Through all the years we've been involved in the high performance audio industry there's been one most important constant. The quality of an audio system's output is, to a significant degree,

dependent upon the quality of the source material. The old saw about "garbage in = garbage out" 

Vinyl Playback is Considered By Some to Be the Best Music Playback Source

applies in just about every field. Certainly, because we want to accurately reproduce whatever source material we listen to, better equipment (speakers in particular) will get us closer to the original. And on that level, having the best system you can assemble will make any source sound as good as it can. But what if the source is really flawed?...

 

Consider tone controls...

 

If the source is acoustically flawed, even simple tone controls can potentially enhance its reproduction. We know that many audiophiles disdain the use of tone controls but when they're applied judiciously they can significantly help less than stellar source material. Just a simple bass or treble control can significantly enhance some poorly recorded material. Just remember whenever you turn up part of the frequency spectrum you're using more of your amplifiers reserve power and reducing the "headroom" available from your amp and speakers. This is particularly true if you crank up the bass, which uses the most power to reproduce. GoldenEar powered Triton towers with their built-in subwoofers are capable of prodigious bass output that won't tax your receiver or power amp. Their built-in amplifiers are extremely powerful and performance-matched to the drivers in the speakers. And as an added benefit, you can raise and lower the bass level with the speakers' subwoofer gain control eliminating the need for using your receivers bass tone control.

 

...or even an equalizer

 

A Typical Multi-Band Audio Equalizer

Audio equalizers are still available although most that you'll find are from the pro sound world. If you research their specifications carefully you'll find some that are fine for home high fidelity use. You can also find software equalizers that operate using a home computer if you're using that computer as a music source or have one integrated within your system. As a general rule, it's always best to turn frequencies down to smooth system rather than turning frequencies up. And typically a gentle downward slope to the frequency range once you get past 4000 to 5000 Hz sounds more natural than a totally flat response. As we age we tend to lose our high frequency sensitivity too so you should be able to compensate for this using a good EQ. Ask your GoldenEar dealer if you think a separate equalizer might be right for you.

 

Built-in equalization

 

Many of today's surround sound receivers and pre/pros offer built-in equalization programs (often called Room EQ, or Room Correction) with an included microphone for setup. We would be remiss if we did not admit our experience with these systems has been mixed, these can be just as harmful as they can be helpful. We would suggest that if you have one of these units you give the EQ program a try and carefully evaluate the results using several known recordings as sources 

A High-End Processor with Room EQ

versus the results of a fully manual setup without using the auto setup and EQ. On room correction programs that allow setting of the effected frequency range (the best ones do), select a maximum frequency that represents the "transition frequency" of your room (typically around 250 Hz). EQ above that frequency is no longer "room correction", it becomes speaker (or source) correction instead, often times with sonically negative results. And as we've discussed here, source correction is best on a case by case using other means, not "globally". And speaker correction, well, that's just plain wrong. Once again, you might consider consulting with your GoldenEar dealer for further advice and help in this regard.

 

Subwoofer levels

 

After carefully setting up your system, hopefully using a Sound Pressure Level (SPL) meter or app on your tablet or smartphone you have the option to adjust the subwoofer output level to compensate for differences in bass content in the source material. Our experience shows that adding or subtracting somewhere around 1 to 3 dB seems to help a lot, especially when switching between movies and concert videos. Most movie soundtracks contain lots more bass than most music recording except for rap and hip-hop. There's no hard and fast rule however. For example, just last night we listened to 2 different live Blu-Ray concerts and changed the subwoofer levels because one concert was really bass heavy and the other particularly bass light.

 

Try not to be a slave to audiophile convention. Within reason, if you can make a particular recording better by adjusting the tonal balance by all means do so. It's your enjoyment of the music and/or soundtrack that's the primary goal here.