Is there "NO COUNTRY" (A/V receiver)for this old man?

[DD66000]

There is a reason tone controls aren't used anymore, they're next to useless.
An equalizer, at least 5 band, will work much better. And then, you use it to compensate for the room, not adjust the recording.
Unless you're willing to put out $60K for a pair of JBL Everest, and the quality gear to match, no home sound system is going to sound like live, real music.
Many systems can sound very good, but they're not going to sound as good as a live concert, in an outdoor amphitheater.

 

[mouettus]

There is a reason tone controls aren't used anymore, they're next to useless.
An equalizer, at least 5 band, will work much better. And then, you use it to compensate for the room, not adjust the recording.
Unless you're willing to put out $60K for a pair of JBL Everest, and the quality gear to match, no home sound system is going to sound like live, real music.
Many systems can sound very good, but they're not going to sound as good as a live concert, in an outdoor amphitheater.

False.

I use them very much in my car system, along with my parametric EQ. Almost every album sounds different and sometimes I have to up or tame the highs and lows to get some clarity and fun into the sound. Especially the 2kHz band that can be very annoying while listening to rock and metal music. BTW, I just bought a new head unit for my car and returned it 1 week after. It had a 7-band eq and I litteraly hated it. Not much control. With my parametric, I can choose between 3 frequencies per "section" (low, mid, high) and the curve. I can do the same with treble and bess adjustments.

At home is another story though. I own a RX-V1800 and I adjusted only once the treble (+1.5db) and bass (+1.5db). It now fits for all sources. Because I have such tastes and my speakers are a little laid back. Same thing with my computer system. I've adjusted a nice curve in winamp and never played with it since.

You are right about the live thing though. I will always tell the difference. But it doesn't mean I won't enjoy a good pair of speakers. I've always been told by professionals that the goal is to reproduce the original soundtrack. I agree up to a point, because everyone has different tastes and some might want a little more (or less) bass and treble. Some DSPs exist on my receiver. It adds echo to give you a live music hall effect. Some like it, some don't. But adding such things doesn't really follow the rule of reproducing as much as possible the original recording.

 

[DD66000]

Well, on my analog system it has a 5 band eq, sometimes I use it, but most of the time its set to flat. And I get all the clarity I need with the pre-amp/power amp, speaker combo I use.

I had it set with the top band down 3db as it was a bit too live in that room (one corner has rock, floor to ceiling about 3 ft out from the corner, both walls, as there used to be a wood burning stove in that corner.)
Anyway I put an unused ottoman on its side and set it against the rock, which eliminated the bouce off the rock. Now the eq is back to flat again.

But tone controls are a personal taste thing, and I find with my system, not needed.