If Warmth Is a Distortion, Why Do So Many Audiophiles Still Defend It?

@viber6 

The Android sound apps I tried were limited to 80 dB, making them essentially useless.

At first I was surprised by the 80 dB readings when my system was clearly playing well into the 100s. As an experiment, I placed the phone with the SPL app running into an empty oil drum and whacked the drum hard with a hammer... 80 dB.

I am not sure if the limitation is a function of Android or my Pixel phone, the information I found online was contradictory, but it appears to be intentional. There might be a way to defeat it but I lost interest.

I sat in front of a string quartet quite recently. It sounded warm.....

Scram back under the rock with the [warmth = distortion] gibberish.

Over time, a few things have stood out to me:

• Warmth is pleasant, but it’s still coloration.
Beautiful, yes — but not accuracy, not transparency, and not always the artist’s intention.

• Warm gear enhances some tracks but softens accuracy in others.
Especially vocals, piano, violin, guitar, and other acoustic instruments. Some people hear this, some don’t, and some just prefer it that way.

• Modern Class D deserves more respect than it gets.
Many older audiophiles dismiss it based on outdated assumptions. But the latest designs are already extremely neutral, fast, and precise. I’m not sure how much longer Class A/AB will remain relevant beyond nostalgia and brand loyalty.

• Price reflects real quality only up to a point.
Beyond that, it becomes about branding, house sound, and personal bias. Preference is fine — but preference isn’t the same as absolute fidelity.

But you didn’t acknowledge my other statement that a passive attenuator will be more transparent AND cooler than an active preamp in tonality.  

@viber6 Actually I did and I can add more: when you use a passive volume control, if there is a coupling capacitor at the output of the source, you might introduce a timing constant. That might not roll of bass at audio frequencies, but might introduce a phase shift which the ear interprets as a loss of impact. In so doing, that will tilt the perception to the highs, thus producing your ’thin’ sound. 

’Thin’ is a coloration and therefor is not neutral. 

The introduction of a control in this fashion can also result in a loss of transparency. It is actually possible for a thing to be too simple and this is an example. 

Odd question. Some people prefer the sound of distortion. That’s why so many people listen to vinyl. Why does that matter? 

FWIW Dept.:

I used to run an LP mastering operation. One thing I found out doing that is the LP itself is much lower distortion than most people realize. The distortion comes in during playback, not the mastering process. The typical LP cutter head might have 30dB of feedback wrapped around it and the mastering amplifiers, which have their own feedback as well. The result of all that feedback is very low distortion. Most of ’the distortion of the LP’ is really just poor tonearm setup, poor tonearm design, tracking angle errors, skating force errors and issues with the phono section.  

 Dave Belles in the early amps I used had only single ended RCA connectors.  He thought that balanced connections require double the amount of circuitry which would result in loss of detail.  

If he really thought that he was simply wrong. You don’t need double the circuitry for a balanced line setup. Our preamps have been fully balanced and differential since their inception in 1989. There isn’t twice the circuity. For example, in our phono stage there are only two gain stages, despite the phono section being able to work with LOMC and having passive EQ. Most single ended phono sections that might do that would have 3 gain stages unless an SUT is employed (which have their own complexities). 

@atmasphere,

Thanks for your interesting comment that loss of bass impact from the passive volume control can thin out the sound and tilt the balance to HF.  Actually, I've never used a passive volume control in my own system.  I went to a home dealer who used the Music First passive transformer volume control in his system.  He then disconnected the Music First and ran the source directly into the power amp with the appropriate CD track to get a comfortable volume level.  I couldn't hear any difference with the Music First back in.  This same comparison test with any line stage showed obvious veiling added by the line stage.  And yes, the veiling added warmth.  So that experiment showed that any added electronic stage colors the sound with added veiling.  My own experiment at home without the line stage showed the same thing, as I previously described.  It wasn't that I heard less bass which created more prominent HF.  No, without the added stage, there is improvement in everything--tighter bass, midrange, HF.  Put another way, less distortion, less electronic fuzzy warmth.  Much more reminiscent of real life--the woman in the well fitted dress rather than body features hidden under an oversized winter coat, the cool snap of the golf club instead of the softness heard in a video system. 

@deep_333,

I agree with all of your statements in the box.  To be clear, I know that there is natural warmth from the tonal structure of larger instruments such as piano, pipe organ, tuba, cello, string bass.  Certain singers do have warm, rich voices, but most other singers heard live have somewhat raucous voices as though they almost have a cold. I enjoy the natural warmth from those instruments and the gifted singers with rich voices.   As a beginning violinist 60 years ago, my violin sound was scratchy and distorted.  Nowadays I have acquired skills to produce a warmer, sweet sound when I want that.  But my improved skills have also enabled me to get a more precise attack and sharper sound for certain types of music. 

But most of this thread has been a discussion of electronic warmth from audio systems.  I hate all of that.  This type of warmth is NOT the warmth of natural instruments.  It can be described as electronic warming of the naturally warm tonalities from overlay of electronic fuzz and hash.  The biggest contributor is dynamic speakers which add colorations and distort the natural harmonics of the music being played.  Electrostatics and ribbons are more neutral and impose fewer colorations.  Audio system warmth is NOT accuracy aka high fidelity.  That electronic warming reduces the detail of the warm natural sound.  The string quartet you heard certainly has warmth for certain pieces like gentle classical.  But Shostakovich and Bartok are harsher, and there the sound would not be warm.  Those pieces are gritty and hard sounding.  A confusing factor is the wooden stage floor and walls, carpeting in the hall, all of which soften and warm the sound.  I have been in Boston Symphony Hall close to the stage, which is not as warm as Carnegie Hall.  Boston has no carpet on the floor or plush seats.  Carnegie is the opposite.