Where does "MidFi" differ from "HiFi" or "LOFI"?

@kota1 

Good link.

When someone like Andrew Robinson, who has owned all kinds of high priced gear tells you that in performance level there is little to nothing extra sonically to be gained by going the extra mile (or extra $100,000+) then perhaps we ought to pay him some attention.

Robinson has been there and done it and despite describing himself as a recovering audiophile, he has lived to tell the tale.

No doubt his marriage to the lovely Kristi has been of a great help to him in getting his priorities straightened.
 

In his own words:

I have three passions: my wife, filmmaking and music.

@moonwatcher

Nice post, especially for non musicians like myself.

There never seems to be enough easy to digest information on musical frequencies. Where exactly does bass start, and what's the difference between bass at 60Hz and that at 40Hz?

To make matters worse there's also the dreaded Fletcher-Munson curves.

According to the article linked below:

"Beyond just understanding this curve, it’s necessary to pay homage to the brilliant minds behind this phenomenon; Harvey Fletcher and Milden A. Munson.

In the 1930’s, the two researchers accurately measured, produced, and published a set of curves that showcased differences in the human ear’s sensitivity to loudness in relation to frequency.

The conclusive result of these curves also demonstrated that the human ear is most sensitive to frequencies between 3kHz and 4kHz."

I would have thought it would be a little higher, but there you go. It's amazing to think this work was done almost 100 years ago.

@ronboco

Interesting thread. I’d like to see what brands everyone thinks should go into each category.

If we’re talking solely about performance then I’d say it’s a question of comparing a manufacturer’s entry products against their top of the range ones - level matched and blindfold on.

When it comes to performance even the modest NAD 3020 was able to hold its own against stuff that costed 30 times+ more.

If we’re talking about price only a few manufacturers can afford to ignore all sections of the market.

Companies like Audio Research, Harbeth, Magico, Wilson etc don’t do budget gear.

On the other hand companies like iFi, Magnepan, Polk, Rega and Q Acoustics, Wharfedale etc have somehow managed to deliver fantastic sounding products for next to nothing.

When it comes to sonics it would appear that price guarantees nothing in the audio world.