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

@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.  

There is no "HiFI" system that is not coloured in some way. The misnomer of sounding as the arist intended is unobtanium. Nobody, not even most artists have a handle on how a recording should sound. We are humans and have both a limitation and a personal reaction to what we hear. Microphones have never been better, yet  they have very real limitations physically and electronically. There is no perfect recording because that suggests everything was captured and can be reproduced exactly as it was played, it cannot. Often, musicians and other contributors were not even in the same country, let alone the same room and yet they could be mastering the recordings for various formats. DSD 512 raw files can sound unlistenable for humans, as our auditory and processing is fatigued very quickly by them, which is why such a DSD file cut to vinyl is often more enjoyable but not necessarily "better" than the raw DSD file. I can testify to this as I have bought several recordings in both formats and the human reaction not just to me, but is often quite viceral to fellow listeners in my room.. I liken it to my work as an engineer with Sony, working on 8K and higher projection system’s and screen resolutions for cinema. When you are exposed to the level of detail our test files were producing on screen, it scrambles your senses as you cannot process all the information that is coming at you. It becones fatiguing and almost nauseating to watch. Back to the sound we hear, all recording and playback systems introduce distortion and colouration. I have no doubt that system matching and room acoustics as well as mood and ambience, even time of day can influence what we humans percieve as the most enjoyable playback systems. I have a mix of vacuum tubes and digital electronics and I am accustomed to how my system sounds. I couldn’t care less what others may think of my system, although it is nice when a visitor feels its touched something in them because I won’t pretend it doesn’t give me a "warm" sense of satisfaction and a little validation but to me it sounds wonderful with most recorded music. And even better when in the evening with the log burner and the valves (vaccuum tubes to my American friends) glowing in harmony. That’s when it sounds best of all. Warm - cold - Analytical - transparent - ad nauseam, to me its all "wine club tasting word acrobatics". Listen to some familiar favourites across  genres if possible on a few combinations of equippment, and what your ears and heart tell you. Spend as much as you can afford, pay attention to system matching, speaker placement and your rooms liveliness, you don’t need huge ugly room treatments; soft furnishings rugs and curtains will do a great job of calming a live room and in my circumstances keep accumulating brownie points with the better half. Remember, all recorded music is simply a facsimile and never a perfect reproduction and like it or not the same is true of the reproduction equippment. Now, I think I need me a  10.5" Reel to Reel. Listen to Pink Floyd - Money, it is educational 😉

nubiann   There is no "HiFI" system that is not coloured in some way. ~~~~  Microphones have never been better, yet  they have very real limitations physically and electronically. There is no perfect recording because that suggests everything was captured and can be reproduced exactly as it was played, it cannot.

I agree everything you mentioned. I've been saying same things. Also, I've been saying only Wavetouch audio (me) brought a almost perfect microphone which sounds close to the original sound. Below is a cleanest sound Wavetouch audio system playing a cleanest sound recording which recorded by a Wavetouch audio microphone.  Alex/Wavetouch audio

Mic distortion noise test, WA-102 Mic vs. other mics

@nubiann very nicely put. I agree with your understanding and statements. It is nice to read someone else expressed what I have been attempting to convey for decades to mostly unreceptive audiences.