Neutral, transparent, warm
I’m wondering if any of you could help me understand better some terms that are often used in trying to describe the sound of a speaker. And, I guess instead of trying to describe these terms which are themselves a description, can you give me some specific examples. First, is there a difference between “neutral” speaker, and one that is considered “transparent”? Second, is it that a speaker is labeled “warm” if the high frequencies are more rolled off than neutral or transparent speakers. Sorry. Too many questions, but I’d be interested in hearing from some of veteran audiophiles. If you don’t want to address that, then how about this. Let’s confine ourselves to floor standing speakers costing up to $3000. New or used. Give me one or two examples that in your opinion epitomizes “Transparent”, one or two that are good examples of “neutral”, and a couple that are usually described as being “warm”. Thanks.
I started on this… and lost what I wrote. So let me recommend The Complete Guide to high end audio by Robert Harley. He does a great job of explaining what to look for in a speaker and the trade offs and characteristics to look for.
Also… a good reference: https://www.stereophile.com/reference/50/index.html
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To me, "neutral" means flat in FR and with very low distortion. A component with nonflat frequency response I'd call "colored." "Transparent" implies low noise and distortion. A transparent component is not necessarily neutral. "Warm" implies a little boost in the lower midrange, say the two octaves from 100 Hz to 400 Hz. A warm component is colored, but it could be transparent. |
Warm may mean more than one thing… you have to read the word in context. It can mean midrange and bass bloom (fully fleshed out midrange and bass). Or tipped overall tonal balance towards the bass, or attenuated high frequency. Sound quality can be thin like from a small radio… as sound quality increases the presence of each of the frequencies is increased… in older electronics there was lots of treble and bass and thin unfleshed out midrange. So, a female singer has a thin high pitched voice. But in good warm systems a female voice will have heft and width… be hilly fleshed out. This is mid-range bloom… a great thing… putting the midrange in proper width and volume to treble and bass. This may not mean attenuation or a preponderance of bass.
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