Not sure about this but I think when you refer to tone, what is meant is the in-phase accurate rendition of frquency modulations, so called overtones. In my experience this is a function of the system‘s speed.
This is why single drive high efficiency speakers with flee amps on small power supplies have a reason to exist. It‘s simply faster to rev up those than 500w amps driving 4-way speaker cross-overs at 80 db efficiency. So tone is really another word for the system‘s speed if you assume that linearity rather than fine-tuned frequency is a goal. In my mind it also explains why DSP systems have a hard time in being engaging on voice or piano recordings.
This is why single drive high efficiency speakers with flee amps on small power supplies have a reason to exist. It‘s simply faster to rev up those than 500w amps driving 4-way speaker cross-overs at 80 db efficiency. So tone is really another word for the system‘s speed if you assume that linearity rather than fine-tuned frequency is a goal. In my mind it also explains why DSP systems have a hard time in being engaging on voice or piano recordings.