Neutral or warm? Which do you prefer?

Mind you, I'm not an audiophile. I just like to listen to music and enjoy it more when it sounds good. I prefer speakers to be more neutral so that I can hear the music as it was intended.

To me, the term "warm" infers that edges have been rounded off and this is done at the expense of some detail.

I'd go for neutral, but I have experienced some recordings that could do with a bit of added warmth. I recently picked up a Yaqin tube buffer with a set of JAN Philips 6sn7 tubes. Now, I just kick it in when I want to warm things up a bit.

For what my opinion is worth, I'd say that there's no "supposed to be better." I'd go with whatever has you closing your eyes and listening to the music rather than the equipment.

Liquid Smooth,since you have both of the speakers in your possession, you're the best person to answer your question.

Being as ignorant as I am with regard to the hows and whys of audio, I really can't pin point particular qualities in equipment. Still, as I said, I do like to listen to music.

The personal litmus test that I devised is as follows. I get home. I fix myself an Old Fashion and I turn on some tunes. Over the course of about a week or so, I'll reflect on how much listening I did, assuming that I had time. What I've found is that even with speakers (or a system as a whole) that I think I like, I tend to listen for shorter lengths of time when I'm not really enjoying it as much as I think I am.

I know, it sounds idiotic, but I did admit to ignorance. My last three sets of speakers can be used as an example. I started with a pair of System Audio SA-505s. These are WONDERFUL little speakers. They sounded natural. I could listen to these for hours on end. I only turned the system off when I had to. The downside was that they didn't do rock very well. Not nearly as well as they did jazz and blues, anyway.

So...I got a pair of Paradigm Studio 10s. When I heard them at the dealer I fell in love. I got them home and I liked them. Very dynamic and detailed. Over the course of about a month or so, I discovered that I was listening much less that I was with the 505s. I was just getting tired of listening.

So...I put the 505s up for sale and got myself into a pair of Silverline Minuets. All I can say is that I've found my home (for now). They've done everything I've thrown at them well. Who would have thought that these relatively inexpensive speakers could be so nice. Since I got them, I've been listening continuously. When one play list ends, I start another.

In the end, it turns out that putting the analysis aside and letting my ears be the judge turned out to be the best way to decide.

It's tough to ask others to answer this question for you because you are the only one with your equipment in your listening area. I'm sure that another in different circumstances could greatly enjoy the 505s and the Studio 10s, but for me in my listening room, I just had to find what worked.

Neutral is satisfying to our ears as no one part of the spectrum is out of line with the rest, drawing attention to itself.

Nonoise, I think that this is what I would have tried to say and goes with the notion that some systems are cold and some systems are warm. Neutral would be in the middle, I suppose.

I really don't like saying that I want my music to sound as though it is live, because like others have mentioned, live isn't always a good thing. In fact, most live shows sound like cr@p.

I agree that some impromptu venues aren't bad. I live in New Orleans and a lot of what you hear being played in the narrow streets sounds pretty good. Of course, that could be the drinks talking, or listening.