Definitions

[theredferrari]

All

Can someone tell me what the following words are when reviewing hi-fi equipment...

Bright
Sound stage
Deep
Clear
Warm
Timing
Detailed

There are a whole host of others as well. It's just as bad as a wine review.

Red

[GlassWolf]

Bright = typically aggressive treble, often the result of speaker design, such as using titanium tweeters (metal tweeters) or the like without proper equalization.

Sound stage = The ability to sit in the sweet spot and listen to a recording, and have it sound to you as if the performer is on a stage, slightly elevated from your seating position, and centered. This goes hand-in-hand quite often with "imaging" which is either on-axis (directly between the two speakers, or directly in front of a single driver) or off-axis (off to one side the the 'sweet spot') and entails the ability to maintain proper stereo separation, as well as a phantom center channel image when using one pair of stereo speakers with a recording mastered for 2-channel audio.

Deep = strong low frequency response, usually in the bottom 2 octaves (20-80Hz)

Clear = not muddy. good detail. This can be a result of speaker design, or factors pertaining to the amplification stage, such as damping factor and the speed at which the output stage of the amp can track the input source signal.
This can also be a result of driver design in the speakers themselves, such as a poor BL curve for a driver, caused by having a magnet structure lacking enough control of the driver mass to make it track well. This is often referred to as having a 'sloppy' driver or 'slow' driver. Not something you tend to see in a quality speaker design.

Warm = strong mid-bass, in the 80-200Hz range, consisting mainly of baritone and Tenor voices for men, bass guitar, and so forth. If a speaker is lacking warmth, it may be referred to as sounding "thin"

Timing - This one I need a little more information for. In what context have you seen this used?

Detailed = again, a speaker that is very revealing, wherein you can hear details in music you typically cannot with a cheaper stereo system. An example of this is that with my system, consisting of KEF Reference 104/2 mains on an Adcom GFA-555II amplifier, via an Integra CD changer, I can listen to Tori Amos' song "Father Lucifer" from her 1996 CD "Boys for Pele," during the beginning of the song, Tori plays the piano, and on a good system like the one listed above, I can hear her foot on the grand piano's pedals thumping against the floor as she plays and sings. I'd not heard that detail on a boombox or in the car. A lot of what defines being detailed, or clarity as noted earlier, is the speaker's design, and attention to driver design and crossover design, allowing the speakers not to be overtaxed in any particular frequency range so they don't "bottom out" or distort due to being asked to do more than they are able as an individual driver, so that the next speaker can take on whatever frequency range it's best suited to cover.

[GlassWolf]

I forgot to mention, that room or environmental acoustics can play a large part in the sound of a stereo system as well, and should never be overlooked as a major factor in the outcome of a system design.

[Dinohyus Hollandi]

Here you go: http://www.stereophile.com/reference/50/index.html

[theredferrari]

Lads

Thanks for the informed reply and links!

As for 'timing, I read it in relation to a turntable review I think. Maybe the deck was a Music Hall.


Thanks

Red

[bauzace50]

Hi,

Thanks for that link to J. Gordon Holt's Audio Glossary! I am marking that link as a "Favorite" for its pertinence! It is quite helpful for understanding communication among audio enthusiasts.

Thanks,
bauzace50

[flavio81]

All

Can someone tell me what the following words are when reviewing hi-fi equipment...

Bright
Sound stage
Deep
Clear
Warm
Timing
Detailed

Clear: I've just cleaned my ears
Bright: Boost in the HF range 10-20KHz.
Soundstage: Stereo width
Deep: Well defined bass
Warm: Slight boost between 200-600Hz
Timing: People use 'timing' for anything these days. Originally it was the quality of reproducing all frequencies without phase errors between them. Now it is meaningless.
Detailed: Boost in the presence frequency range and/or in the extreme HF range.

[theredferrari]

Flavio

Thanx


Red

[JoeE SP9]

I agree with you flavio81 except for "sound stage". It's much more than width. Width alone is nothing more than lateral imaging. A sound stage requires depth.

You can have imaging with little or no sound stage. However, a sound stage always has imaging.

[flavio81]

I agree with you flavio81 except for "sound stage". It's much more than width. Width alone is nothing more than lateral imaging. A sound stage requires depth.

You can have imaging with little or no sound stage. However, a sound stage always has imaging.

Agree agree!!