"Warm" sound

[Dennie]

Hmmmmm....how does S**tty sound?

Like Crap! [+o(]

...............

Dennie

[Bill W.]

I've always made an analogy between sound energy and light energy. The light spectrum is often described with long wavelengths referred to as warm colors and short wavelengths as cool colors, with the same applied to a pallete of paint colors. If a loudspeaker is described as warm sounding, I picture the response favoring the lower region of the bandwith, broadly speaking.

[garyrc]

.... "warm" is just a short for "not sounding strident or edgy" (technical translation = doesn't hurt my ears)

I think I've heard recorded sound that is neither strident nor edgy, but is cold. []

To me, flutes tend to cool things down in reordings, but not (or rarely) in live performances.

I'd say that there is natural warmth, provided by the orchestrator by using brass, violas, cellos and sometimes other strings, and woodwinds like oboes and bassoons. This warmth can be captured in recordings, but sometimes is missed. Is there also warmth due to distortion? Is this a characteristic of some of the golden ears's favorite high end speakers? Is this due to, as someone suggested, lots of even order harmonics, providing spurious "richness?" I suspect that certain cone and dome tweeters and mids generate the kind of side bands that PWK measured in one of the Audio Papers, that may artificially warm up cold sound.

[leftwinger57]

Just 1 peek at the Polk site and anything to those guys w/ tubes is warm.No matter what era ,brand, wattage if it has tubes it's a warm sounding amp. As to their opinion of most solid state amps which over there hundreds do own we've heard every noun from bright ,shrill,neutral and even kinda a warm sounding ss amp. My Adcom gfa55 colors nothing but adds to me clean 200 wpc to my 2ch-l or before that powered my Yamaha RX-V665 as a pre/pro.Yes I have heard the Marantz 22xx series receivers as warm sounding. It's a term that has been used since the 60's and I think it's an industry standard if not scientifically certainly by longevity.

[garyrc]

.Yes I have heard the Marantz 22xx series receivers as warm sounding

I briely had a Marantz 2216 with Klipschorns. I would describe it as neither warm nor cold, but not of the highest clarity. The next amp I used with the Khorns was an integrated amp, the Luxman L-580. Now, that was warm, and clear, too. It was the best sounding solid state amp I ever had. Then a Yamaha power amp driving the Khorns, along with the Luxman pre-amp section. The Yamaha was a litlle less warm. Now I have a Marantz AV 7005 pre/pro, and NAD C272 150 w.p.c, on the Khorns. They sound neutral to me.

So, I guess, the "warm" amps I've had have been the Luxman solid state, and McIntosh and Dyna tube amps in the past.

P.S., inflation adjusted dollar for adjusted dollar, I don't think amps -- or speakers -- have improved much (if at all, musically) as a group since the late '50s, except perhaps in signal to noise, and recorded sources have gone downhill. There have been a few stand out amps (like the Luxman), but no group-wise improvements I know of. My Khorns sound about like they always have, with, perhaps a slight improvement with the AK-4. The "new" speakers in the salons all seem to be lacking. I say that having never heard a Jub or a Palladium or some of the golden ears' favorite speakers.

[Gilbert]

Is anyone else tired of hearing/reading the adjective "warm" used to describe the sound of a component or speaker? What the heck does "warm" sound like anyway?

I would best describe it as the sound I get from my MC60's running Mullard 12AX7's, which are not my favorites. I much prefer the Telefunken variety, so that my system sounds "BRIGHT", as opposed to "WARM".

Hope that clears things up,. heheheheheh ;-)

[paperboy117]

I seen this on ebay.... Beautiful Marantz 2230 in great condition. Everything works as it
should,

all lights, strong stereo tuner reception, great phono section,
as warm as a tube unit!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Marantz-2230-Receiver-in-great-condition-/261235526394?pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2&hash=item3cd2d9cafa

[garyrc]

Are MC60s McIntosh 60 watt mono tube amps? If so, nice. If not, what are they? Are 12AX7s the same as ECC83s? One of the best amps I have heard is the McIntosh 275 stereo tube amp (75 w.p.c.) of about 1968 or so. They have now issued a new version, price through the ceiling.

[Marvel]

gary,

MC60s are monos. You would need a pair of them.

Bruce

[Gilbert]

Are MC60s McIntosh 60 watt mono tube amps? If so, nice. If not, what are they? Are 12AX7s the same as ECC83s? One of the best amps I have heard is the McIntosh 275 stereo tube amp (75 w.p.c.) of about 1968 or so. They have now issued a new version, price through the ceiling.

Yes, they are mono's, and they're tube rectified. And yes, the 12AX7's = ECC83, but if you're really feeling special try the ECC803S.

[derrickdj1]

WARM-my new Yaqin VK 2100 integrated amp. The sound is qualitatively different than my solid state avr. It is brigh, airy and the bass makes you feel like it is floating. Well enough of adjective since they are subjective. All that matters is that I like it, lol.

[garyrc]

Here is another one: "Thereness."

Sheffield made a direct-to-disk and a digital recording at the same time, through the same board so the signal delivered to both would be identical.

They said the two recordings sounded about the same, but the direct-to-disk seemed more "there." No, I don't know whether this was a blind test.

I think I get it, though. Perhaps those of us who like Klipschorns (or Jubs -- haven't heard them) like them because the instruments sound very "there," compared to the way they sound through many other good speaker systems.

[Mongo171]

I think I get it, though. Perhaps those of us who like Klipschorns (or Jubs -- haven't heard them) like them because the instruments sound very "there," compared to the way they sound through many other good speaker systems.

That is an interesting observation. I really get the "there" part. I've heard Klipschorns before. The "detail" of the sound coming from them makes you feel like you are "right there" in the middle of the instruments. It makes the instruments "come alive."