I have been reading a lot of reviews, forum opinions and similar rhetoric on speakers and amps both DIY and off the shelf. What I seem to be reading a lot of recently are undefined adjectives like transparency, soundstage, detail, speed, etc. What I am slowely getting anoyed with is that this seems to be accepted an easy way describe how something sounds in a manner that will be understood.
So what I want to know is, what's your definition for these "adjectives"?
Tell us what others youv'e heard and let's sort out if they are just rubbish words that hide what we might otherwise see as "audio-ignorance" or if they actually merit a defintion and should be promoted as usefull.
what I think:
Transparency:
I assume it simply refers to the level of distortion asysem creates that is not part of the original recording.
or maybe it's: The more transparent a speaker is the better its application as a centre channel because you can put it directly infront of the screen.
Soundstage:
I assume they are refering to channel separation, which doesn't entirely make sense because there technically isn't anyway you can increase channel separation without moving your speakers further apart. Electronically it is possible but this will only give the illusion of separation.
otherwise it is a raisded platform where a big-band plays, usually in an amphitheatre. I can imagine with the price you pay for some speakers that you should expect them to come with a decent soundstage as standard. Alas you may have to aquire the land yourself.
Detail:
A benign way of saying that a sound system produces a highly accurate output considering its own inherent reproductional particulars. To be honest I really can't see a great deal of use for this word, without a sonic datum or reference point it is very hard to define exactely what is good detail and what is bad detail.
Speed:
343 metres per second
what else could it be?
Discuss