"Sound is DARK / FORWARD / TRANSPARENT?
Please help define above terms... And others like BASS IS TIGHT"
These terms are fairly common and accepted.
Dark--seriously...the opposite of bright, which means too much treble energy. So 'dark' is not enough treble energy.
Forward--the opposite of recessed, describing the relative front/backness of the music. I find that most folk who love pop music like it sort of 'in their face', which is forward. Most folk who like Classical music hate that in-your-faceness and prefer the sound a bit recessed so that they don't feel as if they're sitting atop the conductor.
Transparent--this one is more difficult. One reason for that is that transparency varies hugely from system to system and recording to recording. I perceive it as the ability to 'see' into the orchestra without 'veils' in the way. A highly transparent recording played on a highly transparent system sounds as if there's NOTHING but air between you and the musicians and recording venue. I feel as if I'm sitting on a stepladder, on the stage, behind the conductor, and all these excellent musicians are playing for ME. It's taken me decades to achieve that feeling, and it doesn't happen very often and NEVER while playing CDs. It happens only while playing the best SACDs and DVD-As. IME, it takes listening to LOTS of good hi-fi systems before you can hear small differences in transparency.
.
