[RDavidson]

Opinionated? You are on a thread where the OP has asked a direct question. I answered it.

He's looking for HELPFUL info. You should've included some sort of explanation (even if it's brief), especially if you're going to take the time bash something.

[werd]

He's looking for HELPFUL info. You should've included some sort of explanation (even if it's brief), especially if you're going to take the time bash something.

Yes short, but you are under the misapprehension I don't like tone controls. Stating the obvious nature of them isn't a blanket thumbs down.

If you want to forget a big part of system building.  Including speaker choices, speaker postion along with room fixes then tone controls my help. But expect more distortion.

[Davey]

Yes short, but you are under the misapprehension I don't like tone controls. Stating the obvious nature of them isn't a blanket thumbs down.

If you want to forget a big part of system building.  Including speaker choices, speaker postion along with room fixes then tone controls my help. But expect more distortion.

I think much depends upon the definition of "distortion."  I suppose it's become a pejorative label in this crazy industry, so that's where the misunderstanding probably comes from.

What would you say if I told you that tinkering with a line-level system has the capability to 'reduce' distortion in a system?

Think about that for a bit. 

Dave.

[*Scotty*]

A definition of what constitutes "tinkering" would have to be agreed upon.
Scotty

[RDavidson]

I think much depends upon the definition of "distortion."  I suppose it's become a pejorative label in this crazy industry, so that's where the misunderstanding probably comes from.

What would you say if I told you that tinkering with a line-level system has the capability to 'reduce' distortion in a system?

Think about that for a bit. 

Dave.

Yup. That's essentially what room/speaker calibration does in AV receivers and AV preamps.....or is supposed to try to do. It's a different story for most 2 channel setups as a lot of us don't want to add any processing to our systems.........so, that's where room treatment, etc. really comes into play. Tone controls are more crude than digital calibration, but I can see how they might help approximate flatter in room response in some cases.

[RDavidson]

A definition of what constitutes "tinkering" would have to be agreed upon.
Scotty

Yeah, either that or "controlled manipulation" for those who might want a more technically correct term.

[Davey]

A definition of what constitutes "tinkering" would have to be agreed upon.
Scotty

Damn!  We're going to need a definition of "definition." 
That's okay, I will break down and stipulate that tone controls add distortion.........whatever that is. 

Carry on.

Dave.

[HsvHeelFan]

In an effort to keep this discussion on tone controls.   My original Yamaha  integrated amp had tone controls AND a loudness knob.  Many Japanese based receivers in the 70s and 80s had loudness switches.

This is because the human ear doesn't hear all frequencies "equally" at certain volume levels.   

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal-loudness_contour

Tone controls allow the user to adjust the perceived sound to their preferences.  Some adjust treble and bass to (poorly) compensate for poor recordings.  Others adjust to the sound that they like.

I haven't used tone controls in a very long time, but I understand why some would.

Nowadays, EQs exist in the Virtual realm as well.  My music server uses an ASUS sound card and it has its own built EQ as does JRiver Media center.  I'm not sure how those work, but I suspect that they're boosting the levels of the signals in specific frequency ranges before the DAC.  I run both of those "flat"  ie, no boost or cut on any frequency.

I tend to listen to music at medium to high levels of loudness, so tone controls (and the lack there of) aren't much of an issue for me.

HsvHeelFan

[werd]

Letitroll98, and all the other posters, thanks for taking the time to help me to answer this question and understand it better.  I actually prefer having no tone controls in a simple circuit that allows the purity of the source be heard for better or worse.  But that's not possible with the receiver, so I just use the amp section only which is passive friendly and sounds good.  I appreciate everyone who added to discussion.  I realize this is basic stuff, but thanks for clearing it up for me.

Very often tone controls can be bypassed by the tape-monitor in (including balance). The tape-monitor in is typically the purest connect in, but you have to mind the impedance because they are different than the impedance of an assigned input. Like RCA 1 for cd. It may be problematic since RCA is usually the tape-monitor input type and rarely XLR.