http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?s=551c517b313172ce0dbf65900397d9a9&threadid=1341&highlight=tone+controls
Accuracy is always the name of the game, sometimes they are an acceptable bandaid. In dealing with vinyl/lp's the master tapes often have to have a boost of sorts at both ends of the frequency extreme's to compensate for the physical limitations of the record grooves at those top and bottom frequencies. And depending on the limitions/acoustic peculiarities of a room, they can help solve some problems. The one curious thing about them is that while they can correct the sound at the listening position, it can, not always, make things worse in other areas of the room. And if the compensation has to be too extreme, i.e. a 9db boost at X frequency, this uses up/wastes alot of the amplifier's power trying to nearly double the output at the given frequency. Which is why I'm always in favor of dealing with the room first, and resort to electronic equalization as a last resort. However, tone controls aren't really bad if done properly (and they certainly aren't expensive). It is ironic how you'll see these high-end preamps eschewing tone controls in the self-proclaimed virtuousness of accuracy and come to find its a poor tube circuit with amounts of distortion so great that any distortion imposed by some tone controls could really be considered negligable. I liked Jon Atkinsons quote on the Cary 300B SET integrated amp years ago, it went something like: "I don't regard this unit as a high-end product, its a tone control, and an unpredictable one at that." Which is exactly what happens you when the output impedence is a pathetic 3.8 ohms and the speaker load dips below that. Tone controls can be useful though and they don't degrade the signal as much as the impression some may give, at least in comparison to how poor some circuit designs are. Regarding the cables, its all basically crap and you can find a never ending slew of threads around here like the infamous "on cable nonsense" and the more recent "how much money do you want to waste." And check the link I gave at diyaudio.com
Accuracy is always the name of the game, sometimes they are an acceptable bandaid. In dealing with vinyl/lp's the master tapes often have to have a boost of sorts at both ends of the frequency extreme's to compensate for the physical limitations of the record grooves at those top and bottom frequencies. And depending on the limitions/acoustic peculiarities of a room, they can help solve some problems. The one curious thing about them is that while they can correct the sound at the listening position, it can, not always, make things worse in other areas of the room. And if the compensation has to be too extreme, i.e. a 9db boost at X frequency, this uses up/wastes alot of the amplifier's power trying to nearly double the output at the given frequency. Which is why I'm always in favor of dealing with the room first, and resort to electronic equalization as a last resort. However, tone controls aren't really bad if done properly (and they certainly aren't expensive). It is ironic how you'll see these high-end preamps eschewing tone controls in the self-proclaimed virtuousness of accuracy and come to find its a poor tube circuit with amounts of distortion so great that any distortion imposed by some tone controls could really be considered negligable. I liked Jon Atkinsons quote on the Cary 300B SET integrated amp years ago, it went something like: "I don't regard this unit as a high-end product, its a tone control, and an unpredictable one at that." Which is exactly what happens you when the output impedence is a pathetic 3.8 ohms and the speaker load dips below that. Tone controls can be useful though and they don't degrade the signal as much as the impression some may give, at least in comparison to how poor some circuit designs are. Regarding the cables, its all basically crap and you can find a never ending slew of threads around here like the infamous "on cable nonsense" and the more recent "how much money do you want to waste." And check the link I gave at diyaudio.com