MRC01
Major Contributor
PS: a good stereo image is nice to have, but less important for me subjectively. I'd rather hear a mono recording with excellent frequency response and dynamics, than a stereo or multichannel having unnatural voicing or dynamic compression. Stereo can be artificial & distracting when it sounds like a "giant wall of sound". To my ears, minimalist 2 mic recordings have a more natural, realistic image.
Overall the most realistic and natural voicing / timbre I've heard is from planar speakers (electrostats or planar magnetics). Same with headphones. To me, their midrange sounds more transparent and natural, making most conventional speakers sound thick and colored in comparison. That said, my Magnepan 3.6/R measure about -50 dB distortion in the midrange, dropping to -60 dB in the treble. I think good conventional speakers can be just as low. So whatever difference I'm hearing is probably something other than this single measurement....
If you just wish to focus on timbre, I'd say some speakers can do this timbre part better than most of the other parts of sound reproduction. One type speaker being my long time favorite of electrostats
...