Tone controls- to use or not?

I think the problem here is that the term 'good equalizer' in this day and age is a bit oxymoronic. Back in the old days, Harmon Kardon had a preamp call the Citation One, which employed switched tone controls, i.e. the tone controls were built up out of rotary switches. This allowed them to be truly flat when set to the flat position. I've not seen a modern EQ unit that had that sort of attention to detail.

I've had my hands on some fairly good units, both the analog and digital Accuphase units, which are arguably amoungst the cream of the crop in equalizers. Despite serious room anomolies that the EQ units could correct (somewhat, there was a bass node that they couldn't touch), the system sounded remarkably better using no EQ at all... by 'better': more impact, greater soundstage, more detail, smoother overall sound...

Hibosilver - Equalization in the studio is mostly done to individual instruments before mixing. Almost everything today is recorded digitaly and equalization is done the same way (stable and easy to control digital filters) - not possible at home - unless you want to go A/D, DSP processing and D/A with possible loss of sound quality.

Musicnoise - original question was about what is better adjust treble with tone controls or using brighter system (speakers, cables, amplifiers atc). I expressed opinion that adding extra element that is known for distroying imaging and clarity is not the best idea if you can do it by proper system selection. Bringing statement "insulting to people with hearing handicap" into technical discussion is plain silly.

Atmasphere...The Behringer DEQ2496 does its equalization in a DSP chip, and the EQ function (or any of the other functions) can be bypassed. If that isn't good enough just turn off the power and you get a hard bypass (input connected to output).

Eldartford, I have yet to hear a Behringer that I'd want to put in my system! All of them I have heard so far are easily surpassed by other manufacturers for not a lot of extra money. My impression so far is that they target the entry-level semi-pro market. Is that impression incorrect?

Atmasphere...Behringer makes many pieces of equipment. For some I agree with you, but in some cases it is sour grapes. But have you heard the DEQ2496? I hear no bad effect of having it in the loop, and it greatly improves the overall sound by compensating room effects. Furthermore, it's worth the price just for the spectrum analyser. I suggest that people buy it for that feature (to help with room treatment and speaker placement) and let them come to their own conclusion about leaving it in the loop for listening.