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What the heck do these terms mean?

I read a lot about audio equipment and some descriptions come up occasionally about the components sound qualities that to me are confusing. Most of the time I regard these descriptions as by someone with little knowledge about audio equipment that are trying to sound impressive.

Most of these terms are used in describing speakers but I have also seen them used on cables, amps , electronics of all sorts etc..
So, can someone help define these common descriptive terms?

1. Treble/ bass is dry- Huh? What does this mean?
2. Treble/bass is wet.- Huh? Again, what does this mean?
3. Organic sounding- Huh, huh?
4. Musical sounding.- What? Compared to non musical sounding?

The last one can be used with just about any description of any component or speaker performance.

There may be more...

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mapman's avatar
mapman
21,837 posts
 
I think those terms are often used to describe differences heard with harmonics. 
fabemond2010
3 posts
 
Like wine.....

mammothguy54's avatar
mammothguy54
934 posts
 
I remember, from the mid-80s, "Chocolate Mid-Range and Butterscotch Highs".  It actually made sense, back then.  It's funny, now.

As long as the hi-fi system sounds good to me, I am satisfied. 
twoleftears's avatar
twoleftears
5,313 posts
 

It's all about timbre and the timbral reproduction offered by the system. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/pronunciation/english/timbre

Timbre is what enables us to distinguish a violin from a viola, and a Stradivarius from a Guarneri.  Adjectives to describe the particular timbral reproduction of a given component can be hard to come by, beyond the most obvious ones.  Most languages are fairly impoverished, lexically speaking, on their literal level, so we have recourse to figurative descriptors.  This can easily get out of hand (qv. most wine critics).

atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,575 posts
 
While I am on my soapbox, why are so many reviewers using obscure recordings to describe the sound? If I have never heard the recording how can I relate?
Using the same recording over and over can be really boring. That's why there's a lot of music :)  The point here is simply that the writer is using a recording that he thinks he knows well enough, and thinks its recorded well enough, that its worth mentioning how it sounds in the context of the review. The simple answer is 'you can't'. Just roll with it :)
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