Sound is DARK / FORWARD / TRANSPARENT?

Bad=not good
not good=could be better
could be better=not bad
not bad=good

Kansas=land of Oz
Subjectivity in a nutshell.

Here's another glossary of audiophile terms:

http://www.stereophile.com/j_gordon_holt/50/index9.html

Csontos hit it pretty square: note that the author starts his intro with the words "Subjective audio."

I like the post/question. You have to think so far out of the box to figure out the answer you'll be in another box.
"The bass was weighty, bassy, bloated & boomy?
Hmmm, is this good or bad? Sounds more like the salesman at the old Paciic Stereo.
-John

I've found that if your system sounds too briggt, dim the lights a bit. If it's too forward, move your listening chair back a foot or two. If it's transparent, earth to op, come back to reality. If the bass is tight that's a good thing, at least from what I can tell by the slang used by todays youth. Hope this helps you to better define your rig.

I think all these terms are used when describing the sound stage of your system. Music is subjective to the listener, and the type music they listen to. I prefer a more laid back sound, which to me is the opposite of forward. The word forward is considered fatiging to me, meaning I cant listen for long periods of time. I would decribe Transparency as how well your speakers presents the music, and if it appears to be coming form the speakers, or someplace between the two, where when you look at your right or left speaker you cant really tell music is coming from them. Dark is the opposite of an open soundstage, meaning you can tell where every instrument is placed on the stage. all this is subjective, and as I said earlier, this is the way I see it. What the hell do I know?