• The move to the new server is done. There are some software and database maintenance updates in process. This has us passing the hat around to help out. We appreciate any donations. Seriously, even a dollar helps. The payment page may be found here - https://www.audiokarma.org/support.html

How do You Define Hi-Fi?

H

hobby

Active Member
Is it an objective measure of clarity that can be measured?

Is it sound quality relative to average sound quality on the market at a given time?

Is it a subjective gut feel?

Does it incorporate intangibles like ‘warmth’ or ‘fullness’ or does it bias for sterile, precise reproduction?

Where lies the mid-fi / hi-fi boundary?

A mid-fi home system today would’ve been mindbogingly good in the 1930s, what kind of grace is given to old components when judging fidelity?

I realize this is all probably a matter of personal taste/opinion. What does it mean to you?
 
Register to hide this ad
A perfect audio system is one able to reproduce the recording accurately. Adding nothing, removing nothing.

The closer to this ideal, the higher the fidelity. Fidelity is the quality or state of being faithful; so, in the context of a sound reproduction system, high fidelity means faithful to the recording.

On a related note, precision does not mean sterile.

Precise/perfect reproduction is the implied goal of a high fidelity system. But of course subjective preferences, technological limitations and budget play a role, and often outweigh the goal of precise, perfectly faithful reproduction.

Regarding "mid-fi"; to me, fidelity is a spectrum. High fidelity is closer to the ideal than mid-fidelity. There is no absolute dividing line.
 
Last edited:
I'm another who does not attempt to define hifi.
Hifi is a marketing term,different sources will date the term to the 30's and other's will date the term to the 50's.
There is no industry standard definition for the term mid fi.
I believe the term mid fi was coined by someone who over paid for what they thought was high end gear and didn't want to tell his buddies their gear was inferior and he thought it sucked compared to his gear so he referred to their gear as mid fi gear.
 
I think of this Klipsch quote whenever this topic comes up:

“There’s no such thing as ‘high fidelity.’ There’s either ‘fidelity’ or ‘infidelity.’”
—Paul Wilbur Klipsch

***
As in, I guess:

“Do you practice fidelity in your marriage?”
“Well, like with my stereo, I practice ‘hi-fi.’ Sometimes ‘mid-fi.’”
 
Last edited:
And in this journey you are getting older and your hearing gets worse and your standards tend to relax. I know first hand, I am at this stage in the journey.

People and organizations have tried to put down specifications for HiFi, there is even a DIN spec (45500 IIRC).
The specs were silly back in the 60s compared to what was considered hifi in the late 70s. So it used to be a moving target.

I will attempt to paraphrase a definition from Floyd Toole: Music reproduction is meant to deliver an illusion that your ears and brain process and create the feelings you are expecting.
Some people are aiming for "musicality" and "warmth", many aim for a neutral sound and others are simply trying to tear down the house with dB while some, like me, want to have a balanced reproduction without gross artifacts and distortion down to the low frequencies that create a tactile feedback.

And never forget the most critical component of your audio system. The room. Most systems cannot deliver half of what they are capable of because the room is unsuitable and un-treated for proper music reproduction.
 
It does already have a definition in the name, but I'll add this. I had my friend over with his wife and daughter to listen to what I consider a hi-fi setup (KEF 105/3's with custom tube amps). They were curious about the tube amps. His daughter has some of the broadest tastes in music in a teenager that I've seen and knows what I would consider to be good music. I played one of her favorite songs through a decent Kenwood receiver. Then I switched to the tubes. She asked what she should be listening for. I told her it wasn't just about her ears and that she would know it when she felt it. After a few bars, her eyes opened up, she smiled and looked over at me and said rather loudly, "I feel it!!" IMHO, true fidelity should (in a good recording) evoke emotion. Just sayin'.
 
hobby said:
Is it an objective measure of clarity that can be measured?

Is it sound quality relative to average sound quality on the market at a given time?

Is it a subjective gut feel?

Does it incorporate intangibles like ‘warmth’ or ‘fullness’ or does it bias for sterile, precise reproduction?
Click to expand...
I accept the 1966 DIN 45 500 standards as my definition of hifi.
hobby said:
Where lies the mid-fi / hi-fi boundary?
Click to expand...
I don't believe there is a midfi/hifi boundary. The way the term mid-fi was used in the 1970's, at least where I was living, midfi was gear that met the DIN standards, and so qualified as hifi, yet didn't cost a huge amount of money. My first system was mid-fi, could be bought at a big-box type store, and consisted of a BIC 960 turntable, Pioneer SA-6500 II integrated amplifier, and EPI 100 speakers. I do believe there is a divide between a midfi hifi system and a high end hifi system, with the latter starting at multiple thousands of dollars and most likely shopped for in specialist audio stores.
hobby said:
A mid-fi home system today would’ve been mindbogingly good in the 1930s, what kind of grace is given to old components when judging fidelity?
Click to expand...
For me, it's the same as it was in 1966, and I would judge older gear by the same standards.
hobby said:
I realize this is all probably a matter of personal taste/opinion.
Click to expand...
I agree, and I still use terms the way I was accustomed to when I started in the hobby.
 
Last edited:
Lots of good discussion points, thanks for the feedback. I tend to agree with the more visceral “it’s a feel” type thing. It seems like a know-it-when-you-hear-it, although admittedly, my exposure to high end audio has been pretty limited.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom