Mid-Fi, Hi-Fi or.....?

@johnnotkathi

It been said that there are no absolute truths. Just workable truths, and relatative truths. In this regard, there is no "absolute sound", just (very) subjective references to high fidelity and high(er) fidelity.

The caliper I use for "Hi-Fi" is this one: "The suspension of disbelief", which is to say that for a moment in time, you stop "disbelieving" that you are listening to recorded music artifically reproduced in your home. The sum of all the elements you are perceiving trick your brain into believing that the artists are actually in the room with you thru the duration of the listening session. If this happens, all the Hi-Fi stars have lined up and you’ve reached a powerful plateau in musical enjoyment at home.

@roxy54

"Why is everyone calling interconnects "jumpers"?

You are technically correct, sir. While these are, in fact, interconnects, some manufacturers (like AQ) make very short (6") "interconnects" to connect input/output terminals located next to each other. Since they have no other purpose in life, they fondly refer to them as "jumpers."

I was reading an article about the revived Adcom, and one of the Adcom higher ups referred to their $1695 power amplifier as Mid-Fi...clearly, it seems, the term to them, refers simply to price and the units place in the market place, not to it’s quality or value...clearly different people use the terms to refer to different things...

here is another view: I have x dollars and I want to buy the best for that x.

At any given point I want to make the most out of that x. If it’s feet for my turntables, or cables or new speakers, whatever improves the sound the most, however I identify the weakest link is what matters. Does that x dollars make me consumer/mid-fi/hi-fi or my approach to find the key to improving the sound makes me whatever category?

To be honest, if I had a lot more money, I would have learned a lot less and probably would have had less fun as well.

I’m old enough to remember my mom or dad telling me to "turn off the Hi Fi and do your homework"...the device(s) was a Philco and later Magnavox console tv, phono,radio furniture piece. Amazing how folks need to mind puck simple things. The funny part is many who consider their systems Hi Fi not Mid-Fi or Lo-Fi are certainly a part of that era. The smugness. From my perspective the whole "tier" thing is really silly. I am blessed to still have older folks in my family that to this day refer to a sound producing unit as a Hi Fi are they wrong?

Looking at it from an economic standpoint.

A person who has invested $150K in his system will have a resale value of about $75K after 5 years.  Cost of ownership $15K per year.

A person who has invested $50K in his system will have a resale value of about $25K after 5 years.  Cost of ownership $5K per year.

A person who has invested $20K in his system will have a resale value of about $10K after 5 years.  Cost of ownership $2K per year.

A person who has invested $10K in his system will have a resale value of about $5K after 5 years.  Cost of ownership $1K per year.

You get the idea, pick your poison.

Does a music lover receive $13K more pleasure per year for the extra cost of their $150K system than the owner of a $20K system?   Each person decides this.

The constant in all of this, music is music.