Budget? Premium? Highend? price range.

[n4d5]

Hi

This may be a silly question to ask, however I was reading a thread of here today about ULTIMATE HIGH END.. and thought to myself at what price point does Budget end? what price print does Premium end? etc.

Or is this based on the quality of each component in the system?

Discuss

 

[Anonymous]

High-end isn't about quality. It is about extremely high price-tags for odd boutique items, that often sound very inferior.

I would class budget components as up to £500.

Mid-fi is upto around £1,500 per component and where the best sound quality is found.

 

[D.J.KRIME]

To me High End is anything priced over what a "normal" working man can realistically afford but from what I have seen and heard of some of this High End equipment the quality of the sound does not allways equate to the amount of pounds you have spent.

 

[ESP2009]

n4d5:

Hi

This may be a silly question to ask, however I was reading a thread of here today about ULTIMATE HIGH END.. and thought to myself at what price point does Budget end? what price print does Premium end? etc.

Or is this based on the quality of each component in the system?

Discuss

I think that Eddie Pound and D.J.Krime have both just shown how subjective the whole, er, subject can be!

At £500 per component, your basic set-up of amp, CD-player and speakers (not to mention interconnects) mounts up to somewhere in the region of £1500 before you even consider adding other items. For many, that is nowhere near 'budget'. Indeed, anyone who has shelled out that kind of money and is listening to what they consider to be a really good sound will probably be a tad 'miffed' to hear his/her system called 'budget'.

Maybe generally accepted guidelines should be posted in this thread, but when it comes down to it, from the individual's point of view, surely 'budget', 'mid-range', 'premium', and 'high end', etc, will always depend on purchasing power and practicality.

In fact, I had a bit of a shock when I recently purchased copies of Hi-Fi Choice and Hi-Fi News (I think those were the mags) - they scared the hell out me. Their target audience is generally way out of my league!

This could turn out to be a lively and informative (I hope) discussion topic.

 

[Anonymous]

Well on this very website if you go to the best buy section, they have just categorised it for us, the budget system comes in at a grand, the mid range comes in at 2 grand and the high-end is seven grand, i think these classifications are objective to the person-

being a student i shouldnt have payed a grand for my setup, and in many peoples world a grand is not something you just throw around easily, and as n4d5 said i wouldnt class my system as budget after paying that much money. My 685 speakers are the mid range price bracket reccomended purchace and yet my amp is the budget choice, even though at full rrp the midrange amp is only a few pounds more. i think that it is all about what you hear and how much your willing to pay

 

[John Duncan]

Yup, totally relative to how much money you've got, really...

 

[sometimesuk]

I'm a Hifi Choice subscriber, and to me the price ranges are more like this: Total System Price Range:

Budget (Excluding cheap mini type systems): £500 - £1500

Midrange: £1500 - £7000

Lower High End: £7000 - £20,000

The High End: £20,000 plus

Remmember that the law of diminishing returns kicks in big time with High End equpiment, just like cars. I would say that the £1000 per component is the best sound per pound level, after that it gets better but at a lot slower rate.

Personally I want up upgrade to the higher end, of my "Lower High End" say £17,000 system. Nice.

You also have to consider, the highend equipment does offer value for money if it means your not upgrading every two mins, I would be looking to keep the system, before upgrading for about 10 - 15 years thats only £33/week or £20/week..BARGIN and what ever second hand value the equipment may have, which will be more than what any budget equipment can hope to retain.

 

[Andrew Everard]

sometimesuk:I'm a Hifi Choice subscriber...

Despite your blatant attempt at going for the sympathy vote

, I'd say that high end is all to do with performance, and not always to do with price.

 

[Gerrardasnails]

D.J.KRIME:To me High End is anything priced over what a "normal" working man can realistically afford but from what I have seen and heard of some of this High End equipment the quality of the sound does not allways equate to the amount of pounds you have spent.

Yep, some of the high end kit is almost as much about how good it looks - don't get me wrong, if I had loads of money, I would have a superb all matching Chord Electronics set up or similar.

 

[JoelSim]

Yeah I'd have a superb all matching Arcam set up

 

[Gerrardasnails]

JoelSim:Yeah I'd have a superb all matching Arcam set up

Classic Joel!! I was waiting for you to say that.

 

[JoelSim]

Gerrardasnails:JoelSim:Yeah I'd have a superb all matching Arcam set up Classic Joel!! I was waiting for you to say that.

I wouldn't actually. I'm not that narrow minded. I'd have a really ugly set of big components, valves and grab handles, thick cables etc

 

[Craig M.]

Gerrardasnails:D.J.KRIME:To me High End is anything priced over what a "normal" working man can realistically afford but from what I have seen and heard of some of this High End equipment the quality of the sound does not allways equate to the amount of pounds you have spent.

Yep, some of the high end kit is almost as much about how good it looks - don't get me wrong, if I had loads of money, I would have a superb all matching Chord Electronics set up or similar.

yes, that chord stuff looks fantastic. if i could afford it, i'd get it just to look at.

 

[Anonymous]

Manchesto:
Well on this very website if you go to the best buy section, they have just categorised it for us, the budget system comes in at a grand, the mid range comes in at 2 grand and the high-end is seven grand, i think these classifications are objective to the person-

Partly this comes from the companies, there are blank spots in the pricing models.

Lots of amps around 300, then again about 700 and 1000 and say 12-1500. Given that a system is comprised of three items generally equally priced that means 900, 2100 3000 etc. So the increment is about 300 odd.

I bought a cheap and cheerful system in many people's eyes at about 600 quid, but it is fun to listen to at the minute. I can see its limitations eg radiohead's 15 step is not as sharp as it might be.

 

[basshead]

i think it depends what else you could buy for the money. for me spending £1500 on cdp, amp and speakers could never be 'budget' in my mind. that 1500 could pay half a years rent, a 2nd hand car, quite a nice 2nd hand motor bike, 2 months travelling in thailand. budget for me is a 99quid mini system, for others 'budget' is a 20quid mini system and spending 99quid qould be splashing out. some1 earning 100k a year would have very different views.

 

[Anonymous]

JohnDuncan:Yup, totally relative to how much money you've got, really...

None. I spent it on hifi.

 

[Big Chris]

I would agree with what others have said. Firstly it's about your perception, then it's about your budget. When I bought my amp, CD and speakers 7 years ago, it came to around £1250 (inc cabling and stands). Not a huge sum of money, and firmly in the budget camp when you're on here, but it's the most expensive hi-fi of any of my friends and family, so to them I'm a nut whose blown waay more than needed (If I heard "Arcam? Never heard of 'em" once, I heard it a hundred times! Along with "Could have got a full Technics stack for less than that"!)

Now, if I was minted, I'd probably give my stuff away to friends/family and have a very good time spending circa £10k per component...........But I'm not, so I shan't.......

 

[matthewpiano]

I am increasingly of the opinion that you can achieve a massive proportion of the performance of more expensive kit by ensuring that you have good synergy between entry level components and decent quality speakers. Add proper support and quality cabling into the equation and you can achieve a lot with a small budget.

 

[the record spot]

High end performance isn't necessarily governed by a high end price tag. By the time you get up to the five figure bracket, and certainly the six figure end of things, you're almost getting into the design statement territory as well as hi-fidelity. Form over function.

Sure, there are exceptions to that blanket statement, but the niche manufacturers churning out £100,000 speakers are pitching at a tiny market not necessarily looking for high end audio performance IMO.

My own kit below at RRP would cost about £1500 for the core components alone (£400 amp, £600 CD player, £500 minimum for the speakers); shrewd buying got me the lot for £700. Cables another £100. My record deck now out of reach of the twins adds another £400 to the bill. Cost to beat it all (and it's a pretty impressive sound) would be a hell of a lot more.

 

[SpiceWeasel]

How much of that high end price tag is taken up by the fancy box ? All those shiny bits must cost an absolute fortune. Like Mr.Spot says form over function.

 

[Alec]

JD is right, it depends what you can spend in a way. On the other hand, i wouldnt be remotely offended if someone called my gear budget, and 5-600 per item (for amp and speakers, that is) is as far as i would go, and im not there yet!

 

[idc]

Budget - Tesco, Currys, Argos, Richer Sounds.

Premium - Sevenoaks. Loud&Clear, Richer Sounds.

Highend - an ASBO has prevented me from naming or going within 100 yards of such a place.