ok guys, i have a question here that may be difficult to answer but i just want opinions more than anything so here,s the question
out of the 5/10 band equalizer and the seperate bass/treble controls, which do you guys think is the most effective??
i have owned boxes with both features and personally i prefer the seperate bass/treble controls.
i have found on some boxes with graphic equalizer that even after adjusting them, they don,t seem to have much impact on the sound variation.
onto seperate bass/treble controls i have found the variation in sound much more effective, on 99.9% of the boxes i have had with these features the sound adjustment has been much more effective than the equalizers, please note i am not knocking boxes with equalizers i am just comparing 2 different features

The only one i found really useful, was on the pioneer sk-909.

it,s so uncanny you should say that LITFAN i was going to put that particular box somewhere in the subject because i used to own that box and loved it, it was quality, you are bang on about the equalizers on it, they are very effective one of the special ones that box

lav loo
curious --why did you ever sell your 909-??
it seems like THE all-time keeper-
agree ?

The Sharp GF-800 and the WF-939 have extremely responsive equalizer functions. The 5-band on the Panasonic RX-C300 works great too.

I say why decide? When the JVC PC-6 has both

RARE !!!
the pc6 is around like never

Right you are redbenjoe, I've only seen it listed once on ebay, but a few times in other places

REDBENJOE, i had to sell my sk909l due to cash issues, i really regret it now but needs must
STORMIN NORMIN, from what i hear around here you have a reputation for being a tec wizard, so the 3 boxes you have mentioned above i have no doubt your right
RETRO, i never even knew there was a box with both equalizers and seperate bass/treble, thanks for posting this up

In theory, the EQ has a greater chance of changing the sound to how you want it.
However, the amount of EQ change possible varies among boomers in 2 main ways:

1. +/-dB boost/cut possible
The Hitachi 3D7 for example, has a 5 band EQ & each slider chnges it's frequency by +/- 6dB which has a more limited effect that the more normal +/- 10dB.

2. Frequencies chosen
The frequencies chosen for each EQ band can help or hinder. For example, I've seen boomers where the lowest EQ slider is labelled "63Hz" & it's speakers didn't have a hope of reproducing bass that low, so it made nearly no difference (other than through headphones). Also some 3 band EQs have the lowest slider at around 300Hz, so there's no adjustment for low bass at all.

In my experience, bass & treble controls are pretty much standard:
- Bass = 100Hz +/-10dB
- Treble = 10KHz +/-10dB
so at least you knew what you were getting.

Overall I prefer a decent EQ, because you can attempt to tune out the many sound output peaks bought about by slinging small-ish speakers in a plastic box.


Oh, don't forget that EQs were popular 'cos back then, more was better.
More tone sliders = more control = more = better.
"Never mind the quality, feel the width" & all that...

although i don,t fully understand what you have written there I42, what i can understand of it seems to make sense i forgot you was a 3d bass man and if im right most or even all the 3d bass range have equalizers.
so in which case you will have had lots of experience with equalizers and therefore you should have a very good idea what your talkin about
thanks for a great write up I42

I agree with Isolator, I've seen boxes with 60hz bass sliders when the speakers are only rated down to 100 hz.

I definitely prefer an eq...the more bands the better. I agree with Norm, my GF 800 has a 10 band eq that really allows you to tailor the sound of the music to your liking.

maybe i need to get a box with a 10 band equalizer on it, then i may think differently i have only ever had 5/3 band ones
"hey" MELLY, i have just noticed your date of registration here, a year to the day, congrats

The EQ on the HK9000 makes a huge difference. I had it set below the middle on all frequencies, and it sounded half as loud.

sounds like SHARP are doing really well here on the equalizer front i am starting to want a big sharp with equalizers but i have noticed something here which puts me off a little, all the boxes with equalizers on seem to be the ones with detachable speakers, which i don,t really care for, or lets say 99% of them, i wonder why this is??

hey Lav Loo, I'm not a techie, but I think it's probably because the sealed/ported speaker boxes respond better to changes in bass/treble, then speakers in basically an "open" environment like a 1 piece.

im no tech myself PG, but what you say there seems to make sense, maybe someone can varify this for us

I prefer the EQ. I have hooked up different speakers and what I've discovered is, no a box may not get down to 63hz, unless it's at low volume in a real quiet space with a mic to th woofer.

But the ones I have that the EQ frequencies run that low do produce a richer sound.

I have a G.E. with super radio series that has 5 band eq and the bass eq goes down to 60hz and the bass is impressive, It eats Panasonic RX-C-100 and C-300 for breakfast . This is the GE SUPERADIO SERIES 3-5268A



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And here is one on ebay right now.
G.E.

im not surprised atall about the GE sounding great, the BLOCKBUSTER too has terrific sound