
    Fresno, California
    My bedroom system has an old Kenwood 9600 for a receiver with bass, mid and treble controls. I adjust for a roll-off on top and boosts in the mid and bass. So sue me. The garage Frankenstereo has tone controls, don't need them with that system, don't use them.
     
    BuddhaBob likes this.
  25. Trashman

    Trashman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Wisconsin
    I'll stop using tone controls when everything is recorded, mixed, and mastered perfectly to my liking. Until then, I'll season my audio to suit my tastes.
     
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