We talk about warmth, brightness, darkness, air, and weight. These are more than just audiophile jargon—they’re communication terms rooted in how sound feels.
A cello has a dark, woody tone. A trumpet flashes with metallic brightness. Close your eyes and you can almost see the sound.
We use color to describe music because it feels right. These aren’t just poetic flourishes—they're the closest thing we have to a shared language for something that defies measurement. When I say a system sounds gray or bleached, you probably know exactly what I mean.
It’s why I always push for systems that preserve timbre. Get it wrong, and the sound is like a photograph with the color balance off. You don’t need golden ears to notice—it just feels unnatural.
But when the tonal colors are right, the illusion of real comes alive.
