In your opinion, what is Hi, Medium and Low end?

06-05-08: Gogirl Said:
"Hello,I just joined this boy's club.My boyfriend has what he calls a high-end system.My dad says his system is only mid-fi
(I think I know what that means)When we are all together they always discuss their systems.I am tired of being left out so I joined Audiogon to learn.Actually I didnt understand the question but I understand Albertporters answer perfectly.
I'll keep looking and learning and will have some questions for you guys in the future."

Welcome Gogirl. Please excuse these klutz audiophiles for noticing a lady in the room. Since you have both an audiophile father and b'friend you understand I'm sure.

You picked right up on Albertporter's correctness. If you haven't already, link over to his system and you'll see not low, medium or high end, but "ultimate end."

Ciao,

Dave

Glory, yes, that makes me feel better. I thank you for that. I just get fed up with SS being classified as inferior. The best system I ever heard had huge solid state Classe monoblocks with CJ tube preamplification, if my memory serves me correctly. I'll never forget that day. The best of both worlds.

You can achieve fairly high end sound for medium or low end cost if you match any decent speakers properly to a decent amp and focus on good speaker placement within the room

Most systems sound "high end" when speakers can be placed at least a few feet away from walls to avoid early reflections. In general, most speakers sound better when given some "room to breathe" in this manner. Avoid speakers that are too big in a room that is too small. Most decent, smaller "monitor speakers" work well in a variety of room sizes when paired with a decent quality matching amp, like a NAD (warmer sound) or Rotel (more detailed/transparent).

Then add some decent interconnects (anything other than stock cables that come with units, DNM, audioquest or MIT among others are safe bets) and any decent Monster power conditioner and you should be 90% there. Everything from here is a tweak to your particular tastes. If you are using a phono, make sure the cartridge is properly aligned and matched to the phono input properly.

IMHO, hi-fi has become so good and cheap since 50's that there is almost no such thing as low or mid fi around anymore (at least not in your average middle class home). Digital has been the great democratizer - simplifying things with high quality sound with great channel separation, S/N and a dynamic range exceeding previous technologies by about 30 db+.

This has resulted in a battle for differentiation in the high end that is largely one of marketing specs and aesthetics (precious metals/heavy build etc) and plumbing the extremes such as extreme bass performance or SPL capability or odd distinctive colorations. It has pitted tubes against SS (although depending on the topology they can sound similar). It has pitted Analog against Digital - and again depending on the recording quality they can sound similar too.

If this seems a lot like Yves St. Laurent vs Hugo Boss vs Armani, Versace etc. that is because great functional clothing was invented a long time ago and so differentiation moves to aesthetics and type of material ( man made fabrics vs natural etc)

Like the girls discussing clothing - the guys discuss gear but in the end it is just harmless fun - and todays "cock of the wall" product is tomorrows "feather duster". So enjoy the banter but don't for one moment be fooled into thinking there is some raw ground truths or science to it. It is just fun.

Agree with Shadorne.

I'd only add that the underpinnings of audio is science and engineering, but 98% of the end user experience results from the artistic aspect, which includes the recording process.