No room is perfect, no equipment is perfect, no recording is perfect. Equalisers and tone controls are the remedy to get the sound we love from all these imperfections put together.

I've come full circle. After 30 years of audiophile puritan views on tone controls, I've realized (with the help of full range electrostatics) that life is too short to suffer bad recordings. Bravo to Schiit audio!

Great subject, Steve. Prior to your short review of the Loki, I was very much in the “straight wire with gain” school of listening. Well, recently I was in California visiting my son and his family. My son and I being huge fans of Schiit gear, he and I along with his audiophile friend made the trek to visit Schiit’s audio store called the Schiiter (...no Schiit) just to look around. Jason Stoddard’s friend and long time employee gave us a demo of HIS favorite piece of Schiit gear, the Loki. Needless to say, we were so impressed with what this seemingly simple device was capable of, we each bought a Loki. For the audiophile nay sayers, I only have to say, for $150 it’s silly NOT to give the Loki a try. Yes, while we may well believe the recording engineer knows best, there are many other factors to consider when we are playing back that “perfect” recording on our HiFi system at home in OUR listening environment. The loudness we are playing back this recording, the less than perfect acoustic space, the sometimes imperfect match between our phono cartridge and preamp, not to mention poor RIAA equalization of many older records, magnetic tape degradation, overly bright older CDs, time of day, etc., etc. The list could go on an on and my comment is way too long already. Cheers, Steve!

I understand the "piece of wire with gain" philosophy, but love tone controls and equalisers too :D

Perhaps if they weren’t called “Tone Controls “ but instead “Room Conditioners” then....hey presto...now acceptable.

In the 80's I used tone controles. Then in the 90's I was told they were bad. "If you need tone controles, there's something wrong with your system." Ok. Fine. So, no tone controles in the 90's and 2000's. But recently (within the last 2 years) I've gone back to using them on an as needed basis. As you pointed out, they can help with a poor recording, but also with room acoustics, and of course, they help my modest system sound a little more enjoyable.

I totally agree with the tone controls...These settings really enhance and improve the listening experience. For example when I listen to classical music, I usually increase the bass level and sometimes the trebles to hear the orchestra much better (depending the sound quality of the CD I am going to listen to), and when I listen to rock music I lower the bass a little bit, so I can hear the higher tones, the instruments, the voice, and all the details a little bit clearer and better. It's a very useful feature the modern audio systems have that actually helps me a lot.

I'm lucky enough to live about five minutes from the Schiit store on Market Street in Santa Clarita, CA. I was there for several hours yesterday talking to one of the founders (fantastic guy) He gave me an incredible demo of the Loki, and to make a very long story short, it blew me away. Even on a 1970 Carpenters CD the Loki made that recording sound alive. You could hear Karen Carpenter's lips forming the words. The sonic experience was like the difference between a 1970's TV and a flat-screen OLED. There was that much of a difference in clarity and imaging. Even on a Rat Pack live CD, I could hear the atmosphere of the room. Dean Martin was alive and singing right in front of me. It was almost holographic. Then we switched to acoustic guitar. The metal sound of the strings rubbing against the fingers was magical. For each selection, the Loki was turned off and then on. You suddenly realize how flat and boring most recordings are when the Loki is disengaged. When it's suddenly turned back on every cut is alive again. I've gone on way too long, and there is so much more to say, but I'll just say that I'm excited to purchase one and hear everything I've been missing.

Because they'd rather pay 5k for a cable to do the same thing

I wish there was an easy "tone defeat" button for rental cars. Every time I rent a car the bass is always set to the max. First thing I have to do in a rental car is fix that.

IMO tone controls should have never went away. Don’t like them, run them flat. Tweaking is half the fun in being an audiophile.

I like units with a tone control bypass. When not needed no sense being added to the path.

I really miss a loudness button that slightly boosts and brightens at lower volumes.

As a live sound engineer, Tone controls are useful for treble heavy speakers that are bright or bass that is super boomy, I like to cut rather than boost frequencies and only by 3db to 6db 👍would love to hear others input.

Kudos to Yamaha for still having tone controls on all their stereo amps

When I started out in HiFi (this was in Europe) and bought my first components; in the 80's, Britain was, at least to me, the pinnacle of audio-design and knowledge, and there, it was all about "pure"; pure signal, as little "manipulation" as possible, as clean a signal as could be mustered, from source to speaker. So Amps like The Cyrus, or Onix were developed; on-off, input, volume: that was it! And we had small bookshelf speakers on huge stands and our turntables were simple; often you had to take it apart to change the speed (if it was possible at all!) and CD-players were tweaked endlessly; from the factory (Ishiwata and others) and by us, the users; taking them apart and putting in ring-deadening materials, painting the inside of the whole box, etc.. Not to mention cryo-treating the CD's themselves, and also painting the outer edge of the CD's with green marker.. it was all about maximising the output of "pure" signal from the source; we wanted to hear it like it was "intended"! So tone controls got a bad name; they distorted the TRUTH!! Now I realise there's no such thing as THE TRUTH so am happy to play around with sound-modes on my av-receiver to make things sound palatable; whatever makes me disappear into the music!! So absolutely; bring on the tone controls; digital, analogue; whatever floats your boat and helps your listening environment sound good!!

I'm still using the Sansui integrated amplifier I bought in the summer of 1972, and I'm so glad it has tone controls! My room, in the house I've been in for the last year, is pretty bright, and I just haven't had the energy to fix that, yet. Add some bass. I'm happy.

All speakers aren’t the same people listening aren’t the same so tone controls should be there listeners might not like the sound coming out but when they can adjust it it’s wonderful

Great video, Steve. Honestly, I am spoiled with the wonderful tone controls on my 70's Sansui and Pioneer receivers so I really didn't even know that people weren't accessing them as much. Once I have them set to my preferred sound, I kind of guard them and tell people "Don't touch those! Stay 3 feet back from the receiver!" I think that each speaker pairing with a specific unit is unique, so I could never do without tone controls.

The Loki is part of my headphone set-up (Schiit Modi 3 -> Schiit Loki -> Schiit Magni 3) and I love it! - I’m treble sensitive (and a bit sound sensitive), which means I listen at relatively low volumes. The Loki allows me to boost the bass a bit so that my music sounds full even at low volumes.

Yes, yes. I want to ENJOY what I'm listening to, if some old recording has irritating, squeaky, highs, or is all muddy, I'd love to be able to dial it in, or at least make it not irritating. Thx Steve

I'm thrilled with what my Loki has done for my home setup. Now I wish I could cough up the cash for more of them haha

4:10 In the late 1970s, the 1980s, and the early 1990s. Most mid-priced hi-fi systems (From about $2,500 to about $7,500 in 2019 dollars.) had a separate amplifier, a preamplifier, and an EQ. normally 5-band to 32-band for graphic-equalizers, and 3-band to 12-band for parametric-equalizers. So what was in one component in the 1950s, the 1960s, and the early 1970s was now in 4 or 5 components. (The reverb, dynamic expansion, and other effects, plus the radio tuner, would also each be it's own component.) When surround-sound became popular they started putting the radio tuner, amplifier, preamp, EQ, and effects all back into one component.

As we get older we tend to lose the higher frequencies of sound. Our hearing becomes limited and it is harder to hear the top end of the audible spectrum. An amp with tone controls enables you to combat this by turning up the treble response and perhaps also turning down the bass.

I love great sound , but I'd rather be able to change my sound to my taste! All recordings are an illusion, audio is supposed to sound beautiful IMHO! The engineer tampers with the sound to give it dimension, and music sounds different in every environment! The recordings are all fake, why not enjoy YOUR sound!

Who in their right mind wouldn't want tone controls? People will use room correction and all kinds of crap but no tone controls. It boggles my mind.

Good point! Having worked mixing live sound, EQ is part of the equation. Every channel of a mixing console whether it is analog or digital has individual tone controls. As far as I am concerned it can be part of being an audiophile. SAE Made parametric EQ,s that were great. There are many EQ’s in the musicians, commercial install and recording engineers Marketplaces. Why not in 2 channel audiophile systems.

When I first got into high fidelity in the late 1960s, My first system was an Allied Radio Knight 44 watt amplifier Model 940A. It had tone controls and a "Contour" switch which is the same as today's "loudness" controls. It was a basic tube design with 6BQ5 output tubes. I was into the "purist" idea of always listening with the controls centered (flat). The problem was that when set for flat, you needed to listen at rather high volume to get decent sound. I live in a duplex now and I can only play loud if my neighbor is not home. I tend to play at a lower volume a lot of the time and the tone controls are a MUST. I would NOT buy a product that doesn't have tone controls in the preamp section. I also use a ten band per channel octave equalizer (Biamp model EQ/210) to adjust for the roll off of the low bass that is specified to be down 3 db at 30 Hz. As well as adjustment for the room. My current system is centered around a Marantz 3300 preamplifier and Marantz model 250 power Amp, driving Acoustic Research AR-3a speakers. Also included is a Thorens TD 125 turntable with a Rabco SL-8E tone arm.

Even when I had equipment with tone controls, they were usually set "straight up" or "flat" anyway. Just sounded best that way to me. My new stuff (PS Audio) has no tone controls, and they sound awesome!

I am an audiophile and I have struggled for years finding the perfect sound without Equalisers or tone-control. Different speakers, different amps, different kabels but never did I find the joy in listening music as I did in my teenage years, when I had a Siemens audio system with a double 9 band equalizer. And then in 2012 I sold al my audiophile stuf, I was fed up with the fact that no system was able to give me joy with all sorts of music and recordings. I bought my first AV receiver, a slimline Marantz NR1604, with Audyssey room correction. After some trial and error I learned how to use the Audyssey equalizer in the right way, and I was stunned, this sounded so mutch better with the same speakers that I allso used on my previous amp. This 7 channel, €699 receiver gave me back the joy in listening, I have used this receiver for 6 years and then upgraded to the Marantz SR5013. I have spent 10 times as much money on amps in previous years but it did not give me the satisfaction, so for me there wil never be an audio system without an equalizer again.

I have just sold my "Audiophile Modern Equipment" and went back to vintage audio. One of the main reasons was tone control, especially at different volumes. Since COVID, my wife works at home, so I cannot listen to music at louder volumes like I did before. I found with my Usher speakers that they really needed power to come alive. At low volumes, they just did not sound full and proper as powered by the Rega Aethos. When connected to my Harmon Kardon 930, I was able to add a Contour (loudness) and boost the tones so that the sound is full at very low listen volumes. Then there is the challenge of my room which includes a Livingroom, dining room, large hallway, entrance to kitchen and stairway to the basement. The room itself acts like an equalizer, but outside of my control. I find that I quite enjoy having the ability to change that using my HK 930 combined with an EQ8 to compensate for my room and also the listening volume level. I also adjust for older recordings, tapes and cassettes to enhance my listening pleasure. I now believe that if you have a dedicated listening area designed for sound, and only listen to amazing recordings, then the Class A/B approach without tone adjustments would be desirable. I guess it comes down to what you enjoy and I am finding now that I am enjoying the music, all of it, without regard to the recording quality since I can easily adjust the sound to make it more enjoyable to my ears in my listening environment. Now its all about the music :)

I love having tone controls, at least basic like bass and treble. I would love to see more manufactures bring them back as long as if it is fully bypassed.

I grew up with Pioneer's 'Loudness'.I couldn't live without it. When CDs became the rage, I stopped using Loudness and felt it wasn't necessary anymore. A few weeks ago, I bought a pair of old Castle Warwick speakers for 70 Euro and quite frankly, I was very impressed with them, but I noticed they produced 'elevated highs' on certain recordings or music genres. So for the first time in decades (!!!) I'm using Tone Control to change the sound, not to boost bass or treble, but to reduce it (the treble, in this case). And the Castle speakers sound pretty amazing because of it.

You are the best Steve. Thanks for this and all your other videos. Take Care

As a former recording engineer who used a parametric EQ constantly during the recording process, and gave his finished product to a mastering engineer that would also tweak the EQ. Audiophiles (myself included) are equal to everybody else in the chain. So go ahead, add a little more bass, put a dip in the mid-range, and be a part of the recording. After all I did make the recording for you.

My personal opinion is equaliser definitely deserves a place in a setup.

I use the tone controls on my Sansui 3000A receiver and use an Optimus 10 band equalizer with it. There are always some adjustments that can be made to your environment to get the sound you like.

Everyones ears are different. Every listening environment is different and everyones music preferences are different. So, while not a high end listener but an enthusiast, I still have to say having a component equalizer or built in equalizer program only makes sense. In the early 70s I bought a lot of Pioneer upper level stuff while in Okinawa, including a manual slide equalizer with microphone, 24 or 32 frequency slider controls (I forget). Later on I bought a Techniques EQ with manual plus pre sets, a more complete control set and a hanging microphone plus test tones on a Cassette to calibrate the whole thing. Like it perfectly flat? No problem. Need to offset the heavy drapes in a room full of windows with carpet? No problem. Can it help with wood floors and paneled walls in an old turn of the century home? Yes. I enjoyed them immensely, and my son has all that equipment and enjoys them now. My current AV setup has built in programs for different types of response, music and environments, almost too many to use. I tailor the sound to my wife preference to hear voice clearly or my preference for a fuller more robust theater sound. Thankfully, I can have what I want.

I recall the first time I was shown a "graphic equalizer" in the late 70's. I remember how nice the sound was from his stereo and said so. Which he replied, "Yeah, watch this..." and started playing with the equalizer... he was not so much, as he explained playing with the music but adjusting for the room acoustics. I must say what was nice sounding turned in to brilliant sound.

I simply seek out vintage equipment - back when the manufactureers considered those controls normal and perhaps even essential. I especially like the Luxman L 480 integrated amplifier I have that offers further specific frequency cuts via some toggle switches. Even a loudness switch is uncommon, great for very low level listening. I find the Vincent SV 236 MK one of the few modern integrated amps that also feature tone controls. There are many times I have to use them to some degree due to what a recording lacks. I have been entertaining purchasing a Loki as well.

I know I am late to the party as this video was posted over a year ago, but here are my thoughts regarding tone controls. I have no problem with having or using tone controls. If you have them, you don’t have to use them, but if you want or need to use them, they are there. Being honest and up front about it, I process the hell out of everything I listen to. Many of my preamps have multiple bass and treble controls with different center frequencies. You also have to understand that most of my equipment is vintage from around 1956, up through the “golden age of audio” so nothing that would be considered to be ultra high end audio. I’m talking about things like my Pioneer SX-1980 type equipment and speakers like the Altec Lansing Model 19’s. I also utilize an active audio processor that has both a dynamic range expander and a set of variable notch filters which can be varied to control the roll in and out points and sensitivity. Depending on the system I am listening to, I frequently have a 12 to 20 band graphic equalizer engaged with a spectrum analyzer monitoring the signal and (heaven forbid) a reverb unit. Sacrilegious in most all high end audio circles. I use all these things as I have a number of rooms with complete audio systems in them, each with different preamps, power amps (some tube, but mostly transistor), different speakers and room placements. Every system sounds different, but can be adjusted to suite my tastes. After all the only true to live performance sound is in fact a live performance. Every recording studio is different as is every live concert hall. Anything you listen to in your home is sound “reproduction”, not sound production. It has be altered by the recording engineer, RIAA equalized (if it’s on vinyl) with any number of other tweaks and compensations. No recording engineer could possibly know in advance what room acoustics, speakers, speaker placement or components I am going to be using to listen to what has been recorded. So as a member of the group of the highest level thinking creatures on this planet (humans), I reserve the god given right to turn any knob, move any slider or use any method to make the sound from my home system sound the way I like it. After all, I am the only one who has to be pleased with the sound. No one else. My home, my system, my rules! :-)

Happy owner of the Schiit Loki. I see no negatives so far. Love being able to tweak poor recordings a bit. Bring back the Loudness Button!!! Love it for late night casual listening!

I have an entry level Onkyo 100 watt RMS stereo receiver with a tone control bypass. I first the music seemed to have less fullness than with using the tone controls to boost the bass and treble but now that I used the control bypass I think the sound is so much better without using tone controls. I've heard that tone control were intended to improve deficiencies in the speakers to improve sound quality. But with Onkyo receiver connected to Polk Audio speakers I don't there is any sound deficiency. My more more modest system sounds great without using tone controls that colorize the music. The sound is balanced and stereo separation is improved. If you like your music digital compact discs as much do, here's a tip that that will greatly improve your sound if your equipment has the features to do this. I use a combination CD and blu ray player. Connect an HDMI cable from your player to an available HDMi port on the back of your flat screen TV. Run an optical cable to a good quality digital converter and from there use higher quality RCA type cables and leave the source selector on TV all the time unless you have components that need to use another input. The sound quality will be amazing. It least is for me a vast improvement from using RCA cables from an a CD only player to your receiver. I have a Onkyo CD only player that was having some trouble reading a CD now and so I put it away and began using my blu ray player to play my compact discs.

Good ol' Steve ... you gotta love him ! He's opposite of Paul ... I made a pro grade pre amp and it has a little button on the front panel that simply re routes the signal path via an active tone network if the signal needs adjustment...

Hi Steve, yes you are absolutely correct that "purists" think it is taboo to mess with tone controls because it represents a barrier between the source and the listener a.k.a audiophile. I find a happy medium by "allowing" myself to use my tone control to compensate for whatever source of music I am playing that perhaps fall short of whatever musicality I am hoping to achieve. It's OK to admit it...hahah.

I bought a Schitt Loki and its the best tweak for correcting a bit of bass emphasis in my listening room. Love it

I wish they would bring back the balance control. Easier to turn a knob than moving furniture around to get the sweet spot in the room

It's crazy not having tone controls. Every room is different and the music may need to be bumped up or down. The guy in the studio was adjusting for what it sounded like in that particular room. Yes please bring them back.

The 5-band eq built into my Mac receiver is a big help for spoken-word listening, especially when my big nearby window is open with the dull hum of the city coming in. The treble boost is invaluable. Like right now, listening to Steve and other people talk on KZfaq on the first really warm day of spring. Other times it re-makes a barely-listenable recording with curiously washed-out and attenuated bass into something highly listenable. (And re-listenable.) Flat listening's always good for discovering a recording's character, though.

After decades of avoiding equalizers and tone controls, I started experimenting with Sonarworks True-Fi headphone equalization software and was intrigued by the results. Finding it a bit limited, I went to their Reference 4 Headphone software. After using that for a while, I started to get dismayed that many of the headphones I was using were not supported by it, nor would they ever be. I latched onto the EqualizerAPO freeware with the HeSuVi add-on which allowed for complete customization of the EQ curves, and came with pre-set curves for over 700 in-, over- and on-ear headphones. I played with that for a long time, but I realized that I was just equalizing different headphones so they all sounded the same. It was then that I realized that I preferred the un-equalized sound of most of my headphones, reveling in the differences, and so I am back to avoiding equalizers.

Very pertinent!!! Tone Controls were a-l-w-a-y-s included with Dynaco, Hafler, and Parasound. I like them and have always used them...on specific necessary situations. Otherwise, the "tone defeat" button is always handy!

I love the nice graphic equalizer on my older JVC SR-301 receiver. For me It’s a useful tool. For me it is acceptable! 👍🏻 “to each it’s own”.

I had my McIntosh C11 up and running and I loved it, then an audiophile friend of mine told me about how there is just too much circuitry in it and I should get something with no tone controls as to minimize interference with the pure signal. I followed the logic and bought a new preamp. I used it for about 8 years and man did I miss those tone controls. I eventually went back to the C11 and never turned back. To say tone controls are not necessary is to assume that every piece of recorded music is absolutely perfect and in no need of adjustment. I think that is kind of ridiculous. I have tone controls and 95% of the time I leave them centered, but that 5% has come in handy like when my downstairs neighbor complains that my bass is too loud. Bring back tone controls to high end audio!!

My main preamp only has two volume knobs (except selector). And yes it's circa 1986. I have another preamp (NAD) with the whole works, tone, balance, infra defete, bass boost, etc. I enjoy switching them out periodically and throw into the mix a small tube integrated amp with just a volume knob. No clear winner. That Schiit piece looks like a fun addition to most anyone's system.

Have a Luxman with tone controls and love it!

Comments so far seem to be in favour of tone controls,, I've got em,,👍

I always automatically set the bass high and then the treble up a little bit as a kid but didn’t really know what I was doing, the stereo we had with an equaliser on it we just turned all them all the way up to make it louder as it was a rubbish stereo. Nowadays I guess the level of recording equipment is so advanced they can get the recording exactly as they wanted it so I guess we are listening to it as intended. That said I am old school and would still like to be able to whack the bass up on some recordings.

I use a Loki in my system,it's nice to have the ability to use or not use Tone Controls. Consist of Hovland,Proceed and Maggie 1.7i.

Yes, I fell victim to that "straight wire with gain" attitude. I am - as of recently - trying to break myself of that. Bass, Midrange, Treble, and Loudness controls compensate for minor problems.

Hey Steve I've had my EQ since 1985 and it's an audio control 10 and I'm still using it to this day with all my gear,,,,,And I love the fact that I can control the sound no matter what I'm playing

I would not have purchased my current high-end system without "tone" controls. I purchased the Legacy Audio Wavelet preamp/DSP/EQ with the Legacy Audio Focus XDs and love the tone control features that go beyond treble and bass controls. It allows me to determine how much base or treble I like and will never go back to not having this feature.

I was taught that room acoustic design combined with a pink noise generator, calibrated mic with frequency display graph and multi-band eq rig was key to getting the best flat audio reproduction (back in the 70s) ... was that wrong? I experienced Trinity Colleges Listening Theater when they added an incredible 70mm projection and matching sound system, just for Apocalypse Now and a few other 70mm movies, back then. It was amazing! You were IN the movie! But I knew where to sit ... 12th row, center where they had used a n-echoing head to calibrate the system (with a full theater of volunteers, of course!). That was sound!!! You could feel the choppers approaching before you could hear them. The only thing missing was the sense of smell. LOL

We NEED simple tone controls for listening, knobs or sliders, as we used to have. Low booming tone vibrations are uncomfortable to the listener, and can cause distress to others as they propagate at a half-heard but disturbing level. Thank you for your video! I was getting upset at the presumptuous omission of these controls.

My tube amp has no tone control's and tried living with out them for about a month. I decided to pull out my Pioneer SG-9500 12 band EQ that I've had since new in 1976 and due a cleaning and Deoxit fader lube on the sliders. Once done I added it into the system,sliders are quiet and turned amp up with no music and it was completely quite. Really happy with the way it sounds now ! Would like to get the new Loki Max, but for now the Pioneer is working great for a 47yr old piece of equipment .

Hello Steve, and yes to tone control. On the topic of EQ I refer to that more for room correction then "tone control. With my Yamaha I am able to go pure direct and still accentuate via EQ. I am one of those Vietnam era vets that got into gear as an investment (duty free/tax free) and have not looked back ! But yes to the tone controls for all the obvious reasons you mentioned.

I definitely like having the option of tone controls. Everybody has a different idea of what sounds nice. I like a bright sound and feel that my speakers sound much better with a little bit of a treble boost. I also tend to dial back the bass a touch on some music, but not all. It's fun to play around and see if you make the overall sound more pleasing.

I like having the option to color or to correct the sound if needed. I have had my 12 band equalizer for like 15 years now and I couldn't imagine my system without it. Also tone controls is one of the reasons why I use vintage gear.

As an audiophile snob I too hate the idea of tone controls BUT since my apartment has no carpeting and the walls are made of vibranium I have no choice but to get a Schiit tone control device. GOD, FORGIVE ME!!

RME-ADI 2 has one of the most customizable EQs and I love it, and I didn’t think I’d use it when I made the purchase.

The best eq I ever owned was made by Audio Control. The C-131, 1/3 octave eq. It did not degrade the signal. When set flat with pink noise and a RTA, everything in the recording was brought to life. The details were much easier to hear. Sadly, they and just about every other manufacturer, have stopped making eqs. 😭😭😭😭

I have tone controls. I have the Loki by schiit. For the most part they're left close to flat. But since I can't afford crazy $2K + headphones I feel it helps me better compensate for any lacking response in the headphones I do own.

A thing I do see in the recent years is amplifiers with some tone-controls, but then also a bypass-switch. I suppose that's for the purists (also considering the word "pure" is often used for the switch), those who think their speakers are "perfect" and nothing should change that. But I personally see it more as a "comparison switch". For example, right here I have a headphone-amplifier, nothing high-end, but not that cheap either, and it has a "pure" setting that bypasses the 3-band EQ as well. All it does is show me how "bad" the headphones are unaltered. - And that's another thing; No speakers/headphones I've ever listened to, regardless of the price, were ever cutting it stock. I've found I always need to tweak them with an equalizer to actually get them "flat" or "neutral". At least "well balanced" if you don't like those words. - I've started using "bass" and "treble" settings on speakers to attenuate the low and high ends, whether they're too little or too much on any given speakers. Usually it's that I need to turn up both to compensate for any lack and I stop at the point right before it sounds like "too much". - A more critical thing then is that the mid-range should be good, as without a "mid"-control you can't do much about it.

As I child in the 80s I had a turntable. But I also saw two turntable setups that adults owned. They were both the same concept: a receiver, two loudspeakers and a turntable. My turntable was a standalone with the speaker in the lid. My turntable was inferior. My turntable was inferior in many aspects, but especially in the aspect that it had less controls. The good turntables had two selection levers: speed and diameter. My turntable had only the selection lever for speed. The other was missing because it was a manual turntable. The receivers a controls for treble, bass and balance and a button to put stereo on and off. My turntable was mono and had only a knob for treble, no knob for bass. I haven't owned a turntable ever since. But turntable setups with not enough controls are inferior in my eyes. The reason to own a turntable again would be to own one that isn't inferior. Audiophiles have a bad taste with their manual turntables that don't even have a selection lever for speed because it's done by shifting a belt, and the turntable knows only two speeds rather than 3 to 4. Even my childhood turntable had a third speed, could play 78s.

A couple years ago I had to replace my receiver and had to look long and hard at what was out there because not a whole lot comes with a "tape monitor" so I could use my EQ. You cant build and rebuild rooms, take down the family pictures for room treatments and take all your furniture out but one chair for every recording made. Rush sounds great out of the box, the Go Go's sound like they were recorded in a tin can. I like to use this example. What do you do in a car? You have multiple seats in different fixed locations, speaker placement is limited at best and you are not putting room treatments over your windshield. You have to do with what you have to work with. I have also herd some of the best systems in the world up to about a decade ago and imho they all needed a 10 to 20% drop in the 1khz range. I wouldn't own a system without a EQ let alone without bass and treble controls.

Some of the cool mid line hifi gear has bypass switches, so you could go direct or with tone controls.

It was a con by the manufacturers to lower costs but make so called audiophiles think they were getting more. The "purists" say that you do not need them even if one "purist" has a minimalist room almost all hard surfaces and one chair and the other "purist" has carpets curtain and ten chairs. There would be a massive difference in sound but both "Purists" would claim it was perfect.

I like the NAD approach on my receiver. It has treble and bass controls, and a bypass button. I usually use the bypass, but have used the tone controls to improve some recordings.

I built my own speakers using high quality high efficiency drivers. Because of space constraints, I had to use smaller than optimum sized enclosures. This resulted in an early bass roll-off. Using the bass control on my integrated amp, I can bring the bass right up to where it is just right. It now also measures flat.

My Nimis has no tone controls but my old NAD had and could be bypassed. I don't miss them.

As a mixing engineer, i always look and listen for the next equalizer. Nothing wrong with a subjective sound at all. And my own "hifi" speaker has big bass and treble knobs - it's a Marshall Stanmore. My studio monitors have bass and treble attenuators for the room properties they work in

I remember going to one of the last hi end audio shops (in Minneapolis) in 2000 and asking to see their selection of equalizers. The salesperson smiled and said in a condescending manner, they really don't make them any more. He explained how it got in the way of the signal path, how bad they were ect. The basic message was tone control is junk, that no one who builds good equipment uses tone control any more. I then asked to see some preamps, and low and behold there was a MacIntosh with a 7 band eq. I looked at the salesman and asked is this a shitty brand? I had never heard of Macintosh. He smiled and said no actually it's one of the best brands out there. I now own a C-50 preamp that I love and use the E.Q. all the time. I switch back and forth between my DIY Cornscalla speakers and next week a new pair of Magnepan .7's. They are replacing a pair of Magnepan MG-I's that are over 30 years old.

Great topic Steve. I have 3 Luxman preamps from the late 70s all with tone controls. Luxman CL35 MkIII (tube/solid state), the CL350 (solid state) and the C1000 ( solid state from Tim de Paravicini). The C1000 has a linear equalizer too. Some the newer Luxman integrated amps have tone controls. It’s nice to have the option of using the controls and I like the look of their designs.

I made the mistake of getting a nice amp without tone controls. Now I’m using a Technics spectrum equaliser and super happy with it. Only cost $200 on eBay and it blew me away how good it is. Absolutely no noise and the soundstage actually improved. Best $200 I’ve ever spent.

I use a Onkyo P-3060R pre with the matching M-5060R amp every day. The pre has bass and treble, mm and MC, you can flip L and R channels, mono, and you can isolate L or R mono to play through both speakers. And I love it

As I recall there was a big push to only listen like the artists intended and to run flat line equalization. This doesn't take into account things like bright or dull speakers that may require some adjustments. I run an equalizer program (equalizer apo) on my PC that allows me to separately equalize each speaker but I focus just on my 2 rears which really needed it.

The vintage type of tone controls tended to muddy the sound. Its probably why they are gone. Now waiting for the Loki to be offered in balanced mode. I requested it @ Schiit. In the mean time I am using a device that offers an excellent linear bass boost. Barcus Berry BBE - Sonic Maximizer 282ix. Very good effect! Tight, deep, realistic sounding bass out of smaller speakers. The high frequency process knob is left off with good speakers. Speakers in the vintage days of tone controls tended to be rolled off. So, a treble control was offered. I am not even sure high frequency is needed today with so many excellent tweeters we now find.

Yeah, Steve! I used to have tone controls on my Kenwood KR-9600 receiver and haven't had them on any piece of gear since, EXCEPT when I purchased the NAD 325BEE. That little amp had bass and treble tone controls. Very well executed and effective, those tone control were, as they allowed for this little amp to get "tuned" to the listening room and fool my ears that I was listening to a much more expensive system. Mind you that this little NAD was in a system with the CAL CL-15 CD player and Totem Acoustic Hawk loudspeakers. I'm a believer in tone controls, yet my current system has none. I might have to pick up a Schiit Loki to find out what I'm missing....

absolutely wish they would bring back mass production of equalizers. choice is good.

Equalizers are used to flatten the sound. It all depends on the acoustics of the room. If audiophiles hate tone controls than how can they enjoy pure sound depending on their listening environment. If their set up is in a room with hardwood floors, it will sound different then a room with carpet. The signal may be pure electronically, but the sound coming out of the speakers may not be pure do to an echo in the room. An equalizer or tone controls give the listener the opportunity to cut frequencies that may be causing acoustical impurities. I have also heard that extreme audiophiles will have their system designed around the acoustics of their listening environment. They will have a sound engineer come to their home and measure the acoustics, then they will build an amp with circuitry that matches the acoustics of the room. This means that every component in the amplifier is specifically hand picked for the customer's listening environment. Speakers are also took into consideration during this process.

I like tone controls for bass, mid, and treble. A nice equalizer to go with it also.

When I was in my audiophile infancy I craved for all those flashy lights and sliders etc. When I finally got them I found they were more of a hindrance than a benefit, getting up and down tweaking the shit out of everything I listened to became a pain. Many years have passed and I’m happy to sit and listen to a system which in my opinion is very truthful and never do I feel the need to tweak any frequencies at all. If your system gives you the reality and musicality you require then why would you need to change anything? It’s like walking into a Michelin star restaurant asking for the best dish on the menu and then asking for tomato ketchup.

I think all the major brands are really missing out on a market for equalizers.

I’m a vintage guy. I started out using my dads vintage pioneer tube amps. Those both have bass and treble controls. I eventually got into Mcintosh gear for my own system. I have a mx110 preamp and that has bass and treble controls. Its so necessary to me. I have a pair of klipschs cornwalls, a pair of ar3a’s, and quad esl 57’s. They all sound their best with different tone control settings. I recently tried hooking up my dark voice headphone amp to the tape monitor out on the mx110. I’ve never heard so much detail extracted from my vinyl. It almost made me cry it was so beautiful. But the tape monitor out by passes the tone controls on the mx110. I feel a helpless or lost without it. The sound coming from my Sennheisers is excellent but I feel like I want to tweak the tone here and there, but I can’t. So I was thinking about getting the shiit Loki, or at least seeing if it will work in this situation.

I cannot live without my tone controls, as each recording is different and many sound engineers and producers making the recordings just miss the point, so many times to get closer to the sound I enjoy, I have to boost or reduce certain elements of the sound, if you appreciate audio to a very high level, then you have to listen to the music the way you want to hear it, then you are happy, which is all that matters. IMHO

I have a Mac system with tone controls. I use them very sparingly. They are needed to compensate for acoustic variables and psycoacustics. My hearing isn't the same as when I was 12. Music is after all subjective. My best listening experience was when Sound by Singer was just about to open up. My best friend and I knocked on the door. Joel answered and gave us the grand tour. The tour ended up in the sub basement. Where Joel had a fully treated private room with his personal Krell system. With just one chair in the middle of the room. My friend and I took turns listening. To this day I say there was some form of magic going on. If I hit the lottery. I want one of those.

I discovered my equalizer settings several months after getting my receiver... it brings the speakers to life.

I love Tone Controls and EQ’s. When I bought my current system, I specifically chose Parasound Halo products because the preamp had tone controls on it. I could’ve spent more money perhaps, bought something better, but I like having the ability to tweak the sound of my music. That’s also why I love vintage products as well.

I've got an 8 band eq on my Mac preamp, I've never touched it, haha. Not that I wouldn't, I've just not yet cared to measure the systems in-room response yet so I could correct for it. It's also a purity thing, I feel there's some benefit to keeping all those pots out of circuit. Our brains will except the room response and tune it out IMO.

I love tone controls though I don't use them all that much and when I do, it's in moderation. I love them enough that a QUAD-99 preamp was my primary preamp for most of a decade. Interesting tone control options on that preamp. The lack of tone controls is a small part of why I think so many audiophiles (including me for a time) gravitated towards "audiophile recordings". They avoided great performances on less than ideal recordings because the recording was too thin, too bright, not bright enough, lacking in bass, or had bloated bass. Some of that can be fixed with tone controls so if the music is good, correct those flawed recordings with a judicious use of tone controls, but those "audiophile" preamps don't give you that option. The nice thing about the Loki is that you can put it in the tape loop of your preamp - mine still has one - and it can be completely removed from the signal path at the touch of a button. I'm surprised more companies don't make something like it. Musical Fidelity made an outboard tone control unit some years back but I've not seen one on the used market in some time.

I'm no audiophile but I can't listen to music without an EQ. I like adjusting the low end to bring it forward and try and clean it up somewhat while balancing the mid range with the treble. I didn't even know there were stand alone EQs/tone controls prior to this video. That might be something worth investing in.