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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
nonoise's avatar
nonoise
10,540 posts
 
I had an old pair of Decware speakers that allowed one to tailor the sound with different resistors. The Tonian Labs TL-D1s I had were provided with three different sized slats on the backside to tailor the lower mids and base to suit ones tastes and room. My current JBL 4319 monitors have high and mid frequency tone controls to do the same. 
A very slight twist of those controls are easily heard, and at times, appreciated. 

I see nothing wrong and everything to gain from having some control over these aspects of speakers.

All the best,
Nonoise
erik_squires OP
15,620 posts
 
I had an old pair of Decware speakers that allowed one to tailor the sound with different resistors.


Wilson lets you do this too. In fact, this is the only part of the crossover you will ever see, as they encase the rest of it in black resin.

erik_squires OP
15,620 posts
 
duly noted.  Sorry, it is your thread and having been here since 1999 I’ve seen enough of this that I should know better and bite my tongue.  


No worries at all @bryhifi - I understand the temptation to use reason and
facts to resolve misguided declarations.

Best,
E

dekay's avatar
dekay
5,346 posts
 
OK, but...

I do not use crossovers in my main system (EQ is achieved by the speaker enclosure and its placement in the room).

I previously used 2-Way speakers with a crossover and they sounded incredible (Reynaud Twins MKII mated with an Audion Silver Night 300B SET amp).

I auditioned the speakers prior to purchase @ a dealer with a killer room and they sounded even better than the audition in my living/listening room.

Sorry if I lost track of what your your OP was intended to gather/attract.

DeKay


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