Am I listening to Hi-Fi ?

What are The minimum requirements as well as price for true Hi-Fi reproduction. I would think the entry $ level shouldn’t be that high nowadays.

 

Taken literally, I think headphones are the surest and cheapest route to high fidelity and accurate sound reproduction. By way of example, you can do this, all in, including source (yes, your phone DAC with Tidal is perfectly acceptable and accurate), with say an 02 amp and some hd6xx for sub 500 dollars.

Rooms/ 2.1 set-ups have too many variables to be absolutely sure of accurate sound reproduction without some technical knowhow.

 

These days two speakers and a source better than lo-res mp3s probably counts as hi-fi

 

I think it depend on you expectations. I can hear the difference between a $1000 set of speakers and $40,000 ones. It doesn't mean I'm going to spend $39,000 more.

I think you put together a decent vinyl setup for under $1000. But, at that point, unless you're getting some really good deals on used equipment, you're still going to hear the difference between gear for double the price and doubling that it's still noticeable. I think diminishing returns start hitting hard after that, meaning other than say rolling tubes to adjust tonal qualities, you are going to have to spending money a lot more money. At this point I'd personally rather spend on buying music.

 

$3K system just to start.

 

In my opinion, 44.1 khz 16 bit. (If your listening to digital files of course.)

 

So, there is no high fi. Just functional stereos or utter garbage.

 

Know there will always be something better. Hoffman’s system is worth than my entire life, and yet there’s still better and more expensive. So set a realistic expectation.

As someone who doesn’t have the funds some here have to dump on equipment I would suggest first deciding what sound you are after. Laid back and smooth? Punchy and dynamic? Etc etc.

Then research what brands are synonymous with the sound you want. Now you’ll be able to see the budget that would need to be in place to make that happen if you want those brands. I would also suggest looking at smaller companies who give great bang for the buck such as Odyssey Audio, AVA HIFI and others that aren’t on many people’s radar.

Then demo if possible.

Personally I don’t really care how Accurate my sound is, I care that it sounds good to me. I’ll surely be burned at the stake for that but so be it.

 

Hoffman's system is so expensive that I could sell my house and sleep in a box and still not afford it.

 

" Better " is the enemy of "good enough"

 

Just some of Steve Hoffman's equipment not in service is more expensive than my entire system!

 

This and a relatively flat frequency response and low distortion within that range. That is an old and basic definition, but still stands pretty firm today.
-Bill

 

Well, I have a problem with SS, so I recommend this tube gear. Yaqin MC-13S tube amplifier ($600 shipped), Yaqin MC-23B phono stage ($200 shipped). JVC QL-A5 TT. This JVC is very good, as good or better than the Technics 1200 series TT at 1/2 the price (About $200 shipped). Grado Green cartridge, way outperforms AT-125e ($125 + shipping & $7 for very light 6 gram head shell for a Grado Green cartridge). Speakers- You could get Wharfedale 225 for $500, but I would go with used Revel Performa M22s that will way outperform the Wharfedales ($800 used + shipping). Then you have to change out preamp tubes for better NOS, add $200. Without the NOS tubes & with Revel speakers you have about $1900 in the system, but it will seriously perform great Hi-Fi. There may be some SS gear that may outperform the tube system I posted, but I suspect it would cost above $10K.

 

Amen brother

 

I don't believe that price has anything to do with it. The definition of Hi-Fi or High Fidelity is faithfulness in reproduction to the original recording. That does entail a relatively wide bandwidth, flat frequency response, and low distortion. It can be delivered by a wide array of mediums. It does not mean faithfulness to the original performance, although that is a goal of many, as it can only reproduce what is on the recording. As such, a Hi-Fi system should sound bad when the recording sounds bad.

This has little to do with price, but when put into context of a specific venue and style of system, levels of playback, etc, then it can certainly vary quite a bit in terms of cost to get the basics done. Beyond the basics, the price can go way up, and way, way up from there. Basics still covered, but with details covered as well, where the lesser systems could not.

When we start talking about subjective and personal tastes for a particular sound, then we might still be in the Hi-Fi ballpark, but that is a diversion from the game itself. The objective should be simply to recreate the original recording with accuracy. Once we can do that reasonably well, we can also look at differences in the sound presentation, scale, etc, and of course into the cost of any changes.
-Bill

 

Ok, point taken. But to get good Hi-Fi sound, you likely have $5K in your system. It not that like eating a 45 day aged steak with a glass of wine vs a Big Mac at McDonalds with water for dinner?

 

I agree with this. You can get a really good system for a really reasonable price, but headphones will get you much higher up the quality chain than a 2 channel of the same price. And the room is a huge variable, and often under valued as part of the equation. Headphones resolve that major variable.
There is also an argument for when when is it hi-fi vs just stereo? At the end of the day, it's a bit of a loaded question. But I think a fair simple answer if you're on a budget and want to get the most resolving hi-fi quality possible, headphones will take your budget further the mass majority of the time.

 

Steve,
So you are ok with not able to reproduce those 20 to 50 hz tones in electronica, R&B, classicals, etc?

 

Please accept my resignation from the hi-fi club. I don't want to belong to any club that would accept people like me as a member.

 

If you're listening, and your son comes in, looks at your rig and says, "why don't you just download your music off iTunes, and you can share my earbuds"...yes, you are...

 

Being able to set the left and the right loudspeaker far enough apart from each other to get an actual soundstage is a good start

 

Bad news for me with headphones. I guess I'm out of the club.

 

Only if you let it be so.