The term "High End" needs to die. Long live Hi-Fidelity!

I just love music and to enjoy it well in my home I have to learn something about the equipment, in order to get the best value for what I spend. I am curious about how different types of components and speakers sound though, but that is nearing its end. You have to get through the equipment to get to the music. I just let my subscription to Absolute Sound expire and will not be renewing. I got tired of all the high price equipment, descriptions of components and their sound that seemed like reviewers were describing the most beautiful thing on earth or the most wonderful experience they ever had. It’s a piece of equipment, not a beautiful human being! It’s silly really, to me anyway. I still subscribe to Stereophile but will let that expire also. At least it has measurements and comparison type reviews, but much of the equipment is too expensive and would turn newcomers off as well. Audiophile? No. Music lover. Yes. 

As a newbie, I love these comments “Audiophile? No. Music lover. Yes.”  I don’t know if I will hang around once I have updated my system, but what I have enjoyed is “what are you playing tonight “ threads and some of the more subjective reviews. I want to find out what others enjoy in their equipment and I quickly am learning that is different from a price tag, because what we enjoy is different. Soundstage is really important to me. And I just bought speakers I love, but when we were listening to speakers in the stores my wife and I heard speakers worth 10x what we bought, and the labs could tell us the more expensive speakers had an extra kw here or amp there than the less expensive speakers didn’t, but this is subjective, I enjoyed the less expensive sound better. This is about joy not dollars. Wayne 

 Eric, You might be the "Pope" of Audiogon!

I don’t get it.  I don’t get all this theorizing and debate about what to call and how to characterize our hobby.  One of the things that my years as a hobbyist has shown me is that some hobbyists seem uncomfortable with the simple fact that this hobby does, in fact and inevitably, contain an element of elitism (look up the definition).  NOT exclusion; anyone and everyone is free to pursue the hobby in a way that aspires to be superior (elite) in the end result.  Exactly what is wrong with this?  Nothing, in my book.  Why not embrace the fact that we seek the superior?  Another thing that is obvious is that while some knuckleheads do, in fact, assume that high price means high sonic quality, the astute and highly respected reviewers (HP, JGH) and hobbyists don’t and did not; a bargain is usually celebrated.

I like the term “High End” and I find nothing exclusionary in its (😉) meaning.  I like it, if any one term must be chosen; certainly more than “High Fidelity”.  The term High Fidelity is too broad and too subjective.  The term High End connotes or describes the obvious: the upper (high) end of the broader category High Fidelity.  As far as the knuckleheads go, I won’t worry about that; they exist in any endeavor.