This is a continuation of my previous response above.

Now, I am typing this on Notepad because the typing and editing of what you are typing in the forum text box is next to impossible for me so I might miss something, I think you were asking about sound and which is more desirable. That is up to the player. What do you like? If you are going to be performing, I would think both would be desirable. I mean, if you are going to be playing a beautiful romantic piece or a dark classical  piece, I would think you would want a dark warm violin. If you are going to be playing a reel, or happy song, or fiddle songs, I would think you would want a violin that suits that mood. So, a performer, I would think, would have more than one violin. 

I don’t think strings will make a warm violin bright. I think they would make it not so warm, but I don’t think they will make it a bright chipper violin. The same goes for a bright violin. Warm strings, say Obligatos, might take the edge off, but I don’t think the overall, characteristics of that violin will be changed. I think a sound post adjustment affects it, too, but I would never mess with that. But, I am not a performer or professional. I think bows affect it too, but I believe the wood and craftsmanship of the violin give it its true base character and all the other”stuff” just affects that base character. I could be wrong.

Addition to my response:

You mentioned Romanian, German and Chinese. First, let me say, I am not an anti-Chinese violin person. You can get a crappy German violin.  That said, the wood is a factor. I think, from what I have read, the things you mentioned have to do with the aged wood in Europe. The aged wood, I think gives the violin its richness. They have different wood than the Chinese. 

I don’t think most of the violins that are said to be made in China, are actually entirely made in China, anymore. I think the better quality Chinese ones are made in Europe and sent to China for the final touches, sound post, etc. And, they are sent to those brand name violin shops’ Chinese shops to their trained luthiers, or almost luthiers (not sure if they are or are all lutheirs). Many people do not realize that. I am not getting into the politics of that and am not going to debate it. I just cringe whenever someone snubs their nose (and you did not) simply because a violin was said to be made in China. If people would read up, they would see that it is not the same as it was before. Again, not getting into the politics of this, just the miss-generalization that I often read.

Now, the wood, from my research, rather limited, affects the sound. The grain of the wood affects the sound. The age of the wood. I also,read that years of playing does indeed make a violin mellower, warmer, darker. Something about the vibrations affecting the wood. I would think that would not happen over our lifetime of playing it. I would think that is why some people look for the older violins or violins made with older wood. And that is probably why they are more expensive. I also think that is why those European made ones are warmer than the ones that have the actual body of the violin made in China. It is the old wood availability issue.

Which one one prefers, as I stated above, I think depends on the music you desire to play. I actually use my Mendini or Windsor when I want to play something brighter. Not all the time because I do have issues bowing them. I think the bridge may have a slightly different curve? I have issues with the G and D strings and D and E string crossings. That C and G seems to be fine. Anyway, I think it is a type of music you want to play and the sound you prefer to hear. I actually think that you should get a good that has the overall sound you like, be it bright or warm. Then get a less expensive one that covers the type of songs that do not suit that overall sound. If you like warm, get a good warm and a lesser quality bright violin. If you like bright violins, get a good bright and lesser quality warm. I kind of think it would be harder to find a lesser quality warm sounding violin than a lesser quality bright because I think the more expensive old wood is used for the darker warm sounding woods. Again, that is just based in the way I am thinking about it, not because I l actually know. Of course, if you can afford to get a good quality of both ... I cannot. 

For comparison video, maybe Fiddlerman can do it or hs it.

Oh, I forgot to mention that saleswoman’s quote. That hit a sour note from me. Maybe she uses a dark warm violin to hide those snobby sour notes!? 

She is not the only one I have read that believes that. It is also said as a reason new violinist want to learn vibrato, to hide bad intonation. Is that why some of the more experienced violinists use warm and/or vibrato, to hide their inaccuracies?

I find those statements very arrogant and ignorant. Learners have ears and sound preference. It seems to me that a violinist, without good intonation, playing a warm toned violin would have a harder time on a warm violin. Based on my experience with my first violin being bright, for me, that is the case. The notes are darker and warmer and I think it needs to be more exact. That is what I noticed between my previous brighter Revelle and my current warm Rudoulf Doetsch. Flats and sharps show up more with my Doetsch than they did on my Revelle. Flats more-so than sharps. That does not mean it is the same for all. It is my hearing. I don’t have a hearing problem, but I pick up on it more with the warmer darker violin. 

How many of those so called bad notes can be hidden by a warm dark tone? Likewise, a bright sounding violin would make those sounds stick out in a different way. Either way, intonation in the learning stages, sounds like intonation in the learning stages, no matter on a warm or bright violin. 

Does that mean that professional violinists who prefer a warm dark tone do so because they might not have perfect intonation and want to hide it? 

I really think some experienced violinists forget what it was like trying to learn the violin, and what it is like to have these generalizations aimed at them. Some experienced violinist are very helpful, but others give statements giving the impression they were born with a violin in their hand. She is a saleswoman who needs to be educated on proper salemanship and customer respect, or saleswomanship (in her case).

@Irv Yep. I knew the ones I took off my Mendini were better than the ones that came on the Windsor, so gave it a shot. I like the different sound the Windsor has, so I want to use somewhat good strings in it, without it costing a lot. Gave them a small upgrade of strings from the Mendini, and it was amazing. I don’t have a better quality used to try right now.  

I go from new ones for my Doetsch. The ones I removed from the Doetsch will go to the Mendini. The ones I remove from my Mendini then will go to the Windsor. After the Windsor is done with them they are pretty much ready to scrap. If I remove the strings from my Doetsch just because I want to try something different, the removed ones go back in their package because it wasn’t because they were about spent. They still have too much good time left on them.

I have only made the complete change down the line once because I don’t have to change them that often. I have some I removed from my Doetsch, but it was just to check two other brands out of curiosity, so the removed are in their original packages.

 Nah, I am just cheap.

But, to get back to the original poster’s question, what do you all think of warm vs bright, and the other items in the original post? I am curious, too. And what about warm dark violins being chosen by students to hide bad intonation, as stated by the sales person. I strongly disagree, as my reply showed.