Chi-Fi in the Time of Self-Righteous Indignation.

Political correctness and civil behavior towards others are two different things.  Hopefully people do not use political correctness as an excuse to not be civil.

Chi-fi is used as a derogatory term and should not be part of civil discourse. It is insulting to anyone of Chinese heritage, which includes mostly good and many very talented people. It’s that simple. Do not use this word unless that is your intent.

Couldn't agree more. Never heard anyone use the term French-Fi, Pol-Fi, Ger-Fi, Ital-Fi, etc. Just because it's considered common usage in some circles doesn't make it acceptable.

All the best,
Nonoise

@nonoise  You are the last person on this forum that should even begin to talk about civil discourse. The worst offender, and the most caustic personality......here to enforce "Political Correctness". I needed that laugh, thank you 😁

"Chi-Fi is CHINESE HI-FI, Hi-Fi made in CHINA. nothing more, nothing less."

Correct.

"Chi-Fi is CHINESE HI-FI, Hi-Fi made in CHINA. nothing more, nothing less."

Consistent with my rant about signal theory on the previous page here, yes. Its a label.

A phrase (or word) describing a characteristic of something, which conveys some intrinsic and valuable information.

What else can it be? And it rhymes, and that’s pretty cool.

Are most Chinese actually offended by the term "Chi-fi"? Or is this a case of bored whytes being offended on behalf of how they think other people should respond.

In any case, there is still a lot of junk and cheap knock-offs being produced in China, with little to no oversight, and it’s not unreasonable to tag it appropriately. "Chi-fi" seems appropriate, as China is uniquely capable of swamping a market with such goods. There’s also some really nice stuff being made in China, and I have no problem considering it for purchase. What do Chinese audiophiles think of "Chi-fi"? And do we need to draw the line to demarcate "Chi-fi" versus "hi-fi, made in China" - or is it already incredibly apparent (e.g. a $500 tube amp on Amazon versus Line Magnetic)? And as pointed out, a lot of true high-end gear is already a hybrid manufacture, with parts and/or processing sourced in China. That doesn't fall under the "Chi-fi" label either, IMO.