What does "Dark Background " mean TT terminology

Sometimes black background is caused by components that don't have high resolution or don't have good microdynamics. But back to your statement about your system "sounding life like". I always ask the question is the system emotionally envolving??

If I would take the statment "Emotionally envolving" literally, I have to say definitely. There were a couple of times where I played tracks that actually made my eyes water. It was so intense that it really hits your soul. Reminds me of the the movie Philadelphia when Tom Hanks played that classical piece in his apartment and he was so in to it.

Markphd

The description from "page 69 Aug,1993" makes a lot of sense. I guess I have to take it soemwhat in two ways.

First: Dark = Very rich quality-As in Dark Chocolate, Dark coffee etc.

Second: Dark = Very quiet-As in Dark winter night, Pitch- black, Dead quiet.

Now, let me talk to some of my buddies and impress them with my audiophile lingo.

Justubes, there are in fact two different issues here, but my understanding is that "dark," what you call "first dark" refers to something's tonal attributes, as in: The current Levinson amps have a dark sound.

The other issue, noise floor, or background noise, what you call "second dark" I've always heard referred to as "black" or "black background", never "dark." As in: The sound emerged from a totally black background. I've never heard the term "dark" used in this context.

In the first case, a range or degree is implied (dark, darker, very dark ;--)

The second case implies an absolute -- absolute silence. The sound never emerges from a "dark gray" background ;--)
.

You can also just invent your own terminology. It will be as useful as the terms many of the reviewers employ. Is your system too yang? Does it lean toward the whiter side of orange. Is there a self-effacing restraint in the upper registers as if the contrast was just slightly too sudden on light jazz at lower SPL? Have you found that Madonna displays a bit too much cleavage when entering contralto range?
See it's really quite easy. The real task lies in getting hired so that you can be paid to jibberize.