When are speakers considered Hi-Fi and not Mid-Fi???


What determines the status of "Hi-Fi?" I was recently considering a pair of Klipsch Heritage Cornwall speakers. They get rave reviews, have almost a cult-like following, no longer have harshness from the horns, and are very resolving. Other than not reaching down too low into the bass as some speakers do, why are they not considered Hi-Fi? They can clearly reproduce the full range of sound with an incredible image and are not missing any capability in person or on paper. Seems when we follow a thread on here about most any speaker at any price there is always a contingent that feels to need to post that the certain speakers under discussion are Mid-Fi not Hi-Fi. I only use the Klipsch Cornwalls as an example to start. Budget is not an issue, and cost should not dictate. I was also looking at the Magnepan 20.7 for another example, and they are $13k more than the Klipsch, but low and behold someone within seconds pops up and says these are Mid-Fi speakers. I kind of bet I could ask about a Sonus Faber Aida at $130k and within a few seconds someone will pop in and call them Mid-Fi as well. When do we reach "Hi-Fi" these days? Is it simply an endless and baseless dick-measuring contest? Seems like it. If we were talking cars we always have the guy who brags about the 0-60 times of certain cars, but it's clear that the 0-60 time alone does not qualify a car to be a "supercar" as there are so many other things the car must have and do to make it into that class, and like speakers there is not always 100% agreement on what the factors are. When do we reach Hi-Fi status for speakers??? 

dean_palmer

Showing 2 responses by audioman58

Being into audio 40 years and owning a Audio store by far the largest injustice to Audiophiles is theLoudspeakers crossover parts , most people don’t realize

on a $10k speaker for example only $2500 goes-into the speakers per pr including 

packaging the rest R&D  over head and markup 

since I have modded every speaker I have owned maggi have a cheap Xover 

cement resistors horrible capacitors and inductors , , Klipsch notmuch better 

sad but true . I have had help with Maggie todo rights external Xover 

Klipsch has more room and Chinese Xover yellow caps and cement resistors 

I use top notch path audio resistors , but mills are verygood or  several others,many decent   Name brand capacitors out there mid quality like. Clarity ,or Mundorf Evo which I see in $20k speakers ,which imo should’ve betteras well as inductors likeJantzen , name brand connectors also but manygo cheapgoldover brass 

which is bright, purecopper Cardas, or WBT next gen, or Furutech ,or ETI are far better . Being in the retail business even in electronics the same 💩 crap applies 

not all but most the 4-1 ratio $$ cost in build  to markup,

with audio cables even more so.

If using a single driver, coaxial ,or even monitor Svs has some excellent powered subwoofers with apps to adjust the Bass from your seat, you can blend the low bass with starting at $499

i have found this to help many speakers to fill in that low midBass,lower Bass range.