Budget, Mid, High-end systems

[admin_exported]

Just a bit confused on how to categorize a system. Can somebody please explain to me how to distinguish if a system is budget, mid-range, or high-end. What are their price ranges? Is the onkyo 606 considered mid-range and the 875 and 905 considered high-end? Thanks

 

[Anonymous]

Please...WHF staff. I know this query is easy for you to answer.

 

[Clare Newsome]

Well it is and it isn't - one man's midrange is another one's high-end and some manufacturers have 'entry-level' ranges that start in four-figure territory!

So, let's consider the core enthusiasts' market - excluding both the ultra-cheap kit in Woolworths/Argos, plus the astronomically expensive kit that (if you're lucky) one dealer in the UK might stock.

In those terms, you're talking budget kit being the kind that'll make you a sub-£1000 system (even a sub-£500 one). So, that's @£150-£300 per component for amp, player and speakers.

Mid-range will be next-step up kit - components costing £600-£1000 each perhaps, maybe more - with high-end when you're talking four-figures for each component.

But with laptop + DAC + active speakers, plus AV-based systems, now in the mix, such traditional hi-fi maths isn't the only way to go. (And that's before you've added a turntable. Or an iPod dock. Or a TV!)

It's not a precise science, as you can see. It's far more important for you to see and hear products at a range of price points and experience how YOU think they perform for the money, rather than worry about largely meaningless catagorisations.

 

[Anonymous]

I consider:

Budget: My first love, but I wouldn't go there again.

Mid-range: Where I am now and probably will always be.

Highend: What dreams are made of to most people.

If your thinking an Onkyo 875 is high end you need to extend your scale about 10 fold I'm afraid.

 

[Clare Newsome]

Octopo:
If your thinking an Onkyo 875 is high end you need to extend your scale about 10 fold I'm afraid.

That's a tad of an exageration, Octopo - five-fold, maybe: the flagship Denons, Yamahas and Pioneers of the world come in at £5K or less.

 

[Anonymous]

Clare Newsome:Octopo:
If your thinking an Onkyo 875 is high end you need to extend your scale about 10 fold I'm afraid.

That's a tad of an exageration, Octopo - five-fold, maybe: the flagship Denons, Yamahas and Pioneers of the world come in at £5K or less.

Depends how you regard a receiver. I see it as the equivalent of an integrated amplifier, by which you would still refer to a pre-amp as an amplifier and so I see processor's as the high end version of the receiver, in which case ten fold is being quite conservative.

You summed it up in your previous answer though, one man's meat is another man's poison.

 

[Anonymous]

Many thanks Claire and Octopo. So partnered correctly is it possible for some home cinema and hi-fi midrange systems perform better than some high-end systems?