While the tonal differences between nylon and steel-strung guitars are quite obvious, the differences in steel-string guitars due to factors of body size and string choice can also be substantial. While a small-bodied steel-strung guitar with silk-and-steel strings definitely doesn't sound the same as a classical, it does have a sound far closer to that of nylon strings than does a dreadnought strung with medium gauge bronze strings.

Personally, my preference for solo vocal accompaniment is a 00 size steel-string with light gauge bronze strings.