Cradeldrof, what other gear are you running? Personally, I could never listen to my Altec speakers without a graphic equalizer and while alternatly listening to CD's, Youtube videos, and Movie DVD's, am constantly adjusting the EQ not only for each different format, but each different CD, or video. They are all recorded differently and each has to be individually adjusted to taste. It is a time consume task, but is a necessary requirement for listening nirvana. Altec, more than any other speaker brings out all of the flaws in recording engineering.