Tone controls- to use or not?

Most of high end preamps don't even have tone controls and all amps sold in Best Buy do. This alone should suggest something.

Tone control destroys imaging, clarity, and even tone. It changes harmonic structure by improper summing of harmonics (high quality constant group delay Bessel like adjustable filters ain't cheap).

Purists would also say that capacitors shouldn't even be in the signal path.

In addition - system should restore original concert performance. So here is the question: How do you adjust treble when you are at the concert?

"Yes but...the mix engineer and mastering engineer has already monkeyed around so much with what you hear that this "purity" goal becomes a "mute" point."

Final product of this Monkeying around is what performer approved and want me to hear. If I cannot change (adjust) tone at the concert then why should I be able to do this at home?

Fixing shortcomings of the system (or room) with tone controls is not a good idea.

Altering tone always produces sonic degradation because it puts one more element in the chain (even if you set it 0dB/0dB). It destroys clarity imaging etc. For many people clarity/ imaging is the goal - not fun of tinkering.

Shadorne - all the sliders on those mixing tables are most likely level control. There are also, as far as I know, Equalizers but extremely expensive (for a reason). Typical tone controls in home amps use pots with very poor matching.

As for not caring by the artists about sound - many of them have their personal sound engineers for recording that replace one in studio wherever they're recording. Home system should replicate exactly what was recorded and not to improve it. Fixing shortcomings of the system or the room with tone control is a bad idea.

One more thing. Equalizers used in recording studio adjust each individual microphone/instrument BEFORE mix. They don't equalize mixed stereo image. Correct me if I'm wrong (any sound engineers here?).

Mrtennis - I don't dictate anything - I only expressed my opinion like everybody else here. If all is subjective, in your opinion, then terms like clarity transparency etc. have no meaning and this forum has no purpose (other than chat room)

I have only volume knob - nothing else.
Less is better - in my opinion.

Hibosilver - Equalization in the studio is mostly done to individual instruments before mixing. Almost everything today is recorded digitaly and equalization is done the same way (stable and easy to control digital filters) - not possible at home - unless you want to go A/D, DSP processing and D/A with possible loss of sound quality.

Musicnoise - original question was about what is better adjust treble with tone controls or using brighter system (speakers, cables, amplifiers atc). I expressed opinion that adding extra element that is known for distroying imaging and clarity is not the best idea if you can do it by proper system selection. Bringing statement "insulting to people with hearing handicap" into technical discussion is plain silly.