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

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.

Hello All,Dcstep I took your suggestion and looked at Mr. Porters system.I also looked at his professional background.
This confuses my even more.
Some of you have stated that there are no low or mid-fi these days all equipment is good.Some say have fun with it.
It seems that the price of Mr.Porters system can support a third world country.I dont think Mr.Porter intentionally wants to spend his hard earned dollars on what I checked to be a very expensive system not to mention the cost of power to fire all this up.So there must be more to it.
So guys,if you had the dollars to put into a higher end system,would you.And would you then say its all good ??
Honest answers only.Please set the ego's aside.
I'm trying to learn
Thank you

So guys,if you had the dollars to put into a higher end system,would you.And would you then say its all good ??
Honest answers only.Please set the ego's aside.

I'd probably improve a few things here and there, but I don't think I'd be inclined to invest huge amounts of money into my system. I like it pretty well as it is. I don't know where it would fall on the spectrum of what is being discussed here, but I'd say it is quite modest in comparison. I'd be most inclined to put significant money into improving my listening room or building a new one.

Albert has been in and around the industry his entire life and I'd venture to guess worked his butt off to build the system he has. I don't think he paid retail for it..but I think he traded his first born for the turntable. He still has the one son left though so don't feel bad. Keep in mind that represents the evolution of a lifetime's passion...and Albert, as we all know is a very tired old man with only one kidney (he traded the other for those speakers) :-)

If I had the budget, I'd probably end up spending more.

But my system fits my current dwelling pretty well. The differences, if any, would be marginal or subjective, IMHO.

If I had a larger house with larger rooms, I would probably be inclined to scale my system up somewhat accordingly, which would likely cost more.

I might go with a fancier CD player, though I'm not sure I would gain much, which is why I am where I am there.

If I weren't turned onto the Ohms, I might have to spend more to match them otherwise, though I think I could find something second hand in the price range that might be in the same league at least.