??? Where Does "High End" Start ???

High End Audio was invented by specific people. Mark Levinson, Bill Z. Johnson, and David Wilson are key names. The former makers of luxury audio, Gordon Gow and Saul Marantz, Bud Fried, Jim Lansing as examples…all practiced economy to an extent…not as much as Dave Hafler or Henry Kloss, but they didn’t go to extremes where the tangible results didn’t make sense. The High End guys lavished military/aerospace/instrument grade parts, extremely expensive metal chassis and transformers, often with a complete disregard for functional utility, in pursuit of vanishing performance benefits. 
The 80s brought us the “Greed is Good” sensibility and the industry took off with fancy parts, exotic materials and questionable engineering choices. The counter argument is also rampant…the ASR crowd, Chi-Fi chip amps and DACs that measure perfectly for a song. 

@toddalin  ...

"Where Does High End Start???"

...Just above what you can afford.

Good One! 

+1 on Audiotroy’s response.  It’s not price, it’s intention and execution.

Helo Freediver!  The terms used to define quality levels are of use to advertisers only. They don't deserve to be uttered by music lovers and gear enthusiasts. Companies like Adcom, Cambridge, NAD, Outlaw, Schitt, Starke Sound, and others have demonstraited that good sounding gear does NOT have to be astronomically priced. High quality parts are not cheap, but fancy, sculpted, extra thick front panels are much more dear. There is an artistic turn of mind, encouraged by the marketing department, for eye-catching products that look expensive (and are) so those with ample funds will have something to satisfy their need to feel superior to others. 

Great sounding components of a music system do not have to be expensive. You can put together a fine sounding system for $5,000 if you are careful. Read the reviews with caution. If the reviewer says, "I bought the sample product after reviewing it," or "I could happily live with this unit in my system forever," that means it's a good piece of gear. If they say, "If you are looking for  product in this price range, you should consider this one," that means it is ho-hum, keep looking. Reviews sell magazines; that's the publishing business. They need something to write about. You don't see the poor reviews in the magazines. Think clearly, listen and read carefully, and be sure you can return anything you buy within 39 deays for a full refund. Listen to it first if you can. You own your ears, no two people hear the same thing (our ears are shaped differently), make your own decisions. Enjoy the music. 

Like most audiophiles and what they believe sounds better, "high end" is 100% subjective.