Tone control

[Birdy]

Okay this isn't maybe totally B&W but still...

I'm in the process of beeing tempted by a pair of 804S and according cd-amp or cd-pre-power amp search.

I was surprised by looking on the net that so few so called "audiophile" brand are offering tone control; beeing integrated amps or pre-amp.
Any idea why ?
I mean I'm sure B&W speakers sounds naturally good but what if you want to increase/decrease bass or treble to correct for instance some minor accoustic probs or if you just want to listen to a piece of music with more bass how do you do ?

Stupid question ? 8O

Birdy

[coxhaus]

I think you will find cables work as great tone controls. You can do all sorts of things by changing your interconnects and speaker cables. You can speed things up. You can slow things down. You brighten the top end up. You can roll off the top end. etc.etc.

[Andries]

Birdy, there are no stupid questions - only stupid answers! I guess the "audiophile" community (I hate that word because it is usually meant to refer to an untouchable few.) feels that any other controls in the circuit will degrade the quality of the signal. I sometimes wish I could do just a minor and temporary change to bass / treble / balance but alas, this is not to be found. Why would I do this? Simply to curb a problem, let's say, for one problematic recording.

I agree with Coxhaus in that cables can change the character of the sound, but of course one cannot go swapping cables all the time and such a change is usually permanent, given the cost of cabling. And when one mentions cables, in the audio and video environment the topic always ends in a fight and so I stay well clear of it...

[Birdy]

Birdy, there are no stupid questions - only stupid answers! I guess the "audiophile" community (I hate that word because it is usually meant to refer to an untouchable few.) feels that any other controls in the circuit will degrade the quality of the signal. I sometimes wish I could do just a minor and temporary change to bass / treble / balance but alas, this is not to be found. Why would I do this? Simply to curb a problem, let's say, for one problematic recording.

I agree with Coxhaus in that cables can change the character of the sound, but of course one cannot go swapping cables all the time and such a change is usually permanent, given the cost of cabling. And when one mentions cables, in the audio and video environment the topic always ends in a fight and so I stay well clear of it...

I agree it's impossible to swap cables if you just want to change tone control for 1 disc.
What I don't understand is why manufacturers are not proposing tone control and also a "bypass" function to minimise electronic disturbances ???

[Indytown]

Birdy,

There really is no stupid question when it comes to your enjoyment of music. If you feel that you need tone controls I would buy a unit that has them. Be sure that it is a very tight tone control. Meaning if you want to adjust say frequencies below 30hz that it does that. I demoe'd a Mac C46 pre-amp that had controls from 30hz all the way up to 2 khz I believe. Music that I played that had no 30hz or lower frequency was not changed when I adjusted the 30 hz tone. Small incremental changes on the C46 just smoothed things out. I also listened to the Mac c2200 Tubed pre-amp that simply had a treble and bass control. Both units were spectacular for the money. If you choose not to adjust with tone controls on the Mac's it functions as a so-called audiophile flat frequency response pre-amp.

Indy

[Andries]

It's called "audiophile"! See why I don't like this term? I just read in the January 2006 edition of Hi Fi News about an Alner Hamblin passive pre-amp. Not too expensive, but have a look inside and there's virtually nothing. Now there's plenty of space for the additional controls and I am sure it could have been designed in such a way that the controls don't mess up the signal.

[Birdy]

I don't get, do you mean that you guys just pulled everything of the boxes, connect them and sound is just perfect ????

I have an HT installation in a small room and obviously listen to music as well; I was happy I could reduce bass level a litltle because out of the box and with amplifier settings at 0 for bass & trebble it was way to boomy.
So I'm concerned as well for pure stereo in my living room.... if the same phenoma occurs I can start to change furnitures or accoustic of the room just because no tone control... Difficult to understand even if I undertsand that the shortest way for the signal will leave him pure and free of interference. :T

Birdy

[jim777]

Tone controls are fun for those few bad recordings we all have. I use my tone controls once in a while...

I believe that McIntosh tone controls are "removed" from the signal path when they are set to their central position. Again, when you need them, you have them

[Birdy]

Tone controls are fun for those few bad recordings we all have. I use my tone controls once in a while...

I believe that McIntosh tone controls are "removed" from the signal path when they are set to their central position. Again, when you need them, you have them

I'm a little afraid that by going to 804S I will discover that I have more bad recording than before ....:M

[jim777]

I'm a little afraid that by going to 804S I will discover that I have more bad recording than before ....:M

That's what my dealer said when I talked about 804S or 803S... he has experience with people that prefered the 703's to the 804S's.

Depends what you listen to the most, and what you want. I know that the 703's have plenty of detail. But sure, the 803D's that I heard were more "holographic" and piano was even better, etc. Even then, I'm very happy with my 703's