40,000 Tweaks For Free!

[Confused]

I have to admit I always feel like I am "cheating" if I have the tone controls set to anything other than zero. This does beg a question though, do the tone controls influence the overall sound quality in the same way that DSP might? I can think of people who have been striving to make minor tonal tweaks and might claim that silver cables can make the sound brighter, this kind of thing. Obviously a +1dB tweak on the treble is going to be cheaper than buying a new set of cables, but is there a SQ penalty if the tone controls are anything other than zero?

I did have a chuckle at the line "why do we often look for the monetary solution when there are so many free solutions to explore first?" I have just spent £1000's on some new kit that has made my previously balanced system sound a touch bright. The good news is I can fix the issue for free!