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RE: "transparent" versus "colored"?

"If the definition of "transparent" is that "transparent" is the sound of the recording as it sounded when it was mastered (nothing added by the consumer's playback gear),"

That's not the definition of transparent. The "mastered signal" has no sound of it's own. It's an electrical audio signal. The measure of transparency to that signal comes in comparing that signal to the output signal of any device being compared that transmits that signal.


"how do you know which equipment is coloring it (and which is not) unless you know exactly what it sounded like wherever it was mastered at?"

By isolating the specific components and comparing the input vs the output

"In other words, I have recently read opinions that certain cables "color" the sound during playback and other cables are "transparent." But how can you know for sure which is the "colored" sound and which is "transparent" unless you heard what the engineer heard when he or she finished mastering the recording?"

That's easy. Do a basic frequency response measurement on the output of a cable using a flat input frequency sweep.

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