Laid Back Speakers amps, players etc

"incidentally, the connotation of "laid back" is usually, recessed treble response, or artificial depth."

I totally agree with that statement.

"Laid back"... to me, I always took as a reflection of a personality. Not calling attention to oneself, in the background, polite not exciteable.

Take a Spendor for instance, to me that is a nice example.
Audition one, and the first thing that comes to mind is a recessed treble and a music presentation that is behind the plane of the speakers.

Hmmmm, I equate 'laid back' with 'relaxed', 'easy', 'non-fatiguing'... so to have a meaningful conversation the difference in meaning attached to the phrase would have to be overcome first.

To me, 'laid back' has nothing to do with a lack of highs or speed. It has to do with a lack of artificially-generated loudness cues that the human ear perceives as brightness. How you would differentiate this from a tilted up tonal anomaly is that 'laid back' measures flat on the bench and the tonal anomaly does not.

Thus, 'laid back' is a lack of coloration of the odd-ordered harmonic type (you could listen to a laid back system, get the full range of frequencies, and not be oppressed by the volume, with no sense of having to turn it down). I often perceive transistor amplifiers as not being very 'laid back'; not very relaxed.

So- if this is not an acceptable meaning for this phrase, then we need to sort out what this thread is about, right?

Hey Atmasphere, I agree with the phrase you wrote.

"""Hmmmm, I equate 'laid back' with 'relaxed', 'easy', 'non-fatiguing'..."""

I would agree as well that it has nothing to do with speed.
Though Dynamics...yes. IMO.

For me, I was just using the actual general definition of the term "laid back" as it pertains to speaker presentation.
It does not draw attention too itself, the speaker does not highlight(is that the term, with respect to color?) anything. The presentation is recessed, where yes, you always feel you can turn the volume up.

I think we are in agreement over the term, we are just using different examples of words.... I think :0)

I think some Transistor Amps can be defined as "laid back"
Ayre comes to mind that I have heard.

Agree with Atmashere's description. Dark and laid back are two different things.

We do NOT have a consensus on the meaning.

I did not infer any tonal qualities at all. Although there probably is a relation between the presentation of the soundstage and frequency, harmonics, and many other factors, I have yet to isolate the common ground among the systems I would consider to have a "laid back" soundstage. Dipoles seem to be a good start though.

Even what could be labelled "character" is beyond my intent. I would not use the terms, "easy-going" or "relaxed" in the same way as "laid back" in describing audio. Perhaps, I put too much emphasis on "laid BACK" in trying to find the antonym of "forward".