Audiophile amplifier with Tone Controls... Does it exist?

[paulkebab]

tone controls alone will be enough. Have a look at the Behringer DEQ2496 which is a standalone PEQ, DEQ, and a lot more. It has limit function to reduce dynamic range at both ends, and you can EQ each channel individually in 64 of your own presets. All for less than £300.

 

[YiannisK]

to all for the great ideas and help. Overall conclusion appears to be that I need either an external EQ / Compressor like the Behringer or a PC / Mac / Stremer box running some kind of software EQ or even better a Room correction solution like DIRAC.

The good news is I might end up keeping my amp. The solutions I think I need to explore are:

i) Behringer digital EQ / Compressor

ii) Mac mini / Windows PC with Dirac (free trial)

iii) Nvidia Shield with VLC / KODI / Plex (some which I think include some sort of audio compression and vocal boost)

iv) a Blueray player with RCA out that includes vocal boost / audio compression

iii) and iv) appear to be the least complex while option ii) seems to be the most versatile and powerful but I expect will be the most costly and will also requires quite a lot of configuring .

Lots to try but I have a way forward.

Many thanks for your great help everybody

 

[Nelis87]

The Paradigm PW amp is a nice stereo amp with great room correction software, for what its worth.

 

[paulkebab]

a mic for the Behringer to EQ your room too, left and right individually if the room has large structural or other sonic differences.

 

[YiannisK]

Just an update to let you know I solved the problem Followed your advice and obtained a minidsp (digital) unit which sits between my tv (optical) and the amplfier. Problem solved

Many thanks

 

[stereoman]

Yes, it is for example - ACCUPHASE. Surprisingly, as a fan of no tone controls I was in a very positive impression when I heard how tone controls in Accuphase work. They step up or down a very sublime amount of bass or treble - this is how it should always be. The tone controls in Accuphase are extremely well engineered. But again - in 99% you do not need them ! Accuphase on the other hand are amazing amps.

 

[Al ears]

Yes, it is for example - ACCUPHASE. Surprisingly, as a fan of no tone controls I was in a very positive impression when I heard how tone controls in Accuphase work. They step up or down a very sublime amount of bass or treble - this is how it should always be. The tone controls in Accuphase are extremely well engineered. But again - in 99% you do not need them ! Accuphase on the other hand are amazing amps.

Indeed they are and everyone knows that tomne controls are there for those that are not allowed to do any room modifications... ;-)

 

[Macspur]

Yes, it is for example - ACCUPHASE. Surprisingly, as a fan of no tone controls I was in a very positive impression when I heard how tone controls in Accuphase work. They step up or down a very sublime amount of bass or treble - this is how it should always be. The tone controls in Accuphase are extremely well engineered. But again - in 99% you do not need them ! Accuphase on the other hand are amazing amps.

Plus 1

Mac

www.realmusicnet.wordpress.com

 

[johnnyboy1950]

I havent read all the posts for this thread but I can say that tone controls really matter when you are listening to all sources of music. Sadly music is not mastered to the best quality so some albums need the help of tone controls. Listening to it as the producer did it if you want but some help from your amp will make a difference.

 

[gasolin]

I dislike the idea of tone controls - but - the Marantz 8005 integrated is a fine sounding amp with bass and treble (defeatable) controls.

I had difficult with a cambridge amp sounding decent with tv and movies etc ( sounded good with music CDs etc) FWIW it had defeatable tone controls - hardly made any difference - far too subtle - and a slight degradation in sound quality.

Now I have a Naim Unitilite - sounds excellent musically and does a much much better job with the tv and blu rays etc.

Anyway - the Marantz is a decent price too - great value inmho. - try before you buy - see if you think they will do the attenuation you desire

cheers tonky

And midrage

 

[gasolin]

I'd be surprised if most modern DVD/BD players won't stream your video library, many of which may have built-in options to boost the dialogue channel. Trouble might be, finding some with all the features you want + analogue output sockets. You're back to your TV not having any analogue outputs again, which over the last five years has gone from being rare to being the norm, and IMO is a right royal pain in the ass.

chromecast audio?

 

[gasolin]

PM-14S1 Special Edition does have bass,treble adjustments