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

Intention and sound quality are the arbiters of high end, not name brand or price. I've heard many systems over many decades, high price and brand name don't necessarily result in high engagement factor. Many boutique manufacturers out there, intention off the charts and they have the chops to pull off the execution. 

There is no way to establish parameters for any performance metric, never mind an overall assessment of what is high-end, or whatever level of performance.  Dollars don't necessarily figure into this at all.  If one's priorities in sound reproduction match a particular product's strengths, it can be reasonably dubbed the "best" even if it is modest in price. 

For example, the Quad 57 speaker is so captivating in some respects that a lot of people think it is unrivalled even to this day.  It has no deep bass, cannot be played very loud, and has a lot other limitations, but, I would not argue with anyone thinking it is the best speaker ever made. 

There are so many different paths one can take to achieving a personal high end system and no one would agree on all of the choices someone makes.  A local dealer who makes custom speakers and electronics as well as selling some quite expensive branded gear, will recommend some gear that others would find shockingly inappropriate in ultra expensive systems.  For example, he recommends reconditioned Thorens 124 turntables in systems that are well past six figures in price.  Even more shocking is that most of his demonstrations are done from a music server and that server is a Sonos device feeding very nice DACs.  When people ask about a server, he recommends that they get a Sonos from Best Buy (he doesn't even sell them). 

@fatdaddy2 

"Absolute? The point at which your significant other gets really p*ssed at your most recent purchase."

Hold on here. You're supposed to tell them????

Clearly it had nothing to do with the Indians since they were using smoke signals.  And I don't think caveman really cared.

Maybe Mozart was responsible but I think he was deaf.

Didn't Thomas Edison invent the turntable so maybe he should get all the credit.

I do not think you can assign a dollar limit to when hi-fi begins. If you did it would have to be above $2500 since you can't discern Quality music below this level.

This is a difficult question.  

I see a lot of replies stating High End doesn't have a fixed price point,that price doesn't reflect sound quality etc..
 IF THAT IS TRUE,the WHY do reviewers & MANY MANY repliers on this board,when quantifying a system or components sound,continue to specify,it sounds great "FOR IT's PRICE" or "Competes with products well above it's price point" or "punches well above it's price point"?