Vote

I would not purchase a preamp with tone controls.

I like the option—and I like a tone defeat, even if that defeat switch adds one more component into the signal path. Some sources benefit from the correction. That being said, I have one system in a sonically balanced room where neither tone nor balance controls add to the music and thus can easily be skipped, and another in an oddly shaped room that requires at the very least a balance control. I really wanted to put a Musical Fidelity integrated amplifier into this second room, but had to look elsewhere because of its lack of a balance control. We can still find tone and balance controls on many high end components, and it seems that the almost PCish minimalist movement has been slowed. I like where we are; I like the choice of choosing one with and one without.

I don't use a preamp, let alone any abominable tone controls. Unless you listen to vinyl, a preamp vs.a well designed passive volume control, is a totally useless component in a properly setup system.

Passive Volume Control. NO TONE CONTROLS for me.

NONONONONONONONONONNONONONO. Tone controls may be OK sometimes to fix a bad recording, but most people will use them to patch a bad system. Yuck!

No, my tube preamp has them but it also has a "direct" button that by-passes them. My system sounds much better with them switched out. I never used them, they could have been left out! I find music sound best played back flat as the engineers intended.

I don't know that I would use them, but I wouldn't dismiss outright a product with them. Now how about the other features that used to come on pre-amps, integrateds and receivers? When did the control center of a system get boiled down to only a volume knob and selector switch?

I would rather have the design effort/parts expenditure put into the non-tone control aspect of the preamp.

Frankly, I insist on it. I also look for stereo/mono switch and a phono preamp. And there'd better be a headphone output!

I'd buy a preamp with tone conrols only if they were more useful than the typical bass and treble variety. A two band parametric EQ with a switchable defeat is what I would want.

The main thing I look for in a preamp is the jacks. I want all kinds of jacks, jacks for my current components, jacks for the ones I know I am going to add, and then more jacks that I can't figure out what to do with yet. If the choice was between having tone controls, and having more jacks, I'll take the jacks. It takes the right jack to make a royal flush, and a preamp needs all the right jacks.

Sometimes it's fun to pound on the subwoofer a bit or tame a overly bright recording, other than that, I pretty much leave them alone.

Absolutely not. It's been my experience, over the years, that they are totally unnecessary and to some extent, only harm and color the delicate signal!

Defeatable tone controls are nice features on a preamp, but the actual sound of the unit, before I mess with the bass and treble, is more interesting to me.

No, but it would be nice to have decent high quality ones for making bad recordings sound nicer - as long as they don't impact the sound when they're not needed.

Absolutely. My Parasound preamp features them, and I wouldn't have it any other way. You can keep your $20,000 high-end volume control.

I have not had tone controls on my preamp for over twenty years and not missed them. Three years ago I purchased replaced my dual mono preamp with one without a blance control, that I regret

What we need is a audphile grade 10-band EQ!

See McIntosh

I do not look for tone controls when shopping, but would appreciate them. Having limited options for placement of speakers within the room and also having response tradeoffs regardless of where speakers are placed, tone controls (a good equalizer) can be valuable. I have attached a Rane equalizer in the tape loop of my CJ Premier 14 preamp, which allows me to easily switch it in or out of the system. It helps control the excessive mid-treble levels produced my my Thiel CS 6 speakers. No other frequency range requires attenuation or boost.

As long as there is a switch to turn them off ;)

WOW, I can RELATE to this topic! I am about ready to spend $4,500 on a Mac Integrated to GET tone controls that can be defeated and not influence the sound when they are in the defeat mode. I wholeheartedly agree with the coments that the High End audio companies are missguided when it comes to real world rooms, furniture, listening tasted, etc. YES, I agree that the tone controls will hamper the sound, but when you find yourself seeking out good sounding disks/vinyl vs. good MUSIC who is the winner here? your ears or you heart? Is it wrong to alter the music slightly and really ENJOY Count Basie, or do you not listen to that disk anymore because it doesnt sound right on your system? In short, let us the comsumers decide what is best and include defeatable tone controls on high end equipment!!

It's perfectly rational for purist preamps to avoid tone controls. After expending such effort to design a pure signal path, the designers don't want to mess it up with tone controls.

Last time I was shopping (four years ago now), I was convinced I needed tone controls. I got them, and haven't used them once in the entire four years.

No, nor am I interested in fuzzy pink booties for the cones on the bottom of my Zoethecus racks.

Tone cotrol is a valuable feature but it is not a decision factor that affects my preamp choices.

Absolutely not. The only exception would be a Tact RCS or similar product.

I hate the clutter. I don't own a preamp anymore. I am fortunate to own a BAT VK-60, The Martin Logan CLS, and a Sony CD Player with variable outputs and I'm satisfied. Tone controls, in my experience do more harm than good.

Tone controls on a preamp automatically disqualify it from my short list. Makes my puchasing decision much easier.