2018 exactly what is ‘High End’ audio?

Hi End is what you want but cannot afford........

@bdp24
Very nice. Thanks much.


@elizabeth
Bravo.
Thoughtful and poignant as usual.
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I feel price MUST be at least a part, if not all, of the conversation as makers of nearly everything on the planet set price according to build & performance, in their subjective assessments. This is of course, if they wish to be competitive in whatever budgetary range their item is being offered.

Naturally, audio is nearly always appraised by prospective buyers, subjectively, on performance or cost to performance,albeit such evaluations vary widely due to presentation being demonstrated from poor to optimumly setup and well matched systems and rooms.

I dare say we’ve all heard items being demonstrated we would not buy with someone else’ money, despite its possible lofty price tag and likely upper tier abilities, due to a poor setup or bad sounding room. Yet all too often expensive gear begs be hooked to other expensive stuff all the time. At least in our heads. And hearts. Doing otherwise is backing up and no one does that too often unless they are forced.

Regardless the associated implication and or sales tactics, demonstrating snonbery, elitism, arrogance or what other off putting social or professional attitude, there is a decided inherent disparity from entry level to ‘costno object” goods.

Where that dividing line resides is of course, the thrust of this topic.

The main issue I see with so called ‘high end’ gear is its asking price, not its subjective all too well worn, insinuated lable.

I can not, and will not fault anyone for asking whatever for anything. It is their prerogative to ask. It is mine to pay it. Deny paying it and leave. Or attempt to find some middle ground acceptable, hopefully, to both parties and consummate the bargain.

If I am lucky or unlucky enough to buy it, I’ll not be telling the uninitiated what I paid for it later on. That would be perpetuating the arrogance far too often associated with most anything beyond the line of entry level equipment. It would as well reinforce the idea of just how tenuous and frail is my sanity to others.

Check that. I will tell one person. My insurance agent. My banker will find out incidentally. A few days later still, I’ll be dismayed by the then nearly defunct associated bank account.

Consequently, once more, CNO, SOTA, Statement, and Signature lines of equipment are all long term residents of the so called High end community by default. Price not with standing.

Delving deeper, it appears sane enough to place everything above entry lines or levels of electronic gear subjectively speaking, into the high end as well and let ensuing arguments pro or con, wrest things into or out of it.

One can laud performance. Point squarely towards cost. Or try keeping a foot in each camp. No matter. Claiming something as high end or not, seems as subjective in a majority of cases as trying to describe degrees of warmth a particular loudspeaker exhibits.

If performance is the only measurement, show me a 2.5K preamp which readily out performs one costing 5K! additionally, an amp costing $8K which on all counts out runs one costing $35K.

As said, cost has a large role in this debate. As much if not more than plain and simple, good old outstanding recreation.

The major obstacle indemic to any individual appraisal is experience. Having seen only an elephant from India, then viewing one from Africa, its troublesome to determine which one is possibly best, though quite easy to pronounce each one different in at least one characteristic.

Beyond ‘experience’ lays the pit fall of personal taste or preferences. Setting aside one’s own partiality for how music is reproduced is a tuff enough task as a rule. We do at least attempt to set these devotions aside temporarily so we might gain enough satisfying insight for acquiring a part of the rig being auditioned, or the whole rig itself. each aforementioned task is a difficult endeavor and in fact may become an outright complicated or involved ordeal.

Therefore as the Devil’s Advocate, using MSRP as the sniper to target what is decidedly in the high end, I’ll offer the following items as likely parameters for being in or out of ‘high end’ audio:
Amps or floorstanding speakers costing $5K or more individually.
Stand mounted speakers priced at $3k and above.
subwoofers at $3K.

CDP at $2K and above.
dACs running above $4K.
streamer/Renderers at $2K or more.

TTs fully   workingat $8K.

Digital cables or links at $200 and up.
Analog signal cables at $500 or more.
Speaker cables at $1K or above.
Power Cords at $500 and up.

Racks at $3K.
equipment or amp stands at $2K.
Iso platforms at $1K.

Power conditioners passive or active costing more than $1500.

HT gear is not listed here to keep the focus on audio.

An Audiophile is a person who loves Music so much that his dog gets fed and the human goes without to improve the quality of thier Stereo. So what is High End? It is the stereo you listen to, because you love music. The best value in your budget and then listen to the Music you love.

High end is when you listen above sea level and that’s right you got it, low end is when you listen to your music below sea level.