I’ve been following this discussion with some interest and I have been seeing several subjective terms used to describe the sound speakers (e.g. liquid, warm, bright, etc.). No one seems to be able to describe these terms in a standardized way. I have some information that might help.
J. Gordon Holt, the founder of Stereophile magazine (indeed, the founder of subjective reviewing of high fidelity audio equipment) coined and defined most of the terms that have been used in the audio press for the past two decades. In 1990, the Audio amateur Press published Holt’s booklet,
The Audio Glossary. It is still available from Audio Express.
http://www.audioxpress.com/bksprods/products/bkaa7-s.htmAs an immediate help to the discussion, I will quote some of the definitions from
The Audio Glossary.
“liquid – In reproduced sound, describes a complete absence of texture or grain.
texture, texturing – (1) A recognizable pattern or structure in reproduced sound, even if random in nature. (2) A sensation that the energy continuum of reproduced sound is comprised of discrete particles, like the grain of a photograph.
grainy – A moderate texturing of reproduced sound. The sonic equivalent of grain in a photograph. Coarser than dry but finer than gritty.
gritty – A coarse-grained texturing of reproduced sound. The continuum of energy seems to be comprised of discrete, sharp-cornered particles.
warm – The same as dark, but to a lesser degree.
dark – A warm, mellow, overly rich quality in reproduced sound, The audible effect of a frequency response which is clockwise-tilted across the entire range, so that output diminishes gradually with increasing frequency.
bright, brilliant – The most often-misused terms in audio, these describe the degree to which reproduced sound has a hard, steely edge to it. Brightness relates to the amount of energy content in the 4- to 8-kHz band. It is NOT related to output in the extreme-high-end range.
hard – Tending toward steeliness, but not quite as shrill. Often the result of a moderate frequency response hump centered around 6 kHz, sometimes also caused by small amounts of electrical distortion.
shrill – Strident, screechy.
steely – Shrill, strident, teeth-setting-on-edge, like the screech of an un-oiled bearing. Like hard, but more so.
crisp – In reproduced sound: Sharply focused and detailed, sometimes excessively so, due to a peak in the mid-treble region.
transparency, transparent – (1) A quality of sound reproduction which gives the impression one is listening
through the system to the original sounds, rather than to a pair of loudspeakers. (2) Freedom from veiling, texturing, or any other quality which tends to obscure the signal. A quality of crystalline clarity.
veiling – Loss of detail and focus, due to moderate amounts of distortion or treble-range restriction.
smooth (rhymes with ‘soothe’) – (1) sound reproduction having no irritating qualities; free from HF peaks, easy and relaxing to listen to, effortless. (2) To remove the residual AC (hum) component from a DC power supply.
harsh – Gratingly unpleasant to the ear; raucous.
neutral – (1) That part of an electronic device or circuit which is at ground potential, such as the chassis. (2) In a balanced AC supply, the center tap of the feed transformer. (3) Descriptive of sound reproduction which is free from coloration.”
I could go on and on, but you get the idea. I strongly recommend you purchase
The Audio Glossary. It’s a big help when trying to decipher what audio reviewers are saying about their listening experiences.
Hope this helps.
Bob