How do you add color?

I have already mentioned that perhaps the usage of the term ’color’ was not very apt to describe what I was trying to say. I see folks are still hung up on that word :)

The point was that some people want neutrality at all cost. Some are okay with morphing the sound just little bit, similar to how you can season your food without altering the basic essence of the dish. Why get so dogmatic about it?

I know people who reject tube amplification as a form of ’polluting’ the sound. The tube euphonics, in their mind, are an added coloration. They hate tone controls, and look down upon folks who buy amps with tone controls. These people often have telepathic abilities to know exactly what the artist had in mind when recording the song in 1967. I readily admit that I have no idea what the artist had in mind. I listen to enjoy and connect with music in a way that pleases me. I like what tubes bring to the table. I like what some of the very best SS amps bring to the table. I like to swap cables to try out a different ’flavor’ of sound every now and then.

Different strokes for different folks.

There is another point. Microphones do not 'hear' everything and so part of the real sound being recorded will be missed. Let's call it negative coloration. You might try to at least partly restore those lost in recording elements, without adding elements that were never there. This is a formidable task bordering on utopia. But we can try.

"colour" as qualitative word associated with the gear component is one thing...

"colour" as a qualitative concept in acoustic and psycho-acoustic associated with TIMBRE is ANOTHER thing...

I cannot be clearer and shorter...

Confusing the two muddle the problem...

Gear colours as with dac that are of different type or with amplifiers S.S. or tubes is a synergy and design qualitative coupling problem...

"Colour" as with tonal colour associated with TIMBRE experience is the main problem in audio with the spatial aspects of sound independently and this independently of the price tag of your system .....

No recording reproduce a perfect experience of timbre only a specific one in specific recorded location of the musician in the room and with some microphone location and typ;  our room acoustic translate this imperfect recording of timbre and the spatial recorded information  cues into our own room acoustic ...( Speakers crosstalk muddle this information about timbre and location and other spatial acoustic concepts )

The best gear in the world in a very bad room will be less desirable than less costly gear in an optimal room... This is a fact not my opinion...

I know if I like it when I hear it. Could be colored, but my preference is not. 

Totally and absolutely correct. Remove the color of the system to hear to actual colors of the music. @mahgister 

"colour" as qualitative word associated with the gear component is one thing...

"colour" as a qualitative concept in acoustic and psycho-acoustic associated with TIMBRE is ANOTHER thing...