Can Mid-FI be better than High End HI-FI?

[Pete H]

The best deal of all is hi fi that can be found for reasonable money, little effort, and works like a champ.

That for me is the real fun. Searching for the piece of equipment that you really want, for the price your willing to pay, that someone else dropped a stupid amount of money for, because they just had to have the latest and greatest (or that was the hype) no matter the cost. Cost does not dictate value in anything. Back to the Mid Fi, I had a chance to listen to some Cambridge Audio equipment at my local Klipsch dealer and for Mid Fi, it really got my attention. Very nice playing through Cornwall 3's. IMO

[SWL]

I seem to enjoy my modest systems more because I don't fuss over this or that. Expectations are not real high so I focus more on the music.

[Groomlakearea51]

I would peg most of the Klipsch speakers to be mid fi to entry level high fi. For me, if a piece of gear is of high enough quality to reveal that other pieces aren't up to snuff, and it hurts the wallet, then you are on the hi fi road. The Palladiums by dint of their price automatically qualify as hi fi.

There is both true hi fi, and hi fi by fiat of price, review, and legend. I have had great gear that truly is great, and "great" gear that reveals its greatness by generating laughable sums of money when you sell it.

Well said, but I would say that the Heritage speakers, regardless of cost are pretty much well into the "hi-fi" area..... Palladiums for sure, and although they qualify by "fiat of price", are true hi-fi by simple quality of build and sound repro.

The best deal of all is hi fi that can be found for reasonable money, little effort, and works like a champ.

... and that is the truth of matter. Too often "hi-fi" and so called "quality" really seems to be driven by the "esoteric-O-meter", and usually contingent on how much it costs. Cheap is cheap, for sure.... but there is an amazing amount of reasonably priced stuff that is by any definition of the phrase..... high fidelity.... and as often as not, gets overlooked by the so called "reviewers" who, IMHO... seem to really cater to that immeasurably small segment of the population with enough disposable income to buy an artificial island in Dubai....

Now back to the Heresy-I's through the AU-11000..... [H]

[Ironsave]

My system probably barely qualifies as Mid Fi, IMHO, but it blows me away when I listen to the music I love.

I know other people who own (multi) Thousand dollar Bose systems and by virtue of this; they believe theirs is Hi Fi High Quality......

When they hear my system and realize I paid $250 for my Heresies; my receiver was free, my sub was free and my surrounds cost me $4 each at the thrift store, they are usually left picking their jaw up off of the floor. (Just added a KV3 center yesterday; package deal that comes out to about $30 per speaker... Woo Hoo!!!)

Then I switch to 2 channel audio and play whatever music they like and they once again need to pick up their jaw...... [H]

The other factor is; how much do you really ENJOY what you have? I have promedia 2.1's in the bedroom and if I am not jamming in the living room, I am jamming in the bedroom.... I love listening to music, and now that I listen to it at a relatively quality, realistic level.... there is no turning back..... ever.

If I had a $50,000 system but never used it; what is the point? I use my audio equipment because I love my music, and therefore I believe my musical listening experience/ home theater exp is more valuable than someone who has super high end, but does not appreciate it.......

My .02.....

[ka7niq]

The old Klipsch Forte's IMHO are an excellent example of a product that is "stupid good" for what you can buy them for.

[Groomlakearea51]

The old Klipsch Forte's IMHO are an excellent example of a product that is "stupid good" for what you can buy them for.

Now that's funny!!!! True in context, but hilarious!!! Well said!!! [Y]

[ka7niq]

Lol, well it is true.

I would still own the Forte's if they were a larger speaker to "fill in" the space next to the big screen tv better.

Those little fellows rattled the big room with bass, imaged all over too.

Another good, inexpensive product is the little JBL S 26 bookshelf speaker.

One can buy em used all day long for around 100 dollars a pair.

With a small subwoofer, they really make a delightful budget audiophile system.

Lots of good stuff out there, for not a lot of money, if you look.

[Ironsave]

Lots of good stuff out there, for not a lot of money, if you look.

I second that! []

[Don Richard]

The high end of today is the mid-fi of tomorrow, unless it goes completely obsolete.

[Mallette]

A word about mid-fi.

I had a 53 Chevy for a couple of years in college. It had a vacuum tube AM radio with an 8" all range speaker. I'd suspect the response was pretty smooth from 80-6k or so. At both ends the roll off was smooth and elegant. Rock and roll on that thing never sounded better and the radio could pull in Tierra del Fuego in a crunch. Listened to New York (Cousin Brucie)Little Rock (Bleaker Street) and New Orleans (CC Courtney) at will.

Car wasn't worth damn, but as to the radio and what we heard through it, they don't make'em like that any more.

Dave

[ace168516]

Oh, I think you need all that bass...If you want your system to handle what you want, then you need that bass...you see this here is hi-fi...high fidelity...what that means is this gives you the highest quality fidelity.

(Sorry...couldn't resist and did not want to link the video again...but everytime a discussion on hi-fi starts it cracks me up when I think about it)

[Mallette]

>>> Price is not always an indicator of sound quality.

Seems to a typo in the above.

I think it was supposed to be "Price is frequently not an indicator of sound quality."

Not in my book. Price is NEVER an indicator of sound quality...even with NIB gear.

In the 70's I made good mad money guaranteeing my friends I could put them together a killer system for 400.00 that would make them the envy of the neighborhood. The only thing has changed is that the neighborhood is too busy glued to the tube to care anymore.

Given time to pounce on the right deals, I can still put together a system for 400.00 that is ACCURATE...the only standard I care about.

Dave

[ka7niq]

A word about mid-fi. I had a 53 Chevy for a couple of years in college. It had a vacuum tube AM radio with an 8" all range speaker. I'd suspect the response was pretty smooth from 80-6k or so. At both ends the roll off was smooth and elegant. Rock and roll on that thing never sounded better and the radio could pull in Tierra del Fuego in a crunch. Listened to New York (Cousin Brucie)Little Rock (Bleaker Street) and New Orleans (CC Courtney) at will. Car wasn't worth ***, but as to the radio and what we heard through it, they don't make'em like that any more. Dave

Yeah, those old car radios with tube radios and big back seats always sounded good, especially if me and the young lady were "makin music" in the back seat !!!!

[ka7niq]

LOL, C'mon Dave, How do you know it is "accurate", unless you have a spectrum analyzer shoved up your sleeve ?

I think what you are really trying to say, is it sounds like music []

And I have little doubt you can assemble a musically satisfying system for 400.00 too!

I do it all the time for friends, as I am sure many audiophiles on the forum do too.

Maybe we should list systems we have put together in the past for friends that really sounded great, for little money ?

But then, I bet this thread will never end ?

Just for kicks dave, what are some of your favorite low priced systems ?

[Mallette]

>LOL, C'mon Dave, How do you know it is "accurate", unless you have a spectrum analyzer shoved up your sleeve ?

I have ears and know how to use them. I have a single "idiot savant" talent. I remember musical performances precisely. When I record them and play them back on a system I can tell immediately what differs from the time/space/sonic experience I had and that determines "accurate."

If it sounds better, it is not accurate, if it sounds worse, it is not accurate.

You may believe that, or not. But it's my story and I am stickn't to it.[H]

Dave

[Audible Nectar]

The high end of today is the mid-fi of tomorrow, unless it goes completely obsolete.

There's sooooo much truth in this, but there are exceptions to the rule. McIntosh MC30s and other similar classic gear, and Klipsch Heritage as examples. It's not a coincidence that I built complete systems out of such gears....the exceptions to your statement that become "classics". It is those exceptions which make up where I live in this hobby.

[mike stehr]

The best deal of all is hi fi that can be found for reasonable money, little effort, and works like a champ.

Maybe that should be rephrased to: "The best deal of all is high fidelity SOUND can be found for reasonable money, little effort, and works like a champ."

I kinda think the terms Hi-Fi, Mid-fi, Lo-Fi are just marketing hype jargon. Lo-Fi is obvious......if it sounds like crap, it's Lo-Fi.

But how do you really determine Mid-Fi sound from Hi-Fi sound? It almost sounds like butt, but not quite? Good sound, but kinda boring and dull......that would seem to be Lo-Fi sound, IMO.....

High Fidelity sound probably comes down to personal preference. Just like everything else with the hobby.......the music, the gear...etc....

[SWL]

The high end of today is the mid-fi of tomorrow

Yeah, I just bought a preamp off Agon for $275.00 that cost $3200.00 ten years ago.

[skonopa]

If I had a $50,000 system but never used it; what is the point? I use my audio equipment because I love my music, and therefore I believe my musical listening experience/ home theater exp is more valuable than someone who has super high end, but does not appreciate it.......

My .02.....

I so agree with this. I am willing to bet quite a few of the snooty audiophile types with more dollars than sense would consider my system to be "Mid-Fi", but to my ears, it definitly sounds Hi-Fi to me! I've listened to some pretty nice systems and yet, I am still amazed at just how good my own system sounds, considering that it probably cost a third of what some of these other rigs cost.

To me, it is indeed all about the music. I can put something on my rig and just sit there and enjoy the moment and not get caught up about things, i.e, what if I replaced the speaker wire with this magical $1,000/foot stuff or other such crap like that.

[ace168516]

A fine point indeed...and I will give you a prime example. I had a great break today...my wife is working late...my son is off with the grandparents for a few days. I finished my job early, and got home and wanted to listen to some music. Normally I would just toss some songs on my digital jukebox and enjoy...but tonight was a break. My cornwalls are in the laundry room off the ground and I can not move them myself...my heresys are up in the attic in boxes still from the move. I do have my set of B&W DM602s though...pulled out the stands and hooked up my SA-XR55 (if it is good enough for BEC it is good enough for me) and my Sansui needs to be bised anyways. I have been dropping album after album for 6 hours now...and am in heaven. Do I hear an occasional song that I think...this would sound way better on the cornwalls...absolutly. On the other hand, I have not said I do not appreciate the B&Ws and how good they sound for bookshelves either...I acutally probably have more respect for them now, because even though they are no cornwalls, I have had by far the best 6 hours of my life in the past year listenting to music. Are the cornwalls mid-fi? Does that make my B&Ws lo-fi? I think my heresy's fit in there somewhere in-between too. I have had a wonderful night listening to some speakers I bought over 10 years ago because they are better than what I am used to....I have much better stuff that is just not available right now...but it had zero effect on how much fun I had tonight with an amp a cd player and a couple low/mid/hi-fi speakers.