How do You Define Hi-Fi?

[petes'picks]

Hi-Fi to me would be a system revealing enough to extract the music details and make it enjoyable to the listeners. Some want as much exact detail possible, while others like me want just enough detail but not so much that it exposes all the shortcomings of the recording. Over half the recordings I like were not recorded perfectly so systems that expose every single fault can take some of the fun out of listening to those recordings.

In a perfect world where every recording was perfectly recorded then a system that reproduces everything perfectly would be ideal, but that is not the world we live in.

There is balance that is needed, a little bit of warm and inviting, a nice soundstage that places instruments where they should be, have enough detail but so much that it sounds etched....

 

[Mr Boochie]

HI-Fi is the opposite of Lo-Fi (Sorry, the Devil made me do it).

I define "Hi-Fi" as systems designed by manufacturers specializing in making units (or having divisions specializing in this area) for higher-end audio reproduction, especially for the home.

 

[justjed2]

Hi-Fi: If ya have to work to find something to bitch about, yer probably there......

 

[tourmax]

If it sounds good enough to put a big smile on your face, and pleases the ear. Even a little 5wpc tube amp with 5% distortion at full output with only a 40hz-18khz response can sound really nice with the right speakers.
Below is the amp and preamp I built that I was listening through yesterday while at my bench working on another amp I built.

I think a lot of people would be quite surprised at how much volume is actually to be had between 0-5 wpc.

“Big Suey” will pretty much drive you out of the room anywhere at/over 5 wpc….

 

[bluesky]

I define Hi-Fi as "High Fidelity".
That was tough.

 

[Lavane]

I think a lot of people would be quite surprised at how much volume is actually to be had between 0-5 wpc.

“Big Suey” will pretty much drive you out of the room anywhere at/over 5 wpc….

Yup. Very efficient speakers and just a couple watts can get very loud.

 

[hobby]

Hi-Fi to me would be a system revealing enough to extract the music details and make it enjoyable to the listeners. Some want as much exact detail possible, while others like me want just enough detail but not so much that it exposes all the shortcomings of the recording. Over half the recordings I like were not recorded perfectly so systems that expose every single fault can take some of the fun out of listening to those recordings.

In a perfect world where every recording was perfectly recorded then a system that reproduces everything perfectly would be ideal, but that is not the world we live in.

There is balance that is needed, a little bit of warm and inviting, a nice soundstage that places instruments where they should be, have enough detail but so much that it sounds etched....

Really great point

 

[hopeless]

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.

I agree with the spectrum comment. The difference between midfi and hifi is the experience. Properly set up, a midfi system will get the big things right. It can be totally good, it can throw a moderately large soundstage, missing some detail, but it's kind of like watching TV. Hifi makes speakers disappear, soundstage is deep, drawing you into the mix. Unnoticed subtle details appear that lesser systems don't deliver. The sound is tight and focused, allowing you to hear space. An amazing experience

 

[Mr Boochie]

Yup. Very efficient speakers and just a couple watts can get very loud.

With efficient speakers, 1-watt RMS at 1000hz at 1 meter is like +96 dB. That volume is enough to drive the household into the woods, and the dogs start howling if the windows are opened.

Long ago, a friend brought a signal generator, scope, and dB meter from his work one day. On his Marantz 2270 and another friend's Mac C28/2505, we found that the 1-watt RMS output, 1000Hz, 1-meter away, is around the 12:00 position of the volume control—two different JBL bookshelf speakers.

 

[Mingo]

I just enjoy the music and don't worry about labels. I suspect that I am more of a casual listener these days than other AKers.

 

[topdownsound]

The hi-fi shops when I was young were stereo stores. Stereo was big jump up from the mono recordings my parents had tons of. If you had a stereo system that could play these new types of records, you were into hi-fi. So hi-fi to me is a moving target, depending on the tech of the times, all about trying to get the most accurate sound to live music.

 

[Lavane]

With efficient speakers, 1-watt RMS at 1000hz at 1 meter is like +96 dB. That volume is enough to drive the household into the woods, and the dogs start howling if the windows are opened.

Long ago, a friend brought a signal generator, scope, and dB meter from his work one day. On his Marantz 2270 and another friend's Mac C28/2505, we found that the 1-watt RMS output, 1000Hz, 1-meter away, is around the 12:00 position of the volume control—two different JBL bookshelf speakers.

This would probably surprise a lot of people doing this with there audio gear. Thinking 12:00, or 1:00 on the volume is pushing some watts.
My son was surprised how loud 5 watts could get just with a pair of 93db speakers I hooked up to that little amp.

 

[Ellymay]

Hi-fi to me is when I hear music where ever I am at the time, and it stops me in my tracks. I take pause, I get pulled in, and focus on the great sound. Hard to define, but you know it when you hear it. In my own system, if the source and the recording are good, I get blown away and know I have hi-fi, regardless what anyone else thinks. If the source or the recording is mediocre I don’t get that same “Wow” and it just sounds mid-fi. It‘s kind of like defining a pure shot in golf. Hard to define, but you sure know it when it happens.

 

[Mr Boochie]

This would probably surprise a lot of people doing this with there audio gear. Thinking 12:00, or 1:00 on the volume is pushing some watts.
My son was surprised how loud 5 watts could get just with a pair of 93db speakers I hooked up to that little amp.

I've put my Twin Reverb in mothballs. Every time I crank it to 6 or more, I need to stand 20 feet away from it to hear what I'm playing. There is no overdrive or clipping with this amp.

 

[Danathepill]

Hi fi is when you brag about how amazing your $5000 power cord sounds
Mid fi is when you brag about a great deal you got off Craigslist
Low fi is when you brag about the amazing score you got out of the dumpster in the trailer court

 

[Tonoje]

I never even heard of the term mid-fi until I came to this forum. Does it even exist in the outside world?

All mid-fi is hi-fi as far as I'm concerned (and hi-fi itself is hazily defined, though none the worse for that - who cares). It's just a category that's often given a mildly derogatory spin, and was perhaps created with that purpose. I don't feel the need to defend the audiophile credibility of any single piece of equipment I own.

 

[Late Boomer]

DIN 45 and GOST 24863 are just a couple of standards. Something like the following. Yes, as @SaSi mentioned, it is a moving target, which is why the standards have revisions. To me, if a machine does not comply with DIN specs for Hi-Fi or Soviet specs for Class 2 - I would prefer Class 1 - it is not Hi-Fi. Obviously, digital audio easily satisfies W&F specs, but achieving other criteria is not much different than in analog time.

 

[DeadRock]

I define Hi-Fi as "High Fidelity".
That was tough.

That's not a definition...you simply moved from accepted "short(ened) form" back to the term itself.

 

[Gigantic]

Yup. Very efficient speakers and just a couple watts can get very loud.

my horns are 106dB sensitive. 5 Watts would be about <checks notes> just over 112dB at 1 meter. That's loud. My partner and I left one of the last shows we attended, just 3 songs into the headliner. The volume measured 114dB, 3 meters from the stage, from our position from the balcony at Johnny Brenda's in Philly. Even with earplugs, it was unpleasantly loud.

 

[tourmax]

So if mono isn’t “hi-fi” and stereo is “hi-fi”….what’s quadraphonic?

Quad-Fi?