What is Warmth?

Not coldness.

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J. Gordon Holt, founder of Stereophile, is the originator of subjective audio review and development of a consistent set of descriptive terms. Here is his audio glossary, including the subjective audio definition of "warm."

Raul, I disagree a bit about warmth in live classical concert. People described various concert halls' characteristic and warmth is certainly one word that keeps cropping up. I have not heard all that many great halls around the world but I would say for example that Vienna State Opera House certainly sounds warmer Grosse Festspielhaus in Salzburg which is warmer than Metropolitan Opera House. The old Orchestra Hall (before renovation10-15 years ago) was quite a bit drier, cooler in tone than Carnegie Hall and so on. Fazioli piano is crystal clear, cooler in tone than Grotrian which is more woody, darker/warmer tone. Warmth is a coloration for sure but I am not sure if it is neccessarily an abberation. What should be use as a standard in neutrality?

Some violins are warmer than others, and some violinists have sweeter technique.

Warmth in a hi-fi system is typically characterized by a rolled off top end, and possibly a bump in mid-bass as well.

As Raul said, it's a distortion - a band-aid to cover up flaws.

A correctly designed system can have an ease of presentation, an extended top end and balanced frequeny response without being murky, muddy, or warm. It will have rich, vivid tone colors because the harmonic overtone structure is correctly represented. It will also have an ease of presentation, and all of these attributes will at first blush, possibly be described by some as being warm, because people tend to confuse the lack of listening stress induced from a good system with warmth.

With respect to concert halls (which I don't believe the original poster was asking about), the answer would be a bit different. A warm concert hall could have either or both of the following:

1. An absence of excessive reflections.
2. An emphasis toward mid and upper bass frequencies.
3. An audience wearing heavy winter clothing
4. ???

The difference between talking about concert halls and audio systems is subtle, but important.

I'd never call a warm concert hall rolled off in the top end, where frequently this is the case with "warm" hi-fi rigs.

Warmth is also different from tone color. As I mentioned above, the reproduction of complex overtone series (say of a first class violin played by someone who knows how to play) are both rich and have an extended top end. The words I'd use to describe such an instrument are vivid, tonally dense, etc., but NOT warm.

Cheers,
Thom @ Galibier