Returning to Mid-fi After Owning High End Gear (on purpose)

blownsi

blownsi

Super Member
Other than divorce or job loss have any of you ever purposefully returned to "regular" gear?

After spending too much time & money on chasing perfect sound I'm starting to realize that lots of the high end game is just tweaks. To some extent once you get past a certain threshold, things may sound different but not necessarily better. I'm not saying that high end isn't real because I've heard it and it can be amazing. However, these days I'm much more interested in discovering new tunes than cryo treated widgets. In all honesty part of me was much happier when all I had was gear that other's looked down their noses at. Comments?
 
I'm downsizing right now. Getting rid of lots of stuff that is considered Hi Fi but gotta admit that some of it is on the lower end of the spectrum and I notice the difference. At least with speakers. Therefore, I've got to say that I would probably not be happy with a drop down to that next level, which I guess would be upper mid fi. However, when the opportunity presents itself, I want to get ahold of some old yorx or emerson all in one unit and hook it up to a high end pair of speakers and see how I like it. Just for kicks.
 
Well today the line between High End and "regular/mid-fi" is somewhat blurry. Over the years, the cost of decent sounding systems has come way down relative to average salaries.

I think the huge change came with the introduction of low cost, decent quality subwoofers. Today with a modest priced system you can enjoy truly incredible sound. Thus as you so elequently stated the need to chase those high priced "tweaks" just isn't there.

It seems today people spend more time chasing the music just as you. Good observation!

Regards,
Jerry
 
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Well that's very different from me. Once I achieved the current level of resolution in my main rig, It has driven me to switch to buying media instead the next upgrade. I am fortunate to have a very nice vintage rig, which while not having the resolution and aural impact of the main rig is very pleasing to listen to as well. I also have a third rig in the living room which is very good but is used mostly for background listening. It would be very tough for me to give up the main rig for the vintage rig as my main as I'm sure my critical listening time would drop quite a bit.
Regards,
Jim
 
I've never had the budget for high-end gear. The advantage is that I learned a lot- mainly that while I couldn't afford those speakers, I could build my own for a fraction of the price. And they sound great with a 40 year old Kenwood receiver.
 
Although I recently was surprised at how similar a 35 year old pair of DIY monitors sounded, I think I would really miss my main system if I had to downgrade, although I'm sure I would miss my record collection much more...
 
For the past twenty years, I've owned multiple systems including one very nice one and a modest one for the garage. There's quite a gulf in performance between the two, but I still enjoy the latter and listen to it at least as much. I agree about content being the most important part. I pretty much buy whatever I enjoy and have invested in having a server based digital library so that all systems have equal access.
 
I have a couple of mid-fi set ups and they're tough to listen to knowing I have much better. Last weekend we had a bad snowstorm so I thought I'd stay inside and listen to a secondary set up. About 2 songs into that and I find myself putting on my coat and boots and headed towards my listening building.
 
blownsi said:
Other than divorce or job loss have any of you ever purposefully returned to "regular" gear?

After spending too much time & money on chasing perfect sound I'm starting to realize that lots of the high end game is just tweaks. To some extent once you get past a certain threshold, things may sound different but not necessarily better. I'm not saying that high end isn't real because I've heard it and it can be amazing. However, these days I'm much more interested in discovering new tunes than cryo treated widgets. In all honesty part of me was much happier when all I had was gear that other's looked down their noses at. Comments?
Click to expand...

Most Definitely!!!--I too spent way too many years and way too much money "chasing the dragon". I ended up with a fantastically resolving and accurate main system--far too accurate and resolving. Great recordings could bring you to tears, but unfortunately, mediocre or just plain poor recordings could also bring you to tears--and not in the good way. I have very diverse musical tastes, but the bulk of my mainstays are 60's, 70's and 80's rock/prog/alt--which are not notoriously well recorded/engineered--granted, there are "gems" in there, but a lot of the music that I really loved became virtually unlistenable, because all I could hear were the flaws--not the music.

I have said this many times before in other threads, so ultimately the only solution was to "dial it back a notch or two" so that I could enjoy the music again. My current systems are "no slouch" by any means, but you are not going to see them on the cover of "Stereophool" either. But I can hear and enjoy the music again, and that's all that matters.
 
I've never understood the concept of downgrading in order to enjoy the music more. Only a couple reasons I could think of to downgrade and most have to do with financial considerations or moving to a smaller home etc. Another reason might be hearing loss in which the SQ of an expensive setup is wasted.
 
no... I get plenty of average sound sitting in traffic listening to my car stereo. When I get home, I want the music to sound the best I can make it. I doubt I would ever return to just a regular setup if I had a choice in the matter.
 
My main system is going to stay Hi-Fi. Sure, I enjoy my other systems and the music (music most of all), but the resolution of my system makes me enjoy it more. Hearing the high resolution for me is usually the difference between simply enjoying the music and getting goosebumps (the euphoric kind) because of how realistic it sounds, how well I can pick out instruments, or hearing something I haven't heard before.

Of course, I've been lucky to have the resources to have the high resolution system and a large library of music to enjoy on it.
 
Nope, but it would be interesting to hear what you owned prior to downgrading and what your happy with now.
 
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I've never had the opportunity to to "hear" let alone "own" truly high end gear (if in fact that is what we are talking about). I do have 3 very good "mid fi" systems (which I always thought was "hi fi") until joining this forum. I guess the old saying that "ignorance is bliss" is true, so I find no need to downsize, just to find out if I can live with it (I've been living with it most of my life)
 
I think most everyone reaches a crossroads in this hobby when one realizes that a lot of recordings of our favorite music are just not recorded very well. Usually this happens when the main system is upgraded to a highly resolving performance level. Then a decision to either seek out other music that is recorded well, or replacing the old favorites with re-mastered audiophile versions. Sometimes these do not exist. An Emerson, Yorx, or similar may be appropriate in this case...
 
With today's gear, great sound doesn't have to be terribly expensive. To be sure, it's possible to spend big bucks on a system, but what do you really get for all that extra money? Maybe not too much more, once you reach the so-called point of "diminishing returns." And too, people probably have different ideas of what is expensive.

Right now, I'm listening to a system that probably cost about $15K. Then again, I could probably get the same sound with different equipment for around $5K. And I think I do, in one of my other setups. Anyway, I already have what I have. No sense worrying about it.
 
blownsi said:
Other than divorce or job loss have any of you ever purposefully returned to "regular" gear?

After spending too much time & money on chasing perfect sound I'm starting to realize that lots of the high end game is just tweaks. To some extent once you get past a certain threshold, things may sound different but not necessarily better. I'm not saying that high end isn't real because I've heard it and it can be amazing. However, these days I'm much more interested in discovering new tunes than cryo treated widgets. In all honesty part of me was much happier when all I had was gear that other's looked down their noses at. Comments?
Click to expand...

You do not need anything "cryo..." to be in high-end. Having high quality gear from well established brands (AR, Bryston, B&W, Focal....), quality cables (Mogami, Canare...), proper room treatment with acoustic absorbers (Acoustimac, ATS Acoustics...), plus high quality music material (Hi-Res PCM and DSD files, SACD and BD-A disks) - and you are there right in no-nonsense high-end world of audio.
 
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