"Trevor Wilson" wrote in
message
"dizzy" wrote in message
...
My Sunfire preamp is f'ing up - volume just motors it's
way to max when powered-on. I like the Sunfire because
it's the rare modern, remote-controllable preamp and has
a set of decent (+/- 10 dB or better) tone controls. (Not looking to
start a debate with the "tone controls
are bad" lunatics.)
**Then here's a tip: Don't call them lunatics. People who
imagine tone controls are helpful are deluded.
Deluded? No, just competent.
Making tone controls useful is a 2 step process:
(1) Obtain a tone controlling device that has the resources that are
required to actually impove the sound quality of a system. They are commonly
known as "equalizers". There are two main kinds of equalizers - one called
"graphci" or (fractional octave), and the other kind called "parametric".
Graphic equalizers are more intuitive and eaiser to use. Parametrics have
the potentional to be more powerful.
(2) Take the time it takes to learn how to use that equalizer to actually
make things sound better. It takes hand-and-eye, actually ear-and-hand
coordination to use an equalizer properly, and most people don't get really
good at that overnight.
There are two parts to adjusting an equalizer - figuring out which frequency
to equalize given what you hear, and the other is figuring out how much to
adjust the response at that frequency. Usually, if you can figure out what
frequency to adjust, the easier part is figuring out how much to adjust it.
This program will teach you how to relate tones you hear to frequencies to
adjust:
Here's a little program that can get you started by teaching you how to
relate tones to the numeric frequencies they represent:
http://sft.sourceforge.net/
One rule of thumb is that you should try to do as much equalizing as
possible by cutting, as opposed to boosting. Another rule for graphic
equalizers is to avoid making vastly different adjustments to adjacent
sliders. Another rule to try to minimize changes in the bands above 12 KHz,
as the ear is not very sensitive to changes up there, but tweeter diaphragms
can be more easily damaged by power that does not make a lot of difference
when you boost it. Similarly, as much as possible avoid making boosting a
lot below about 120 Hz, as they can make woofers muddy and use up power
without a lot of audible benefits.