Lewm, what a novelty thinking about the subject in terms of system components. LOL! I did address that lightly by describing the difference between my Technics and my new Denon turntables. That part of my post matches what you were addressing. We are in agreement on the subject including, once again, the limitations of the English language. Like so many aspects of our hobby, what seems simple is anything but.
What does "Warm" mean?
In his post today Paul McGowan ([email protected]) had a pretty good post on the subject of warmth. Here is his definition: "The word usually points at a few related things. There's a slight rise in the lower midrange and upper bass — the region where male voices, cellos, lower piano notes, and the body of most instruments live. There's a softness at the very top, a rounding off of transient energy that feels easier on the ear over long sessions. And there's a sense of weight and body in the music, a presence that makes acoustic instruments feel three-dimensional rather than etched in air. When all three of those things show up together, listeners reach for "warm" because nothing else describes it as quickly."
Paul then goes on to discuss both the good and the bad of this set of characteristics. In general I associate warmth with harmonic distortion, but prefer it to the stridency or harshness that I associate with intermodular distortion. I think most people would agree. Since we all live with a certain amount of distortion, more in analog than in digital playback, I wonder what others think about warmth, or lack of same, and their tolerance or lack of same in their own listening preferences.
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Someone emailed me McGowan's post, which I agree with. I prefer a little warmth, and found his company's initial dacs on that side, including the Directstream. However, after some time I found the DS's version of it boring, and went for Lampi dacs -- TRP, then GG3 -- and a VAC Master preamp, along with ATC 50 active floorstanders. I still have PSA's P15 regenerator, but when mixed in the system with the QSA-Lanedri power strip, with its clarity, soundstage and "neutrality," the P15 sounds constrained and a bit grungy. I'm working on restoring the balance I prefer, and am hoping one of Vera-Fi's sluggos will help me in that regard (in conjunction with their SDFB Max). A TAS reviewer of the $50K+ speakers at the recent Vienna show was torn between several speakers that sounded beautiful to his ears and those that sounded what he called realistic. I imagine the former were on the warm side. He seemed to think the latter were truer to the source, but I’m not seeing how that can be if many of the sources — studio, instruments, mixing, concert halls and sound booth mixing — we listen to are designed or chosen for their warmth. If a system turns a warm recording into something else, then how accurate or true to the source or realistic is it? After all, this is about reproduction, not replication. What's called neutral is just a different frequency distribution, one that pleases some listeners, whether emotionally or, I suspect in some cases, intellectually. Unfortunately, many developers are going for the neutral "realism" market these days, and "warm" has become a dirty word for many, which makes it harder for the rest of us. (https://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/high-end-vienna-2026-loudspeakers-50000-and-up/) Ultimately, my view is that what we are talking about are entertainment systems, so however each of us is entertained, what keeps us listening to the music "unconsciously" for hours, is what matters. |
Having just bought a pair of speakers (Sonus Faber Lumina V Amators) that many describe as "warm" and contrasting those with my original pair of Magnepan 1.7is, I will offer a perspective on how these sound different. |
I had what I considered a bit of an epiphany a few months ago when it comes to describing a “warm” sound vs. whatever the opposite is. I think audiophiles tend to say “detailed” when they like it and “bright” when they don’t. In words the opposite of “warm” is “cool” or “cold”. Have you ever been outside on a cold morning after it’s snowed? There’s a detail and clarity that goes with that environment that I think we all appreciate, but I don’t think that’s the world we would choose to live in all the time. It’s really awesome in the moment and quite possibly what audiophiles often lean towards the more detailed sound early in their experiences and then many (not all) shift their preferences to a slightly warmer sound. Initially the detail is enticing and over time starts to feel less natural. I also think that as gear gets better you can more easily have a “warm” sound without necessarily giving up detail. I think that lower end systems can turn “warm” into “muddy”. I still enjoy details, but have enjoyed the softer side with tubes in my DAC and preamp. |
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