Sean...My four word comment was intended to highlight, by contrast, the complexity of your solution to the problem. Maybe poke a little fun at it :) Most cable-ophiles do cite tonal balance as their objective.
I don't think that equalizers quite deserve their bad rap. Few if any recordings have escaped equalization during the mastering process, so I have trouble getting upset about one more pass through an equalizer. Also, in my experience the greatest benefit of an equalizer is that after you diddle with it for a while you can convince yourself that the original tonal balance was OK after all, so you set it flat, or switch it out. But the doubts are gone.
I don't think that equalizers quite deserve their bad rap. Few if any recordings have escaped equalization during the mastering process, so I have trouble getting upset about one more pass through an equalizer. Also, in my experience the greatest benefit of an equalizer is that after you diddle with it for a while you can convince yourself that the original tonal balance was OK after all, so you set it flat, or switch it out. But the doubts are gone.