The way I would put it, hi fi is a sound reproduction system that faithfully reveals how the sound was recorded, mixed and mastered. If a sound reproduction system is not hi fi, every album played on it will sound very similar. It's as if the reproduced sounds are cut from the same cloth, regardless of which CD or LP is being played.
But to me, hi fi is not the same as a system that aims at approximating the sound of live performance. When I go to a concert hall and listen to acoustic instruments play, the sound I hear is completely different from the sound of that same performance that was recorded and played back on a hi fi system. Hi fi reproduction tends to sound more like a collage, where you can see the seams, while real live performance creates a sound that is seamless.
Don't you just hate it when you cannot detect where the post ends and a signature line begins?
Alex.
Main System
Turntable: Heavily-modified Technics SL-1210MK5G [Mike New bearing/ETP platter/Paul Hynes SR7 PSU & reg mods]. Funk Firm APM Achromat/Nagaoka GL-601 Crystal Record Weight/Isonoe feet & boots/Ortofon RS-212D/Denon DL-103GL in Denon PCL-300 headshell with Funk Firm Houdini/Kondo SL-115 pure-silver cartridge leads.
Paul Hynes MC head amp/SR5 PSU. Also modded Lentek head amp/Denon AU-310 SUT.
Other Cartridges: Nippon Columbia (NOS 1987) Denon DL-103. USA-made Shure SC35C with NOS stylus. Goldring G820 with NOS stylus. Shure M55E with NOS stylus.
CD Player: Audiocom-modified Sony X-777ES/DAS-R1 DAC.
Tape Deck: Tandberg TCD 310, fully restored and recalibrated as new, by RDE, plus upgraded with heads from the TCD-420a. Also with matching TM4 Norway microphones.
Preamps: Heavily-modified Croft Charisma-X. LDR Stereo Coffee. Power Amps: Tube Distinctions Copper Amp fitted with Tungsol KT-150s. Quad 306.
Cables & Sundries: Mark Grant HDX1 interconnects and digital coaxial cable, plus Mark Grant 6mm UP-LCOFC Van Damme speaker cable. MCRU 'Ultimate' mains leads. Lehmann clone headphone amp with vintage Koss PRO-4AAA headphones.
Tube Distinctions digital noise filter. VPI HW16.5 record cleaning machine.
Speakers: Tannoy 15MGs in Lockwood cabinets with modified crossovers. 1967 Celestion Ditton 15.
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Location: Oxford
Posts: 195
I'm Andy.
That's where it all gets rather subjective.
For me Hi-Fi has to meet all the following requirements and drops into Mid-Fi if it fails on any one of them:
1. Great rhythm
2. Great transparency
3. Well balanced
4. Doesn't do anything distracting (its only sins are of omission)
It seems to be surprisingly hard to find gear like that. I did have some Sonus Faber Electas a long time ago that were brilliant, but constantly bugged me because they weren't mirror imaged (the tweeters were offset to the left on both of them). I'll let them off though and call them hi-fi anyway.
Location: Oxford
Posts: 195
I'm Andy.
duplicated