Laid Back Speakers amps, players etc

whenever a designer voices a product in a certain way, it incorporates an intended characteristic. as i understand it, that's coloration.

coloration is either intentional or unintentional.

at any price point, it is almost impossible to create a product having no audible sonic signature. it is unrealistic to expect otherwise.

thus, choose your coloration wisely. configuring a stereo system is an art of balancing intended and unintended coloration to achieve a sound that pleases the listener.

personally, i prefer a rear hall or laid back perspective, but i realize orchestral recordings are not engineered that way.

I agree with just about all of your comments.

However, I believe I have a different viewpoint on "colored".

To me it refers to the tonal balance. Meaning a certain frequency range is highlighted, therefore it is "colored".
Uncolored = (neutral) tonality
Now I am sure as hell open to be corrected on my understanding of "colored" :o) I am sure some other members of the forum will add their thoughts.
But that was how I took the term.

hi classe30:

i agree with your view of colored. i think the concept can be applied to the subject of the thread. a laid back perspective has a non neutral tonal balance.

thus, front row, mid hall and rear hall have different frequency response characteristsics. as i have said, i prefer a rear hall or laid back presentation, and i admit it is not accuracy.

Hey Mrtennis - can the concept be applied to the subject of the thread. a laid back perspective has a non neutral tonal balance?

It could be.

I guess it could be argued as well if we are talking about where the actual presentation is, then we are getting into the label of Soundstaging. How the speaker presents the images of the instruments, including image width, image depth, image size, and image height.
That seems to match the front,mid, and back of the hall as well.

I guess I prefer more of a mid hall to laid back as well.
:o)

I have never associated the term 'laid back' to have *anything* to do with perspective, i.e. the ability to reproduce the correct sound stage width and depth.

I would argue that all natural music is 'laid back' as it is absent of artificial loudness cues that cause listener fatigue.

So it appears to me that MrTennis has a very different meaning for the phrase! In fact it seems that there are at least three definitions being used interchangeably:

1) mine, I won't repeat it
2) a tonal coloration
3) a perspective distortion! -opposite of 'forward' as in: in-your-face presentation, a lack of depth.

So- how to proceed? Perhaps Argyro could comment, as it is he that started this thread? Or- can we agree to identify how the term is being used?

MrTennis, I don't agree that we should just settle for a coloration giving that nothing is perfect. IMO we should still try to get as close as we can to the ideal. Did I misinterpret your comment?