How is Mid Fi defined?

...it cost less than your car.

...you wife doesn't ask why it has to cost so much and take up so much room.

...mp3's sound just fine.

...playing it has no noticeable effect on your electric bill

...you feel no need to upgrade anything.

...the speaker wires came with the equipment, and work fine.

...you wonder why these people on Audiogon argue about tubes, power cords, room treatments, sampling rates, and whether their systems are "mid" or "hi".

If you are just "getting by" or "putting up" with your crappy, low-cost $13,000 power cable then it is definitely mid-fi. Maybe low mid-fi.

HiFi is EVERYTHING reviewed in Stereophile and TAS.

"Why do you have the need to define your gear in some nebulous ranking system?" - Tvad

I honestly don't care where my equipment ranks in the Low/Mid/Hi Fi world, I'm happy with it. Being an engineer I like to understand/explain things using concrete examples because it increases the chances of people understanding the point. While I know that this is a nebulous subject with no real answer, it's interesting to see how different peoples ideas about Hi Fi work when applied. Having read several references to Mid Fi it seems reasonable to have a general understanding of what that might mean.

I'm likely Mid Fi simply by the way I purchased my equipment. I visited the store to "kill some time" and ended up being impressed with the sound of some bookshelf speakers. I listened to several speakers in that store, but really never looked anywhere else before making my final choice. My reasoning was that I couldn't imagine being happier with another speakers looks or sound so why waste the time listening to very different systems in very different rooms to try and compare apples and oranges.

I listened to speakers ranging in cost from $650 a pair to $180,000 a pair and several level in between. I knew I was happy with the ones I purchased when I could listen to the most expensive speakers and not feel like mine sounded "bad" in comparison. After visiting the store I would avoid listening to my previous speakers for a few days to let the comparison ability to wear off. Now I can visit the store and listen to the high end and come home still being happy.

If you payed way too much for the sound you are getting, congratulations- you have genuine hifi!