What I mean by 'Mid-Fi'
I received an email today [I think it was today] feedback on the CES 2008 Show report, such as it is at this point. I am posting it here, anonymously, because I think many people may also be curious but not want to email us [me] such a, uh, potentially inflammatory question.
“Hi, it would be interesting to hear more about the definitions you are using to describe the sound in the report section. VTL/Wilson a big mid-fi stereo!!!???
Different hearing and different opinions as to what live music sounds like?
“VTL’s room is always an oasis at shows, playing music at levels that actually match rather than trying to impress the listener with mere volume, the system meticulously set up. The same was true at CES 2008, a pair of Wilson WATT/Puppy 8s being driven by the new MB450 Series II tubed monoblocks”
Your input would be highly appreciated.”
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I use “Mid-Fi” as an abbreviation for a system that has so many problems I grow weary of describing them.
[BTW, The quote is by Robert Deutsch over on the Stereophile blog. Nice guy, doing his job. If you read what he said, he is 100% correct: the room was not played too loud, and they did pay attention to setup – at least with respect to choosing nice ancillary components.]
In this case, the notes were attenuated more quickly [dampened] than what I consider high-end [and some died out more quickly than others], the dynamics was more uneven top to bottom than what one might expect from the high-end [the upper-mids had more midi-dynamics than the rest of the frequencies, which had little to none], there was no micro-dynamics to speak of, harmonic color was almost non-existent, separation was problematic and uneven across the dynamic and frequency band more so than is standard… and I didn’t listen to check the imaging, soundstaging, air, emotion, etc.
In my mind, there is a line that separates high-fi and mid-fi – the minimum system that is high-fi is prototypically the Acoustic Zen Adagio loudspeaker being driven by a decent amp [Red Dragon, Kharma MP150, both are digital amps – approximately a $10K system plus source]. But systems with the Von Schweikert VR4, even sometimes systems built around the EPOS speakers, often, but not always, qualify in my opinion as high-end. Some of Odyssey Audio systems as well might qualify – which makes them so intriguing to me as they total around $5K.
What these systems all have is balance – they do a lot of high-end audio-like things ‘good enough’, and these things are things that go into making a system enjoyable for the long term. Big Mid-fi systems have a wide frequency range and they go loud. That’s about it.
And VTL + Wilson systems sound like this at every show. So do BAT + Wilson systems. I have no doubt that individual audiophiles can make similar systems work. At least inasmuch as they say they are happy and that they sometimes mention that they also think the show systems suck, and that their systems sound nothing like them.
anyway, thanks so much for your question – I am sure there are a lot of people who wondered the same thing.
Take care,
Mike.
