The equalizer you don't know you have


Audiophiles are amazing at finding ways to not use an equalizer or tone control of any sort. Shame because in the bass regions EQ are magic. We can talk all day long about being able to hear the felt on the seat of the third violinist, but when you have a bass mode that is 20dB louder than anything else it can ruin your experience, and no power cable in the world is going to fix it.

But while our desire for audio purity is commendable for its tenacity, you may not be aware that EQ circuits are built right into a lot of speakers. A lot of very expensive speakers.

What do I mean? Well, very few very good sounding drivers are ideal, or integrate well with the other drivers. Speaker designers compensate for this within the crossover. Those caps, and coils which you think are just there to prevent a driver from going ballistic may also be coloring your sound, in a good way. Hopefully no one starts throwing their speakers out after this. :)


Best,

Erik
erik_squires
Maybe someday these guys will figure out that even in the Audiophile community 90% simply don't care. People who are outliers on the spectrum of normalcy can't figure out why everyone else is not jazzed about minutia. Completely myopic. Totally out of touch with reality. 
@bryhifi 

Custom tuning a speaker is far less profitable for the speaker industry. That is why instead they do mass production. The same with trousers. Its far cheaper and easier to mass produce sizes that go up in 1 inch increments than to custom tune a pair of trousers down to a millimetre. But thats what audiophilia is about. Its about the fine details. 

The industry has tried to deceive audiophiles into believing that there is a one size fits all approach. Unfortunately most audiophiles never buy a single speaker. Its an endless cycle of buying and upgrading all because the speakers havent been custom tuned. As a result the response overshoots or undershoots the target response and is never perfectly right. 

Bryhifi you are obviously unhappy with your speakers so you will need your crossovers redone. 

What then?  Pay a small fortune to retune again and again?
 
It wouldnt cost a fortune to retune a crossover. It might just be a case of changing a single resistor. 

Custom tuning means that every aspect of the speaker is customised to your requirements. It can involve the crossover, the choice of drivers, the cabinet the whole nine yards. 
Completely myopic. Totally out of touch with reality.



I’m getting the impression you don’t like a lot of people, @douglas_schroeder

I wanted to add that I appreciate Erik’s efforts in playing the role of an informal facilitator on this forum by consistently being the original poster of many threads that are creative, concern a wide variety of interesting as well as relevant audio topics which are typically thought provoking and that usually elicit many equally interesting, entertaining and informative responses.



Thank you for the kind words, @arion 
I constantly worry that if we don't bring in more of our own experiences into the forums Audiogon will turn into nothing better than a shopping suggestion forum.

@kenjit

I’m obvious unhappy with my speakers so I need my crossovers redone???

How on earth did you come to that conclusion?

Still waiting for your detailed description of the custom tuning process. That last response was nondescript and vague.
I hold a blank check with your name on it - how will you build me my custom tuned to my ears pair of speakers? You act like you have the answers so Tell me what exactly you are doing that I am paying for.