Audiophile hardware that omits tone controls harms listeners’ ability to improve sound.

Evidence

Not all playback electronics have these controls, and some of those that do require entering a menu and/or waiting for a digital reconfiguration, which are disincentives to using them. “Old-fashioned” knobs or the real-time digital equivalents are user friendly. High-end “audiophile” electronics that deliberately avoid tone controls do customers a disservice, and customers who avoid them are missing a feature that can occasionally improve sound at zero cost. — Toole, Floyd E, Sound reproduction- the acoustics and…, 928