Sales terms like 'mid-fi' and 'high-end' can only refer to price and profit margins and the boutique paraphernalia that comes with it.

These terms were created by those who sell and promote equipment.

For the rest of us, it's mainly performance that counts and that has only a tenuous relationship to the above.

I first heard the term “mid-fi” in the late 70s into the mid 80s whilst haunting several Houston area audio destinations that tended toward Magneplanar/Mark Levinson/Linn/Nakamichi/Acoustat/B&W/KlipschHeritage…later Apogee/Vandersteen/Stax, et al. “Mid Fi” at that time, was used to describe products from the Pioneer/Kenwood/Sony/Sansui/Technics et al strata and there were a couple of brands that sort of inhabited a grey area between mid and hi hi, notably Denon/Marantz/Sony ES series/NAD. Just an observation peculiar to those times.

Lo-Fi is that a Fi too? Kind of like small, medium and large. One size does not fit all.

I like Lo-Fi when I'm walking the fence line or just doing nothing. It's to much work to try anything better. :-) One ear listening.

Time to Revise the Definition of Mid-Fi for Modern-Day Audiophiles

What is Hi-Fi, Mid-Fi, and Low-Fi ???
 

“Upgrade” Vs “Sidegrade” and “Hi-Fi” Vs “Mid-Fi” : Audio Dictionary Part Three And Also Some Ranting

Most people define audiophile experience  by their conventional conditioned marketing definition: price tag...

I am different and more free in my take because of experience, i define hif-Fi experience by acoustic cues and experience....