Sound has color, but not in the way a painter might think.
When we talk about the "color" of sound, we’re really talking about its harmonic character. Some sounds are rich and full-bodied, like a well-aged whiskey. Others are thin and sterile. The difference lies in harmonic content—the overtones that give an instrument or voice its unique timbre.
A great amplifier or speaker doesn’t just reproduce the fundamental tones; it preserves the entire harmonic structure.
How many of us have had the experience of listening to a sterile amp or a clean but stripped down loudspeaker's output? I remember my initial excitement years ago when hooking up my new speakers—the first dynamics I had owned after years of planars and ribbons—only to be disappointed at the speaker's sterility (no, I am not naming names).
When electronics or speaker drivers fail to respond with all there is in the music, the result can be a flat, clinical sound that lacks depth and warmth.
We don’t just hear sound—we hear its color. And that’s what makes music sound like…well…music.
