Regarding my comment
I will try to define the "mid-fi" way of viewing high-end without an elitist perspective.
Once an audiophile has chosen his/her path and selected components from within the available spectrum - everything between black and white - or since I used Krell and Jadis before - everything between Krell and Jadis... The goal is to make the system sound as close to ideal as possible - based on listener preference, room conditions, etc.
At the higher end, audiophiles select components based on what sonic signatures they prefer and in most cases try to tune their systems as best as possible - to bring out every last bit of performance. I used the analogy of Black Jack in one of my posts above...whether they know it or not, folks in the high end are trying to get a 21. They don't want to bust - go over 21 - because that would be too much. They view 21 as a winning hand - perfection - and each baby step they take toward that number is a small victory.
A cable which turns out to be too low-rez could set someone back to 15 or 10... but likewise cast them into the 22 or 23 range (depending on choice of components). The same thing can happen with a cable that is to high-rez, again, depending on choice of components. Its an almost never ending cycle. Often components are changed for better or worse but the audiophile must determine if they actually improve the sound (get closer to 21), deduct from the sound (loose a few points), or go over the top - damn! I went bust!
IF 21 is equal to the perfect resolution then you can view 22 as being too detailed or analytical and 20 as being slightly compressed.
Make sense?
Mid-Fi - Pretty difficult to explain and pretty risky since I will be required to make some tough statement... but...I'm a glutton for punishment so.. here it goes...
I characterize mid-fi as a phase where folks don't exactly know where they're going with their system. Their goal is often making their system sound like systems costing 10x more! (which isn't a bad thing) Like most of us - including myself - they do not have the dollars required to venture into the highest of high end and therefore are easily swayed in their opinion of their system. Even if they did, they wouldn't know where to go... They have less of an idea of what is good or bad about their system - and the lack of trust in their components often keeps them bouncing back and forth. They tend to be easily excited by dramatic changes and regard the results of the changes as a result of the component (or cable) they view as being the most competent - instead of trying to build a synergy!
Mostly, I view mid-fi as not having direction, not knowing what component to upgrade, cable to buy, etc. The stress of mid-fi is overwhelming and I think its mostly because these people for the most part, haven't been exposed to really high-end (20's, 21's and 22's) so they just don't yet know what they truly enjoy.
Once a mid-fi person chooses the direction, everything becomes clear and the steps required to accomplish the goal become evident.
This is why when someone says, "reveals problems upstream" they are talking mid-fi. its a very vague statement (what problems?) and typical of someone who doesn't know where they're going with the system - and doesn't trust it. If the mid-fi person had direction in their system, or a goal - they would know whether or not the addition of the new component or cable put them closer to 21 or further away.
That is such a mid-fi way of viewing high-end.Hshapiro wrote:
Laugh all you want, and thanks for exhibiting your elitist audiophile side again. Please define the "mid-fi way of viewing high-end?"
I will try to define the "mid-fi" way of viewing high-end without an elitist perspective.
Once an audiophile has chosen his/her path and selected components from within the available spectrum - everything between black and white - or since I used Krell and Jadis before - everything between Krell and Jadis... The goal is to make the system sound as close to ideal as possible - based on listener preference, room conditions, etc.
At the higher end, audiophiles select components based on what sonic signatures they prefer and in most cases try to tune their systems as best as possible - to bring out every last bit of performance. I used the analogy of Black Jack in one of my posts above...whether they know it or not, folks in the high end are trying to get a 21. They don't want to bust - go over 21 - because that would be too much. They view 21 as a winning hand - perfection - and each baby step they take toward that number is a small victory.
A cable which turns out to be too low-rez could set someone back to 15 or 10... but likewise cast them into the 22 or 23 range (depending on choice of components). The same thing can happen with a cable that is to high-rez, again, depending on choice of components. Its an almost never ending cycle. Often components are changed for better or worse but the audiophile must determine if they actually improve the sound (get closer to 21), deduct from the sound (loose a few points), or go over the top - damn! I went bust!
IF 21 is equal to the perfect resolution then you can view 22 as being too detailed or analytical and 20 as being slightly compressed.
Make sense?
Mid-Fi - Pretty difficult to explain and pretty risky since I will be required to make some tough statement... but...I'm a glutton for punishment so.. here it goes...
I characterize mid-fi as a phase where folks don't exactly know where they're going with their system. Their goal is often making their system sound like systems costing 10x more! (which isn't a bad thing) Like most of us - including myself - they do not have the dollars required to venture into the highest of high end and therefore are easily swayed in their opinion of their system. Even if they did, they wouldn't know where to go... They have less of an idea of what is good or bad about their system - and the lack of trust in their components often keeps them bouncing back and forth. They tend to be easily excited by dramatic changes and regard the results of the changes as a result of the component (or cable) they view as being the most competent - instead of trying to build a synergy!
Mostly, I view mid-fi as not having direction, not knowing what component to upgrade, cable to buy, etc. The stress of mid-fi is overwhelming and I think its mostly because these people for the most part, haven't been exposed to really high-end (20's, 21's and 22's) so they just don't yet know what they truly enjoy.
Once a mid-fi person chooses the direction, everything becomes clear and the steps required to accomplish the goal become evident.
This is why when someone says, "reveals problems upstream" they are talking mid-fi. its a very vague statement (what problems?) and typical of someone who doesn't know where they're going with the system - and doesn't trust it. If the mid-fi person had direction in their system, or a goal - they would know whether or not the addition of the new component or cable put them closer to 21 or further away.