The thing with tone controls though is that when I had them, I'd experiment with them when the receiver was new, but would eventually find a spot that I liked and leave them set where they are for every recording.
Now given that high-end equalizers that would be of sufficient quality not to wreck the signal would likely cost more than the other cables & tweaks that we buy, which have as a basic goal to protect against the unwanted filtering out of frequencies (and thus not harm the signal, but improve it), what is the need for tone controls? In either case, I'm finding what I like, then leaving it be.
I agree that cables & tweaks are the modern equivalent of tone controls. But, they do a better job than tone controls, and in the pursuit of good sound, it's all about what works better, not necessarily what works more easily.
Now given that high-end equalizers that would be of sufficient quality not to wreck the signal would likely cost more than the other cables & tweaks that we buy, which have as a basic goal to protect against the unwanted filtering out of frequencies (and thus not harm the signal, but improve it), what is the need for tone controls? In either case, I'm finding what I like, then leaving it be.
I agree that cables & tweaks are the modern equivalent of tone controls. But, they do a better job than tone controls, and in the pursuit of good sound, it's all about what works better, not necessarily what works more easily.