Tone controls- to use or not?


Thanks to years of playing in bands, and more recently working in a noisy environment, I've come to the sad realisation that my 40-year old ears no longer have their original upper frequency response. Adding a bit of "treble" on my amp's tone controls helps, but I'm normally loathe to use these controls.

Should I be looking at changing my setup to incorporate "brighter" sounding components, or is adding a little treble with the tone controls legitimate?

My system is a Cambridge 640C player, NAD c720 stereo receiver (based on c320 amp) and B&W DM602 speakers, Monster cable IC's and heavy guage "Kordz" (Australian) copper speaker wires.
carl109
Thanks for the replies. I guess as we age we have to make the best of what hearing we have left!
For me the tone controls are a double-egded sword. If I add a little treble, the top-end opens up nicely, but when I use the tone bypass switch, the overall sound is better in terms of clarity and soundstage.

Would the component to change be the amp? I'm led to believe NAD amps are generally warmer sounding, and perhaps I should audition a Cambridge or Marantz?
Have you tried power cords, interconnects, or speaker cables with some silver content?
i have a different experience wit respect to aging. i am more sensitive to treble frequencies than i was 30 years ago. i find very often that i want to attenuate frequencies in the range 1000 to 3000 hz.

i believe, as vett93 has stated, cable, a passive compoent is a better approach than active equilization. in some cases equalizing brings with it phase shifts.
Same here. I'm more senstive to treble. I eventually bought a McIntosh (known for a more laid back nature) and a Mc preamp with tone controls. It's the only way to go IMO if you want to listen to your whole CD collection.

I tried all the other things cables, power conditioning, room acoustic changes but they made little difference. The Mc Amps sealed the deal.
I advice you not to do so

Your ears are already damaged, if you put gain on the trebble you will accelerate even more the déterioration

I mean at a stage you will be deaf even when people just speak !

Stay with your system as it is