2. misc-audio
  3. 1149774721

Tone -- What's It All About?

Recently I've seen the word tone used as a description of sound. What exactly do people mean when using this word? From what I can gather tone is a very positive trait.

As a long time, very bad guitarist I know what musicians mean when discussing tone. A particular amp or guitar can be described as having great tone, but only in the context of a talented musician drawing it out of the instrument. It's a combination of harmonic richness, sustain, grit and sensitivity to touch. Great musicians have great tone even with less than stellar equipment. From this perspective I'm really confused about how audiophiles are using the word. For instance, check out this Altmann site which boldly calls itself Mother of Tone. The site relates tone to the characteristic vibration of different materials, but the definition of tone is implied to be "a pleasant sound", which I think is somewhat lacking.

My questions are, can a component have tone? Can parts of a component have tone, for instance a speaker post? Is there good tone and bad tone? What's the opposite of tone? Can you have too much tone? How does tone relate to accuracy, measured or perceived?
onhwy61
gunbei
2,327 posts
 
Another example might be Vladimir Horowitz. Most pianists use their fingertips while playing and the resulting sound is precise, but sometimes dead from a less accompished artist.

Horowitz is famous for his flat finger playing which when heard creates an amazingly rich and complex tone. It sounds like two people are playing the same piece at the same time, because all these tones become layered on top of the base note. Beautiful and incredibly powerful!
goatwuss
877 posts
 
While it is true that an expert can get good tone out of a crappy instrument, it is also true that a novice can get good tone out of an instrument that has good tone to begin with.

I certainly think 'tone' is an appopriate word to describe a stereo system, at least if you are discussing this other other musicians.

Though audiophiles have the tendency to dissect and discuss small portions of the musical spectrum separately , a good "tone" would just be an overall pleasing sound. Not too warm, not too bright, not too thin, not too forward... just plain old good tone.
onhwy61's avatar
onhwy61 OP
5,351 posts
 
Thanks for the responses. The way I've heard the word used is along the lines of Gunbei's description. It's a tube thing.
More to discover