Many audio components are designed to have a characteristic “sound”, such as “warm”, “mellow”, “tube like”, etc. Sometimes this can compensate deficiencies in other system components, “dryness” in source material, or simply appeal to one’ s tastes. Sometimes this leads to, for example a euphonically (pleasant sounding) colored tube amp being called an “expensive tone control”! But unfortunately, this practice leads to the need for selecting mutually “compatible “components, e.g., a “soft” preamp to compensate a “bright speaker”. At Colin Electronics, we believe that all audio components should be as neutral (faithful to the input signal, be that good or bad) as possible. Correcting deficiencies is best served by the use of tone controls, equalizers, etc. While these have fallen out of favor, you should realize that many recordings have emphasized tonal frequency ranges due to the interminable “need” felt by record producers to maximize loudness and “produce” a sound. This is true of most popular music, and even some classical.
In addition, if you select a component because it has some sonic “signature” that compensates your present system’s (or recordings’) problems, then you’re stuck with that “signature”. When you upgrade other components or obtain newer recordings, that “compensatory” component might not sound so good!
Therefore, our policy is to honor the original meaning of High Fidelity; that is, to design components whose output signal ( and therefore sound) replicates the input source as closely as possible for an amplifying component ( as opposed to a loudspeaker with present technology) to produce no audible difference, if the component is properly used within its ratings.
Made in USA