??? Where Does "High End" Start ???

It's simple.

If a system costs less than $35,607 it is lo-fi.

If a system costs more than $35,607 it is hi-fi.

If a system costs exactly $35,607 (including tax) it is mid-fi.

If you look at the top most expensive systems on here or other "extreme" audiophile hang-outs (god help you if it’s WBF), you’ll quickly find that even $5K per component is considered very cheap. 

"Performance" is a different matter and a whole ’nother can of worms. But I’d say that "normal high end" these days - loosely defined as some unquantifiable aggregate of: performance, build quality, aesthetic, esoteric factor, desirability, price, and brand cache - is going to start at ~25K per component and 50K for speakers. That’s not even "ultra" high-end, not even close. It gets more expensive each year; kind of nuts at this point. Definitely not sustainable.

Maybe rephrase the question 

What is the cost of admission to officially join the elite high end audio club? 
 

Some even accept riffraff like me so don’t give up hope!

Putting a dollar value on it is not an objective measure. Listen to many systems at all price points, develop your listening and evaluation skills. Hearing systems that appeal to you, try to replicate that at home, once you've reached your goal you're on the mountain top. 

There’s no set definition for "high end", and I’m sure it varies by person and is somewhat relative.  To me high end isn’t a focus on a price point....it’s an attitude and philosophy that requires a commitment to make the best you know how, but price understandably tends to be a part of that.   

Big conglomerates buying up smaller companies trying to tap into the profits of the more expensive end of the market, while cheapening as many parts as they can to increase profit is not indicative of how I perceive a true high end approach.  They’re just expensive pretenders.  The true contenders are the businesses that have a real passion for making the best they can that push the envelope of true state of the art. .