What makes up an

does anyone feel insecure if one's stereo system does not satisfy the requirements for the designation "high end" ?"

status is one thing, enjoying one's stereo system may be another.

Getting off the subject a bit.

Does some of the audio systems we own sound better than some live performances we hear in terms of sound quality? I know an audio hi fi system can not normally reproduce the emotion of a live performance (at least nothing I have heard personally) but does home hi fidelity sound better than a public address system?

If you attend a live rock or pop type concert in a stadium, concert/theater hall or even in a smaller club setting do you actually hear instruments separated from each other or do you only hear the sound field emitted by the PA system used?

Another consideration for home audio is that a typical room in the average home creates a close monitoring situation.

What about the equipment used for some of these live events? Are they of the same quality and price tier of equipment made for home use?

The typical PA gear you find does not seem to come near the price of the hi end audio gear.

Recording studios may be a different story. Studio gear can get into the money.

Seems to me the only time you can hear true separation is from acoustic instruments that are not amplified through a common PA system. Once electronics and amplification are applied it seems that you start losing separation except what you get through further electronic manipulation in the form of panning sound to the left or right channel.

Just my thoughts as a lay person.

Darkkeys,
No, to my mind you are absolutely on topic. Much of what has been said above only applies to concepts taken from the experience of live music without electronic amplification. Some professional gear, especially for the digital domain must be excellent I hear and can be had at much less cost. Seems we "high-enders" have to pay more for all the hype. And yes, if you only managed to get a lousy seat in concert hall, your ears swamped with unwanted reverberations, your rig at home will be a relief. A rare occasion. Generally it happens the other way around, that coming home from a concert, you foolishly fire up your rig and are brought to wonder why you had spent all that money for such mediocre sound. Better to wait at least a day or so to keep up the illusions....(;

Mrtennis,
Speaking of hype, the term " high end " has been so much misused, has often become synonymous with cost inflation that as a term it has become just as useless as all those infamous "best"-lists in the mags, I feel.
Besides, what has the striving for some sort of aural perfection to do with status?? Not all first class and perhaps also expensive systems are owned by snobs.
Besides, let me point out that status is something given to you by your peers and Darkkeys original question there was not aimed at that. If you build up a system which should sound right to your ears you are after enjoyment, not after status. If your peers enjoy it as well, you may get some status as an aftereffect, which is nice but that is all. Systems just built for status generally sound lousy, simply because its owners are after prestige and not after music. So p l e a s e come off it, think better of what you might be implying and hence stop dragging our efforts into the mud by giving them an unjustly alluded twist under the guise of common sense and reason which in effect alienates all that what others here and I are trying to achieve.

this hobby has psychological underpinnings. i can't ascribe motivations to anyone but myself. i am an iconoclast. you may disagree with me, but i believe there are audiophiles who feel insecure if they consider there stereo system not "high-end". there are others who don't care.

what is the purpose of a term if it doesn't have meaning to a number of people.

i asked an innocent question, regarding the attitude towards one's stereo system. as yousaid, it's no big deal, but yet, i am curious.

Mr. Tennis
I completely agree about the psychological underpinnings of our hobby. Tell me a human edevour which hasn't! And yes, actually I like iconoclasts, because in destructing they create and I would sincerely apologise, if I should have read your motives wrong. But please allow one question: As an iconoclast what idols are you up against?

What has gotten my back up, and of course not only in this thread, but in most of the others we happen to share and which by the way more often than not gets a lot of dung thrown into your direction by other members and mostly for the same reason I would think, is that in the midst often of heated and interesting discussions you state the obvious, that no matter what topic is being discussed, it is fine if one likes ones stereo and that is that. In other words, all what others and I talked about before is bull and lets forget about it. If that is your motive, fine, but then you run danger of being ridiculed again more often than not, as happened in the other thread we posted in together. In a sense you seem to me, that you are taking the side of the "weak", the newbees and those who simply cannot afford "better". That would be a noble motive and in fact I would support you in this, but then how can those people learn? You seem to obstruct, not to help educating those, who possibly might be in need. There is more, but I think I'll stop here. If you wish, we can continue that conversation in private, however it would help and probably not only me, because obviously I am not the only one you occasionally irritate, what as an iconoclast you are aiming at. Perhaps then one would be able to understand you better and would galdly afford you the respect you most probably deserve, not only as a seasoned audiophile and reviewer, but also as a Quad-lover (: and fellow hobbyist.
Cheers and happy listening,
Detlof