Hi end or not high end

[MattSPL]

When talking car's, you have the Super car like the Nissan GT-R mentioned or upto something like a 100k ferrari.

When you move up from that, your talking Hyper car's, like the Pagani Zonda, Bugatti Veyron or any Koenigsegg.

For Hifi its difficult.
Budget should really be any component below £500

Mid priced gear would be £500-£2000

And High end £2000-£20,000

Anything above that is Ultra High end and as mentioned, there are too many possible exceptions in each price range to be fair.

 

[Anonymous]

Since this is insurance there is definitive values and as such the OP's hi fi will definitely be considered high end. The speakers alone equate to more than most people's hi fi's.

 

[Andrew Everard]

the_lhc:The width of a coin? That's not very much.

No, the whole parking meter...

 

[idc]

Hi end or not high end. For me not, as I have always been disapponited in the high end kit I have heard and have been mightily impressed with some mid and low end kit.

 

[Anonymous]

The main thing is that normal rules (economics, design, features) do not apply to high end. Some examples: build quality either extremely good (remember concrete speakers?) or in fact rather poor. Lacking useful features that all common gear has. Looks so ugly that it becomes desirable again. Or so dull that it becomes a statement. Or a selling price that is some orders of magnitude higher than the price of the components used. Or salespeople that first assess whether you are a worthy owner or not, And, finally, being able to get away with this all due to resulting sound quality.

 

[JoelSim]

I think you just furnish your insurance company with the replacement value prices and let them decide. To some, high end is anything more than an iPod.

 

[Anonymous]

Seems a logical idea ....

I must confess I am not sure why on earth they need to categorise the kit in this way anyhow......... either they insure you for X amount, or they don't ..... surely?

 

[audioaffair]

It does depend on your budget to an extent - some products over £1000 are considered high end, some consider only products over say £4000 to be high end - it all depends on your position and your budget. At the end of the day, work within your budget to get the best possible sound and if you choose wisely, you can enjoy hours of musical enjoyment.

 

[matthewpiano]

audioaffair:It does depend on your budget to an extent - some products over £1000 are considered high end, some consider only products over say £4000 to be high end - it all depends on your position and your budget. At the end of the day, work within your budget to get the best possible sound and if you choose wisely, you can enjoy hours of musical enjoyment.

What a good post.

 

[idc]

With regards to high end and insurance, any contents I have had want individual items over £1000 declared separately.

High end for head-fi is over £500. Midrange from £100 to £500 and below £100 is budget. There are a few valve headphone amps that go for thousands and a few headphones that go for over £1000. Out with that you can go mad on your source, but many use PCs now.

 

[the record spot]

Technological advance has brought the means to own better quality audio gear more readily a vailable to more and more people.

Portable music players can rival, quite easily, the kind of kit that once upon a time would have been considered "high end".

For me, "high end" used to be expensive gear, costing into the thousands, but allied to that was the sense that it brought the performance with it. Now, I can achieve the performance, or very close to it, for a fraction of the price.

Manufacturers who turn out a pair of speakers costing £50,000 (see another hifi title this month) are kidding themselves. You're into design statements and exclusivity and often a less than stellar performance by all accounts. If you can forego the statement aspect, you can achieve high end for significantly less. The world is no longer flat.

 

[drummerman]

High end is anything on a top shelf.

 

[PJPro]

Andrew Everard:
* Although of course there is only one real Supercar...

And one hyper car...

 

[biggus_1961]

ba ha ha those three guys are funny without even saying a word !

 

[JoelSim]

the record spot: Portable music players can rival, quite easily, the kind of kit that once upon a time would have been considered "high end".

?

 

[the record spot]

iPod - 192kbps or better, lossless, FLAC, WAV (whichever), good headphones and good recordings. Job done. Port it through an Airport Express into your stereo. Moreso.

 

[JoelSim]

the record spot:iPod - 192kbps or better, lossless, FLAC, WAV (whichever), good headphones and good recordings. Job done. Port it through an Airport Express into your stereo. Moreso.

I've tried that. And it isn't. Nowhere near in fact.

 

[ear]

my Ns-333 are high end. the Oli's from 2 other members are also high end.

 

[the record spot]

JoelSim:
the record spot:iPod - 192kbps or better, lossless, FLAC, WAV (whichever), good headphones and good recordings. Job done. Port it through an Airport Express into your stereo. Moreso.

I've tried that. And it isn't. Nowhere near in fact.

We can agree to disagree. But I've heard many excellent recordings - all genres - and if you're offering, by extension, to step up and claim a difference between a FLAC or WAV recording via laptop against a traditional source, be my guest. So, yes, very near and in fact, bang on.

 

[Anonymous]

JoelSim:I think you just furnish your insurance company with the replacement value prices and let them decide. To some, high end is anything more than an iPod. Replacement value for the Sugden cd, pre and power amp is £3000, speakers and cables is £2200, interconnects are £200 a pair x 2 pairs. Sugden don,t make the cd, pre and power amp anymore, if i had to replace then with what ? After speaking to broker, he thinks that it falls in the category of budget.

 

[the record spot]

Does the policy replace new for old, or similar? Check with the broker/underwriter if you can and see. It will be in your policy conditions booklet and likely be clearly identified at the outset. See also the Key Features document that came with your policy or quote too.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks TRS, the wife deals with that, she will be back on Friday, will have a word with her.

 

[mitch65]

audioaffair:It does depend on your budget to an extent - some products over £1000 are considered high end, some consider only products over say £4000 to be high end - it all depends on your position and your budget. At the end of the day, work within your budget to get the best possible sound and if you choose wisely, you can enjoy hours of musical enjoyment.

have to agree with that, I work on 'The Law of Deminishing Returns' that says £4000 is not 4 times better than £1000 so why should I pay £4000? (but then again I don't have £4000 so I would say that wouldn't I)

 

[jc.com]

mitch65:

I work on 'The Law of Deminishing Returns' that says £4000 is not 4 times better than £1000 so why should I pay £4000?

the answer to that is: if you want the improvement gained by the extra £3K, then you need to pay the extra £3K. Simples

 

[mitch65]

jc.com:mitch65:

I work on 'The Law of Deminishing Returns' that says £4000 is not 4 times better than £1000 so why should I pay £4000?

the answer to that is: if you want the improvement gained by the extra £3K, then you need to pay the extra £3K. Simples

Ahh! But where to place your extra £3k and would just £2k bring the same results?