Is "detailed" audiophile code for too much treble?


When I listen to speakers or components that are described as "detailed". I usually find them to be "bright". I like a balanced response and if there is an emphasis, I prefer a little more mid-bass.

 

It is a question, what say you all?

g2the2nd

It’s hard to be detailed if not bright ie dull. For proof just Turn down the lights and watch the detail fade away.

Higher frequencies enable detail.   That’s just how it works.  But the devil is always in the detail. 

Bright gives me a headache or fatigue. Detailed does not necessarily have that same physical effect. A lot of times it does but when it does not, I keep that gear.

In my case, it depends on wether it's digital or analog. Overall, highly detailed in digital leads to some fatiguing in my experience. I easily remedy it by using sine wave from my master clock to all digital components. Square wave is just too sharp to my ears and conducive to distortion. In my analog system, I do not ever really suffer from too much detail.

No, detail(ed) is not synonymous with bright.  And a system can sound bright without being detailed.

No it's not..There are many manufacturers that make naturally organic sounding speakers with high detail..My favorite speakers come from Harbeth,Sonis Faber & Dynaudio,all of whom have this ability..

No, it isn't.
There are other "codes" to describe an emphasis on treble, but detailed isn't one of them, not sure where you picked that term up.

I suggest you do a little research.

If a component is "bright", then it’s emphasizing some details at the expense of others, or against the "musical whole". Yes, some lower end components may "fake" perception of detail by pushing up treble. Then there are some components that truly convey much more than average detail overall, and also happen to be slightly bright (or perceived as such). I would place items like the Stax 009 headphones, and some of the higher-end Van den Hul and Ortofon cartridges in this category - these items also do not promote listening fatigue; they have exceptionally smooth HF response, if a bit tilted up. The bad kind of "bright" is one which hurts your ears. Sadly, I have to place most Grado headphones in the latter category.

Any kind of emphasis we’re not used to will cause us to perceive music in a slightly different way, which can in fact cause us to "notice" details that weren’t immediately apparent before. That leads to the old review trope "I noticed notes I’d never heard before!". However, I think if you go back to the prior component and listen again, you can in fact detect these "novel" details - they just weren’t emphasized to stick out until now.