What is Warmth?

This is worse than I thought!! All I asked for was an "audiophile" definition of warmth. I'm not reading a uniformed, consistent AND objective definition among the group. I'd hate to ask the group to define imaging or timbre!!
Cheers

Well, if we use subjective descriptions (and I think we must), we have to expect subjectivity in their definitions! You might find it helpful to consider warmth in the light of its opposites - all rather harsh terms like dry, detailed, clinical. I tend to think of a continuum with warmth at one end, detailed at the other, and accuracy somewhere in between.

That's because some people want to hang on to their personal misconceptions rather than accept the fact that the original meaning has already been defined, and adjust accordingly.

The definition that Gordon Holt suggests is really quite adequate.

Atmasphere, thanks for a really good explaination, electrical wise. Not to knitpick since I am learning a lot here but definition that GH gave for warm/dark is really more about imbalance between high frequency and low frequency. If I understand you correctly, it is not that warm audio equipment have tilted frequency response per se but more that distortion from 2nd harmonic is more pronounced at the bottom end giving illusion to more lower frequency and less at the top, is that correct?

Talks of harmonic as distortion is a bit surprising. I suppose, from instrument point of view, it is the harmonics that give rise to richer,fuller, denser, usually more pleasing tone. I suppose wrong kind of harmonics would do exactly the opposite. In fact certain piano maker such as Bosendorfer intentionally added a 4th string to certain range of notes and is not struck by piano's hammers at all to increase sympathetic vibration and presumbably increase overtone and harmonics. I suppose audio equipment is not supposed to add its own signature of harmonics and just play whatever signals that is passed through only.
I am curious if you might have an example of equipments that you would consider to be one that is able to tame most of the harmonics created by audio equipment itself. Certainequipment that tends to emphasize clarity and detail that comes with cold, analytical tendency probably has its own set of distortion as well. What would be your closest ideal to neutrality? I am not picking on you but just would like to get some idea of a reference. Thanks for your comment.