# Have any opinions on the Nady GEQ's?



## gdstupak (Jul 13, 2010)

I'm wanting to replace my AudioControl home theater EQ for something in the price range of the Nady GEQ231 & 131.
Anyone have any reasons that they would recommend a different brand?
I've seen several other brands that are just a little more money (i.e. DBX), can anyone say if these are definitely better than the Nady?
I'm just needing a basic full range EQ with RCA jacks, no extra bells and whistles.

If anyone is wondering why I'm wanting to replace the AudioControl,it's because the center and surround channels are not full range. Otherwise the sound quality is good for me.


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## Jee-Bee (Feb 17, 2009)

Preferences look a bit simular but i don't know Nadyso i can't advise you between them. 
I know DBX and thete Eq'a are good
Maybe you can also look to Alesis. That one is a bit cheaper than DBX but not bad i have a parametriq Eq of them.


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## Wayne A. Pflughaupt (Apr 13, 2006)

Don’t waste your time or money on cheap pro audio equalizers. They’re noisy and often not terribly clean or accurate. 

AudioControl is as good as it gets for home audio equalizers – outstanding specs and performance. If you’re married to RCA jacks and want a full-range graphic, AC is your best bet. Check eBay for the AudioControl C-131, but even buying them used you’ll have to get a more realistic budget.

A better option, and less than half the price of what a rack full of C-131’s will cost you, would be Yamaha’s YDG2030 digital 1/3-octave graphic EQ. It’s been discontinued since the late 90s, and originally sold for over $2000, but can be had these days in the $100-150 range. These are the best EQs I’ve ever used. They’re so quiet that a filter fully boosted adds virtually no noise. Even better than the YDG2030 would be its parametric sister, the YDP2006.

If you’re more inclined for a traditional analog graphic for a good price, I’d suggest the Rane GE and ME series. Probably an even better option would be the vintage Symetrix 533E graphics. Based on my experiences with their parametric EQs, the Rane and (especially) Symetrix graphics should be good performers. 

But anyway you cut it, you’ll have to give up the RCA jacks if you want a good-quality pro equalizer.

Regards,
Wayne


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Wayne hit the nail on the head. Both he and I have used the AC-131s and can attest to the quality however they still cost a fair bit used and are tough to find. I still use two myself and wont be giving them up because they are just that good. The Yamaha eqs are a great choice They even made several home grade eqs that were very good quality and clean. if you do a search for a Yamaha EQ 1100u (I had one) you may find one, its 100% digital as far as the adjustments and controls but still will cost you around $400 used.


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## gdstupak (Jul 13, 2010)

Thank you Wayne, I was waiting for you to chime in. I'd read some other thread where the author was thanking you for the Yamaha advice but he never said which model it was.
I know very little about the EQ market, the only one I've used and heard were my AudioControl's which were recommended to me quite a few years ago. I knew cheap was not good but didn't know what was considered cheap.
As far as the RCA jacks go, I am married to my newer Onkyo 706 and ATI 1506 amp which does not have balanced jacks.
All of your recommendations will be considered, thank you, that goes for everyone's thoughts.

It upsets me that AudioControl has been bit by the THX bug for their home theater EQ's. I have the older Rialto where the mains and center only go down to 160hz and the surrounds only go down 150hz (the surrounds go lower than the fronts, imagine that). What I do like about this EQ is how they've combined the L&R channels into a single set of sliders.
Now they have an updated "THX" model (I can't remember the name) where all channels only go down to 80hz and each L&R channels have their own sliders. Please give us just a little more control down to about 50hz and I would be happy. Maybe you could tell I'm not a THX fan, but that's for a different thread, sorry I had to rant.


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## Wayne A. Pflughaupt (Apr 13, 2006)

> As far as the RCA jacks go, I am married to my newer Onkyo 706 and ATI 1506 amp which does not have balanced jacks.


 Why not just get some cables with RCAs on one end and XLRs or ¼” on the other?

Regards,
Wayne


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## gdstupak (Jul 13, 2010)

Yes, I thought there were conversion cables.

My search results:
AudioControl- a bit too expensive especially if going with several c-131's.
Yamaha YDG/YDP- can't find any.
Symetrix 533- can't find any.
Rane ME- found several in my price range, these are a good candidate for me.
Is the Rane GE better than the ME? So far I've noticed that ME's usually have RCA connectors and GE's don't. Any thoughts?


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## Wayne A. Pflughaupt (Apr 13, 2006)

> Yamaha YDG/YDP- can't find any.
> Symetrix 533- can't find any.


 Do a “saved search” on eBay and you’ll get an email when they come up for auction. The Symetrix EQs are pretty rare; the Yamahas are much more common. I know a guy who might have pair of YDPs for sale.




> Is the Rane GE better than the ME?


Might want to compare the specs, but probably there's no difference other than the GE being a large-framed version. Those are usually preferred in live mixing situations. 

Regards,
Wayne


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