The term mid - fi seems to have fallen out of our vocabulary. In the 80s, there was definitely three classes discussed heavily: mass - fi (Aiwa, Panasonic, Sony), mid - fi (Denon, Onkyo, Sony ES), and high end (where we play). Further, within the high end, there was a distinct term - low end of the high end (Adcom, B&K, Boston Acoustics, Carver, NAD, Nakamichi, etc.).
As these terms have fallen out of fashion, I feel they have been replaced by those which describe not strata, but the game one plays in itself. By that I mean a lot of the mass - fi crowd is iPod/MP3 these days, mid - fi seems to have become part of the HT phenomena, and the high end is what you see the Audiogon/Audio Asylum crowd doing (a lot of which is sadly the manhood measurement Nrchy so wisely pointed out).
The low end of the high end is being ceded to the Chinese today. European and North American companies are heading to higher pricepoints in this shift. I am totally at a loss as to how these companies are staying in business. If there are X number of people who will buy a $2000 component, there must be some fraction of that who are able to buy a $6000 component. Still, it seems as if these companies are continuing on. I just need the mechanics of how they have kept their heads above water explained to me.
Perhaps outlets such as Audiogon, Audio Asylum, and the web in general has motivated a fair number of us to head upstream with the companies? I know personally, I have spent more on high end audio in the past six years that I have been involved with Audiogon than I did previous to that. And, I have watched a lot of us here improve our systems over this same period of time. In that regard, the manufacturers owe Audiogon a tremendous debt (as opposed to being a focus of the ire of so many of them) in being a vehicle for moving a previous purchase, and freeing up funds for the next one. But, I am digressing from the point of this thread...
Still, a lot of us have what was traditionally referred to mid - fi stuff in our systems, such as tuners, cassette decks, equalizers, and the like.
As these terms have fallen out of fashion, I feel they have been replaced by those which describe not strata, but the game one plays in itself. By that I mean a lot of the mass - fi crowd is iPod/MP3 these days, mid - fi seems to have become part of the HT phenomena, and the high end is what you see the Audiogon/Audio Asylum crowd doing (a lot of which is sadly the manhood measurement Nrchy so wisely pointed out).
The low end of the high end is being ceded to the Chinese today. European and North American companies are heading to higher pricepoints in this shift. I am totally at a loss as to how these companies are staying in business. If there are X number of people who will buy a $2000 component, there must be some fraction of that who are able to buy a $6000 component. Still, it seems as if these companies are continuing on. I just need the mechanics of how they have kept their heads above water explained to me.
Perhaps outlets such as Audiogon, Audio Asylum, and the web in general has motivated a fair number of us to head upstream with the companies? I know personally, I have spent more on high end audio in the past six years that I have been involved with Audiogon than I did previous to that. And, I have watched a lot of us here improve our systems over this same period of time. In that regard, the manufacturers owe Audiogon a tremendous debt (as opposed to being a focus of the ire of so many of them) in being a vehicle for moving a previous purchase, and freeing up funds for the next one. But, I am digressing from the point of this thread...
Still, a lot of us have what was traditionally referred to mid - fi stuff in our systems, such as tuners, cassette decks, equalizers, and the like.