MrReaper182 said:
So I guess only people who can spend upwards of a grand on hi-fi should only be aloud to buy hi-fi and companies should stop making products that are less than a grand. That just a stuid thing to say. Everyone has different budgets. You have a very snobbery view.
No, that's not what I said, or meant. The examples I used were a cheap bluetooth speaker and a £300 soundbar. Not a grand. The law of diminishing returns has the opposite effect less than a grand. There can be big improvements in SQ for paying just a little more. After all, much of the cost of a £100 Bluetooth speaker is the packaging, distribution, marketing etc.
It's not all about the cost. There are some cracking little systems out there for little more than the soundbar.
A hifi I used to own was a Cambridge CD player and amp with some midrange bookshelf speakers. They were cheap components but were genuinely hifi in SQ to my ears and it could comfortably outperform every soundbar I've heard up to and over a grand. Bring it up to date with a streamer of some sort and it would be a capable modern system for little comparative expense.
My gripe is that WHF doesn't help people cut through the marketing hype of non-fi products by showing what alternatives are out there for the same money that are far superior in SQ, especially when people that often post here want systems for 50% movies / 50% music. Although a £100 bluetooth speaker isn't ever going to be hifi. If your budget goes low enough there's only so much you can expect.
When people see a soundbar get a 5* review, many readers might think that it actually sounds good, but it doesn't. There needs to be a big bold warning, "this is a 5* product [font="ProximaNova-Semibold, arial, verdana, sans-serif"]
for a soundbar at that price point and may be bettered by any number of active stereo speakers or stereo amps at the same price."[/font]
[font="ProximaNova-Semibold, arial, verdana, sans-serif"]Many regulars on this forum might know that, but not some non-techy buying a mag for the first time thinking he's going to get a decent sounding product, only to be disappointed.[/font]
[font="ProximaNova-Semibold, arial, verdana, sans-serif"]Interestingly my most recent purchase, some used Ruark Talisman III's cost me around £300. I appreciate they're used, but my point is that you don't have to spend big bucks to get real hifi.[/font]