Leedy,
A small correction the word Tumbao. In Spanish it meaning is beat . In many parts of world they change it's meaning but when refered conga it means a beat that is being played nothing specific .
I concur with this additional remark of yours. As a matter of fact, I said the same thing, in a different thread, years ago.
Tumbadora or Tumba is the reference given to the largest conga drum mostly referred by Cuban's and many Hispanic around the world .
I am rather familiar with the terminology of
macho and
hembra, something that has only been confirmed by Changuito in his video (I think it was "Evolution of the Tumbadoras"). I suppose the distinction of tumba(dora), conga and quinto came about when percussion companies were looking for product denominations of their respective items. In fact, "conga" comes from "tambor de Conga", meaning the drum used for the first time in the comparsas, playing
ritmo Conga; "tumbadora" was/is the drum that plays the beat (tumbao), which is often the same.
"Quinto" refers to the solo drum in Rumba and Conga, period. It defines a function rather than the size of the drum (although admittedly the quinto is usually the smallest drum in the ensemble). The quinto is a conga drum, but not a tumbadora. A cajón can be a quinto, too.
If drummers have meanwhile adopted the commercial nomenclature, that's fine as long as it helps in communication; but obviously, it does not.
Thomas