EQs.

[SlumpBuster]

There used to be a poster here by the name of "Skeptic" who proudly boasted of using not one, not two, but three EQs in his system. His 70s era Citation 11 preamp has an on board five band unit and he uses two BSR ten band units. He also asserted that it took two years for him to get all of them set properly. Ok.

That's dumb. He must have had +/- 30 db on some bands.

I'm just going to hurl one more confuser into this EQ discussion. I'll simply state: parametric eq.

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

That's dumb. He must have had +/- 30 db on some bands.

I'm just going to hurl one more confuser into this EQ discussion. I'll simply state: parametric eq.

A ten band BSR equalizer is useless, two of them are twice as useless. I use eight channels of 31 band equalization, but need no eq above 250hz, as my speakers are within 1.5db's from there to about 40k. Good speakers with a flat frequency response, and room treatments do wonders in making good sound.

[markw]

A ten band BSR equalizer is useless, two of them are twice as useless. I use eight channels of 31 band equalization, but need no eq above 250hz, as my speakers are within 1.5db's from there to about 40k. Good speakers with a flat frequency response, and room treatments do wonders in making good sound.

eq's do have the best influence in the lowest few octaves and few have the precision needed to really do much good here. Parametrics come closest, though.

Generally, for the rest of the band, speaker positioning and room treatments are more effective, assuming the speaker is reasonably flat to begin with.

But, FWIW, when I DID use an eq (20 band BSR ) back in the 70's*, it was mainly in the "cut" mode.

Using it in the "boost" mode puts demands on an amplifier, as witnessed by the yahoos that used them in cars back then. Setting them in the famous smiley face configuration and then wondering why their system sounded like drek and was always blowing tweeters.

Remember, every three decibel boost doubles the power demand on an amp and an apparent doubling of the loudness in a particular range increases the power demand by ten times.

* to tame a pair of fairly forward sounding JBL L-55s.

[E-Stat]

Setting them in the famous smiley face configuration and then wondering why their system sounded like drek and was always blowing tweeters.

At least that somewhat tracked the Fletcher-Munson loudness curves at the bottom along with a sizzling audio cowboy top. My favorite "don't really have a clue what I'm doing" setting is where all of the sliders are up! The response then resembles a mogul field at the ski slope.

rw

[GMichael]

At least that somewhat tracked the Fletcher-Munson loudness curves at the bottom along with a sizzling audio cowboy top. My favorite "don't really have a clue what I'm doing" setting is where all of the sliders are up! The response then resembles a mogul field at the ski slope.

rw

When we first bought my wife's car, we noticed that her stereo sounded like total crap. I was going to replace it until I saw that it wasn't a bad model. I started playing around with it and found that every possible setting was maxed out. After turning everything back down, her system sounds fine.

[SlumpBuster]

I had a POS Pontiac Lemans in college that had kick azz yamaha amps under the seat installed by the previous owner. I was running twin twelves with them. When I got rid of the car i pulled out the amps. The carpet underneath was melted and completely smooth. Talk about putting demands on an amp, it literally melted the car. I'm lucky it never caught fire.

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

eq's do have the best influence in the lowest few octaves and few have the precision needed to really do much good here. Parametrics come closest, though.

The amount of precision you need is directly related to the amount of acoustical abnormalities within your room. Sometimes parametrics do not have enough filters to cover all of the problems happening in your room, even though I agree that it is probably the best answer to EQ. I was lucky, the filter assignment that my EQ have just happen to land in the areas I have problems. 31 bands gives you alot of precision. 5 or 10 bands, not nearly enough.

Generally, for the rest of the band, speaker positioning and room treatments are more effective, assuming the speaker is reasonably flat to begin with

Before I even consider EQ, speaker positioning and acoustical treatment is first. Whatever these two steps cannot handle, electronic EQ can take over. I do not believe in using EQ to correct a lousy speaker response, or lousy sounding recordings.

But, FWIW, when I DID use an eq (20 band BSR ) back in the 70's*, it was mainly in the "cut" mode.

For me that is not always the case. I use mine to create a house curve, and that requires a little boost at the very bottom. However I do not recommend this for most folks, because they do not know the dynamic limitations of their equipment.

Using it in the "boost" mode puts demands on an amplifier, as witnessed by the yahoos that used them in cars back then. Setting them in the famous smiley face configuration and then wondering why their system sounded like drek and was always blowing tweeters.

Remember, every three decibel boost doubles the power demand on an amp and an apparent doubling of the loudness in a particular range increases the power demand by ten times.

* to tame a pair of fairly forward sounding JBL L-55s.

Maybe the smiley face eq settings are an encouragment to be happy about purchasing crappy speakers. Just a thought.....