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2018 exactly what is ‘High End’ audio?

Hello Sports fans!

Is everything listed on these pages actually high end audio? Are all the narratives, reviews, ads, discussions, etc., all about high end home audio?

Or is there a point wherein High End audio leaves the pack behind?

We throw the term “High End” around HERE so often YET WITHOUT ANY TRUE CLARIFICATION OR DEFINITIVE PARAMETERS BEING OUTLINED, I thought I’d see if there was an actual consensus as to what it means to the student body, alumni, and faculty on this forum.

Plenty of terms abound in audio which declare a particular piece or system deserves a lofty or loftier perch on the audio tree. State of the Art. Hi fi. Upper tier. Custon. Cottage industry at its finest. Handmade. High def. High Resolution. Ultra fi. Magnum Opus. Ground breaking. If Best Buy does not sell it. Destination. Signature. Statement. Threshold of diminishing returns. Leading edge. If you can’t buy it at the mall. Bleeding Edge. UNOBTAINIUM. Cantaffordium. If you have to ask how much it is…. If its not a four letter word beginning with B and ending with OSE.

As the very nature of this past time is entirely subjective, where do you believe ‘High End’ Audio begins or should begin?

In broad strokes and your own opinion as to where exactly High end home audio gear can be without question called or referred to as truly “High End.

Price is an obvious indicator for many albeit, price too is subjective.

At the end of the day, how do you decide who is or who is not, in the club?

Thanks all

blindjim
syntax's avatar
syntax
2,033 posts
 
High End today is expensive Hardware rolling without any clue what's going on.....
We listen first with our eyes, then with our wallets. After taking both factors into consideration, it is then that we use our ears just to "verify" what our eyes and wallets have told us about a product.
elizabeth
6,726 posts
 
I am of the ’inclusive’ camp.
High End is equipment anyone with the desire to have better than average audio reproduction might buy.
This includes $80 IC, and $250 phono boxes. $80 phono cartridges.
Like owning a eight year old used sport car

Then there is the exclusive view. Where the minimum price is ’if you have to ask what the price is, you can’t afford it’. This is where the $250,000 speaker systems hang out. The dCs setups.. The $100,000 turntables.. Like owning a Ferrari and a Mercedes

My streo ewuipment is somewhere in the middle. More than a cheap new car. but not quite a good BMW.

One interesting way to think about it: How much of you annual salary is in you music listening (include media and equipment)
So how passionate are you ...really. To invest so totally in the stereo.
As much as your car? twice you new car? As much as your HOUSE
oddiofyl's avatar
oddiofyl
1,076 posts
 
There is plenty of "High End" equipment that is pure crap.....
mapman's avatar
mapman
15,679 posts
 
High end means more expensive and exclusive compared to the rest, plain and simple.

To get people to buy it, there has to be perceived value to justify the cost. For high end audio that translates usually into some combo of bling, sound, and snake oil. YMMV.

french_fries
735 posts
 
I don't know how to discuss defining hi-end audio beyond my own (and therefore unique) personal experience.  So for "you" it's going to undoubtably be something different.  but i do know what anyone who loved their stereo system and/or even more significant- their love of music and their passion for sharing it with others really gets to the heart of things. As I met more and more people who invited me in and asked me what I thought of this or that album, it wasn't so much what they had to play it on (everyone had a different budget level and shopped different stores), it was their tremendous enthusiasm that impressed me the most.  
    Eventually I got to hear better and better stuff,  I could definitely relate to the YouTube video of 1950's Hi-Fi (thanks JMGROGAN) and remember browsing in department stores as a young kid looking at console stereo's (with built-in television sets).  When separate components came out on display in the 60's i swore i would someday get a nice stereo, too- Fisher, Scott, Marantz, WOW was i excited. One afternoon my dad and I got to hear a demo of  Voice of the Theatre speakers!  But... they didn't sound much like the real thing to my ears even though you could hear them three blocks away.
    Finally in my 30's I graduated from a Denon amp to a Hafler and then spent a "small fortune" and replaced it with a used Levinson.  
WOW all over again.  Instruments had real texture, and the notes took on a whole new dimension of liveliness. I was finally able to come up with the enormous amount of money it took, and that it was beyond my reach only a few years ago. I had felt guilty, embarrassed, even silly for wanting such esoteric gear just to listen to my CD's.  I just know how great the music sounds these days, and just accept how much I enjoy the experience.
    So nowadays if people want to know "how many watts" my speakers have, I'll tell them "100 each" and just let it go. But if they really like what they hear, I'll also add that "it's quality not quantity"....
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