You're entitled to your opinion of course, but I think "how the artist intended" is a bit of an audiophallic statement.Eric D wrote:If you need to adjust how much bass you want, then either your stereo is not adjusted properly, or you prefer to not listen to music as the artist intended.
Yes, I strive for quality reproduction but I don't think I'm as dedicated or as sensitive to the overall quality of reproduction as you are, so clearly we'll have somewhat different views on this.
As I said before, I have many tracks that just aren't produced super well or even aren't produced the way I'd ultimately like but are great songs that I enjoy anyways. I have some stuff by The Roots that fits that bill exactly. For whatever reason, the bass is just way too freaking loud but with the LPL, I turn it down and it becomes far more pleasurable than listening at ultra-low volumes or blasting ridiculous amounts of bass just to have the vocals at the level that I want them. The tracks just aren't balanced well enough for my tastes.
Sometimes, for me, enjoying a track means turning down the bass because it's overwhelming, sometimes it means giving it a little more juice because it's lacking.
As an example, I like to have a little more bass that the artist intended when listening to Dave Brubek. I like to feel the kick drum a little more than I would if it were playing flat because I'm a drummer and the drum tracks are really what get me hard about Brubek's jazz tunes. That's what I enjoy so much.
All that said...
I think you make good points as to how and why the LPL can and IS misused. I agree with those statements. However, I don't believe that the potential for misuse of any product should be used as a reason against it's existence. I'm sure if you apply that logic to guns, you'd agree

At the end of the day and all this typing, my LPL knob really doesn't get a whole lot of use. I'm defending it because I found it to have a use to me that I wanted to share. I use it when I switch from something that was produces one way to something that was produced in another. If that means going from The Roots to Dave Brubek (which I like opposite settings for), I use it, otherwise, it stays pretty constantly in one position. I think that is responsible use of the device.