contradictory communication

The term you folks are reaching for here is "analogy" using warm to describe sound is an analogy; using warm to describe relative temperature is not. To be precise in meaning, the reviewer should state what he or she means when they use that sort of analogy, but that may be asking too much.

And Goatwuss: "Take 2 speaker drivers, one made out of aluminum, the other paper, and the third plastic composite." WTF????

Just busting you, Goatboy! Its been a $hitty week.

hi duke, i agree with you, namely that i would like my stereo to recreate as closely as possible the sound of an instrument, meaning its timbre.

it's not easy to do this and, unless one has a collection of well recorder lps and cds, one has to use ones creativity to achieve some semblance of realism.
by the way, you might want to look at some of my other feature articles. hopefully, you will find one of them useful.

hi duke, i agree with you, namely that i would like my stereo to recreate as closely as possible the sound of an instrument, meaning its timbre.

it's not easy to do this and, unless one has a collection of well recorder lps and cds, one has to use ones creativity to achieve some semblance of realism.
by the way, you might want to look at some of my other feature articles. hopefully, you will find one of them useful.

Mrtennis sez:

i would like my stereo to recreate as closely as possible the sound of an instrument, meaning its timbre

Rather than focus on how "music sounds" (i.e. sonic attributes) I would suggest instead, to focus on reproducing the intent/signature of the musicians playing together. The music in this case makes sense. Whether or not the bass is jaw-dropping or the hi-frequency extension is mesmerising, taken individually, is immaterial. What is material is how the cello correlates say with the violin and so on -- AND if the interpretation comes through. Especially with complex music (take a concerto for example).

Duke sez:

I'm in favor of focusing on recreating the perception of a live performance rather than on recreating the exact waveforms experienced at the ears of the listener at a live performance

If you mean that the musical result is "alive", comprehensible, consistent -- i couldn't agree more. I like the second part of your sentence:)
CHeers

It's very possible IMO for a component/system to be warm and transparent. I base this on what a live orchestra sounds like -- warm and transparent, like liquid. There is treble extension thru 20,000Hz, and violins and trumpets are smooth. True detail lies not in frequency extension but timbre and harmonics--the sound within the sound.