My friend Frank said my nose was lifted in the air when I suggested EQ is distortion. He accused me of audio snobbery—thankfully not yet a capital offense. But I can smell the tar heating up.
I am a snob when it comes to some things like audio and bread; and music too.
And here's the funny thing about snobbery: it's the same word as purist, only with a negative twist to make a point—like a touch of lemon to break the bitters.
Purists, snobists, whatever.
Bottom line, I don't cotton to distortion, I am not particularly fond of manipulating one thing in order to come out "pure" on the other side—like adding a spoiler to the rear of a Subaru in the hopes of mimicking a Ferrari.
Pure is pure, distorted is distorted. And if you want to EQ or use DSP to compensate for the room or speakers, that's ok. Really.
Just don't confuse us by calling it pure.