HiFi vs MidFi

I think of mid fi as more mass produced - assembly line ish and hifi as typically sold through audio (primarily) dealers produced in lower quantities.

That's not to say it is impossible to get hifi (high quality) in mass produced (or more highly produced) brands, but the snob appeal of some of the audio "salons" prevents them from carrying them.

Nobody could believe, even me at first, that an under 500 bucks system could be  "near" Hi-FI than most other costly system under 10,000 bucks or even more...

It is....

Atmasphere said it right, it is the "intention" of the designer that create Hi-FI or possible audiophile experience...There is a difference between craftmanship of a designber and an industrial process...

Then sure it takes first some gear with this intentions’s designer BEHIND it...We must first buy some good gear from a designer...

If you have it, even at low price, for example a vintage Sansui amplifier in their golden era, or the best Mission speakers created, it is acoustic science that will give you the most important part of the S.Q. even at low price like for myself...

Then money is not the main meter of Hi-FI scale but the ears and acoustic science are....

Some good comments esp C Miller. I don’t always agree with his voicing but his hard core reaching for the top isn’t disingenuous. Everyone tends to recommend their stuff, until they move on!

“Mid” means in the middle. Not low, not high

I once saw some graffiti that said “Let go of my big toe, I want to dance my life away.” That’s the quest here. Too bad about all the elbow jabs.

LoFi - hear everything gets nothing 
MiFi - hear everything gets only the highs
HiFi - hear everything gets everything 

Mid-Fi: A largely meaningless, murky term. It means “less than hi-fi,” but sometimes that's again indicative of personal preference. It's one thing to use this to describe overt sound quality flaws…but more often it's used as a personal insult, especially on forums.  (I did not write this definition, but I agree with it)