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

It looks like it was a marketing term from the early 50s which was superseded by the term ‘stereo’.  More recently another nebulous term, ‘audiophile’ is used to label equipment that the foolish purchase.

I've been listening to mid-fi equipment and speakers for 5 decades now.  It wasn't until I heard/experienced a few audio systems that blew me away.  The first was 42 years ago at Michael Lane's home with 250,000 records.  He custom built his equipment (he was a genius engineer at Cal Tech) with huge corner speakers (possibly horn-I don't remember).  He played 1903 Grieg at the piano and the sound was like a 50's LP with the frequency response and dynamic limitations of 1903.  He had 25 or more stylii and varied the e.q. per record, obtaining incredibly reduced record noise.  His Remington LPs sounded spectacular, like a Maggie with dynamics.  

Then I heard the Von Schweikert Ultra 11s with my LPs and CDs.  That was a revelation (of $1+ million cost) of sound reproduction I had not experienced in dozens of audio shows.  

In the past 6 years, my goal was to get closer to that sound in my own primary listening room.  It has taken multiple changes in some equipment, mostly tweaks in getting there.  SR fuses, Tripplite voltage regulators for pre-amps (only one plug works to enhance nearest the power cable, the others yuk) and two Shakti on-lines (nothing else works for me, just one above the Tripplite power cable and the other on the power amp plug to wall outlet).  I've removed some SR HFTs and added a GIK Q7D quadradic diffuser.  Tried a half dozen DACs, digital cables and a dozen transports.  Finally got my main system sounding at least half a good and involving as the $1 million system for 1/15th the cost in equipment (the room alone was $150K though).  I kept much of the older equipment such as the VPI TNT VI mod and SME IV mod from decades ago, cabling, speakers, etc.  

Anyone would hear my main system and declare it high end.  It's not perfect (flaws include single seat/inferior diffusion of sound seating and ambiance.  Of course I listen to many 50's and 60's recordings which have left/right recorded sound, ambiance depends on the recording as well.  My 11,500 CDs are now as enjoyable as my analog recordings (about 36,000 various formats).  

By experiencing the best (one of the best) audio systems ever, I knew what to shoot for.  Getting there has taken years though and eventually, I will replace the speakers (after 20 years of stats, I went with a full range, dynamic floor standing speaker for 20 more years).  .  

If you spend more money, you get more hifi....Especially with Dacs and Interconnects. If you don't spend at least $10k on a Dac you're not allowed to even talk about what sounds great.

Just for perspective, the Dictionary.com definition of High-Fidelity is:

noun Electronics.

1. sound reproduction over the full range of audible frequencies with very little distortion of the original signal.

That leaves quite a bit of room for interpretation.

There is some interesting information on the origin of the term “High Fidelity” on Wikipedia.

Those Klipsch and Magnepan models listed by the OP should deliver something approaching a HiFi experience as defined above if set up correctly.

My personal definition of when you’ve crossed over from Mid-Fi to Hi-Fi is that your favorite sample tracks you used previously for demoing electronics because they had “good bass” or “tinkling bells” or an impressive “drum hit” or a “powdery woman’s voice” no longer sound so impressive, and may sound downright dull on your system, while other tracks with dramatic contrast in tempo and loudness, interesting or complicated spatial cues, or fantastic pace, rhythm and timing now grab your attention.  YMMV

kn