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

I think freedrivers figures are accurate

Until I hit $3k to $6k per component 

that’s  where I found my sweet spot

Mid fi for sure   Also I became very satisfied at that price point 

and it was all I could afford 

Tweaks came after that and now I wouldn’t touch a thing 

Good luck Willy-T

Interesting thread. I personally think high-end is an eye-of-the-beholder assessment. How many dollars does it take to reach nirvana? Probably as many opinions as there are people to form them. I'm reminded of something the late Sir Kenneth Clark (historian, author, TV presenter, and crashing bore) once said on his series "Civilisation," (the British spelling): he couldn't exactly define civilization, but he knew when he was in its presence. That's how I feel about high-end audio--I flatter myself that I can appreciate it when I hear it, but what makes it so is not easily translatable into words. Or dollars, come to that. 

As for our opinions on the subject, let's remember this astute Will Rogers quote: "If you laid all the economists end to end, they'd face all different directions."

Of two thing one or the other :

We define high fi by pricing...( i refuse this because i heard one million bucks system sounding bad)

Or we define it by the optimization learning process necessary to make any system/room able to reach his potential..

Why?

Because there is no relation between a system/room ,at any price, before and after the optimization process.. No relation at all... ( i suppose a minimal level of synergy already given between the gear pieces here)

I know for a fact that most people dont know what their system/room optimal level S.Q. is because they dont know how to optimize it...They prefer to buy than to learn...It takes times...If their budget is low they resign to an unsatisfying experience...

It is why they upgrade uselessly half the time to shift the pain for a moment ... The other half upgrading could be motivated by absence of budget constraint or synergy lackings...

it’s amazing, and a little bit sad, how the relative amount of financial resources expended on a hi-fi system is such a point of division. Everyone has their own budget representing what they are willing and able to spend on a system. If someone is able to use that budget to get something that is satisfying, well, they are in the winners circle. I’m also amazed that there are people who claim to know what motivates folks who they don’t know, can’t name, and will never meet to make certain buying decisions. I don’t know what is in someone’s mind when they buy hi-fi gear unless they tell us. I assume, and maybe it’s an incorrect assumption, that whether someone spends $5000. or $250,000 on a set of speakers, for example, they do so because with the information they have, they believe it will provide a satisfying listening experience in the room they have set up for a price they are willing to pay. How could you assume that someone you don’t know made that decision out of ignorance or arrogance? Lots of long distance Mind readers in the audiophile community. No reason to fixate on how other people spend their money. Take care of your own. 
 

You might say there are two ways to be an audiophile.

One is to study, learn, listen, search, find.

The other is to spend a lot of money.

Some folks do both.

Which one do you want to be?

I kinda wish people stopped talking about money all the time. The tenor of this pursuit should never be money.

You will notice that accomplished audiophiles rarely, if ever, mention money.