Home > Consumer Reviews > AudioSource EQ200 10-Band Stereo Graphic Equalizer

I read another review on here complaining about the "sticky buttons" on the Audio Source EQ 200. After reading another review saying their unit worked fine with no button problems, I decided to take a chance, hoping that the other reviewer's button problem was an isolated incident. Wishful thinking. I've had the EQ 200 for about a week and the same problem showed up on mine. I was listening to an old album on my turntable when one of the stereo channels just cut out. At first I thought it might be a loose cable, or worse, a problem with the cartridge on my turntable. Then I remembered the review about the "sticky buttons." Sure enough, I went to the EQ and jiggled the buttons, and the sound cut in and out as I did so. After jiggling them a few times the problem went away for a while, then it out of nowhere started acting up again. It's not so much that they "stick," as it is that they just plain don't work properly. The have a "cheap" feel to them; all the switches appear to be mounted to a single flimsy bracket. When you press one switch you can see the adjacent ones move. Besides the fact they don't work, they are confusing and limited the way they are formatted. They don't let you monitor the tape deck's output when recording; something that should be a standard feature of an EQ. The buttons on my old Radio Shack/Optimus EQ made a lot more sense in how they operated for dubbing/monitoring. There are a couple other annoyances on the Audio Source, too. The analyzer display has no sensitivity adjustment; when I play my CD player, the display is just maxed out. You can adjust the display by turning down the input level knobs, but I only want to turn down the display, NOT the volume! The "0" line on the EQ should be a different color for easily identifying the relative position of the sliders, but it is simply white like all the lines, which makes it difficult to easily identify the center line. If I were keeping the unit, I would take care of this problem with a magic marker. There are also no scale markings on the input level control knobs, leaving you to guess as to when you have the left and right balanced. The sound quality seems decent when it works, but what good is a stereo component if the sound cuts out while you're listening to your music? The illuminated sliders and spectrum analyzer look neat, but hey, I don't buy a stereo component just for looks. Seeing as other people have complained of the same button issue, I'm sure Audio Source has to be aware of the problem. Obviously, they are not going to invest the resources to correct the problem on something as obsolete as a graphic equalizer. It's too bad, since this model seems to be pretty much the only EQ left on the market for a home stereo. The only other EQ I found other than professional models for rack-mount systems, was a TEAC model which doesn't have as many inputs as the Audio Source. I am returning the Audio Source for a full refund; no sense having them send me another one when undoubtedly it will have the same defect. I guess I will try my luck with the TEAC, either that or put up with the muddy sound my stereo has without an EQ. I will just have to do the old cable swapping routine if I want to do any dubbing with the TEAC.

I listen to a lot of music, and I've learned through the years that onboard equalizers for stereos are usually pretty worthless. So, in owning a relatively inexpensive(I paid around $500 for the Component Stereo and CD Player a few years back) sound system, it was worth my money to get an EQ that I could control. Now I'm going to admit right now, I'm a picky person when it comes to asthetics, which is partly why I bought the EQ200 in the first place. The unit is laid out very well, and looks better as a component than any other EQ on the market(outside of the recent Technical Pro brands(but from what I can tell, they're [...])). The sound quality, once you've tuned it into what your preference is, is absolutely top-notch. One of the best things about a good Equalizer is the ability to make an okay stereo sound like a system that costs much more than it actually is. The precise and accurate reproduction of the sound that comes from this EQ would make you expect to pay much more for the quality(as it makes CDs really come to life). I cannot express to you the difference this EQ will make with the right adjustments.

But here's my one gripe with this unit: it cuts out my audio channels for no particular reason. I have had 3 Units that do this, all show the symptoms within a month or two of breaking in. I know that it is an issue with the EQ, but I'm not so sure that it's the EQ at fault, so much as a disagreement somewhere between the stereo and the EQ itself. To explain(and not to discourage you from buying this EQ), I have an old Optimus EQ that I bought to literally replace this EQ(no where NEAR the quality) because of the problem, and the Optimus has never cut out on the channels. However, when I plugged the EQ200 into my alternate headphone stereo(1974 Scott Solid state, runs into my computer) I have not had a single problem with it. No removal of audio passage, no cutting out. So I'm convinced that my 5.1/Listening stereo does NOT agree with this Equalizer. What I cannot figure out is why it takes 2 months of clean operation for this to happen.

Also to be fair to Audiosource, every time I've had a problem with this unit, they listened to me, and replaced the unit for free. Even if they found nothing to be wrong with it(sent the last one in for repairs), they replaced it for me. I cannot complain about a company that's actually willing to help out its customer base.

4 stars only because of my inability to use it on my main stereo. But whatever, I'll be replacing that stereo in the next year or two anyway.

I just purchased this unit through Amazon.com, and never having owned one before, I didn't quite know what to expect. It arrived promptly, and even though the box it came in wasn't placed inside of another box, (for shipping purposes) it was fine. The instructions seem to be translated from Chinese, but they are fairly basic, and clear. It seems to perform as you would expect a graphic equalizer to do, bringing out the parts of the music you want to enhance. It gives you all of the options you need, except for one. There are two inputs for two tape players, but only one input for either a cd player, or video tape/dvd player. There might be a way around this, but it would be better if it already had that option for both. Other than that, I think it works great! I am very pleased with the way it makes my music sound, and the graphic display is very impressive, as well as fun to watch! Contrary to the other review of 3 years ago, there are no sticky buttons. (I didn't think there would be). I would say that there may be better ones out there, but for the money, it performs admirably.

This product does not work. I purchased this product to replace a Faulting ADC 215 Equalizer. This was the only choice on the market. After getting the unit I was able to connect it quite simple in to my system. I have a DBX unit for my Reel To Reel and had to connect it directly to the Reel To Reel, not much of a problem. But then the problem started to unfold. First the buttons, They are confusing, and don't work half the time. Then I noticed that I could not monitor tape recording output from Three head Deck and DBX record monitoring. With the EQ connected to a deck that monitors it seem to short the input to the output, causing the input level control not to respond, not distortion but not good for you tape deck. After that I started tested a different configurations. I have a 2 Head deck, So I connected it to the EQ 200 and it worked okay, but still had problems with the buttons happened again. I then connected the Reel to Reel without DBX, direct bypass the monitor loop and it worked okay for the first few times, then all of a sudden I could not record on the Reel To Reel, the input controls didnot work and the signal to the meters were pegged, not good, then I losted the 2 head deck. Powered off everything and tried again. After several reset everything worked again. So I decided to give this unit one more try, by adding one piece at a time and testing one piece one piece at a time. I added the Three Head Deck (Teac V711), to Tape1, then tested, worked okay for a while and then things started not working. Remember this is just 1 TAPE DECK !!!!!! connected. Powered off all components and things went back to working. I said okay maybe it is me let me read the manual more closely. Figured out the button (Tape 1>2/Tape2<1) button depends on the setting of the (Audio/Video) button and also the (Line/Tape) button so to listen to Tape Deck 1 you must have Tape1>2 + Audio/Video + Line/Tape LED Green. Okay that worked, only for about and hour and then same problem happen, input controls stop working and meter pegged and again this is just 1 TAPE DECK CONNECTED !!!!!.

What I have found out after opening the unit and putting it on a Oscilloscope, I found that the contacts in the switches are very poorly made and are solider to close together and are causing electrical interference. When a button is depressed and testing the contacts on the Oscilloscope showed a little ambient noise -75dbm level, which is okay, but as you use the switch the noise level increases until it shorts, that is why when you power off and let the unit sit and power back on it works okay that is kind of a electrical discharge so to speak and the ambient noise is back to around -70 ~ -75dbm. The open circuit test fluctuated from inf to 10K ohm resistance. Closed circuit test revealed from 0 ~ 1 ohm resistance on average but fluctuated to inf at times. That why the sound cuts out and the input shorts to the output.

So all in all the unit went back for a refund. Please don't buy this unit. It is low quality and poor craftsmanship that it will not last more than a month or so. It does not support tape monitoring, and don't try to connect a Three Head Deck it will short out your Deck. The buttons don't work and short constantly. Tape to Tape dubbing is limited to only monitoring source, THAT IS CORRECT, when dubbing you can only list to the source Tape and not the dubbing tape to insure that the deck is recording okay. This is a very poor design!!!

I was completely amazed at the quality of the product for the price. I have owned severel different types of equalizers in the past and this one is very nice. Can't go wrong.