[Mr.Radar]

I'm curious about what kind of experience the people on Head-Fi have with traditional/speaker hi-fi. Every once in a while threads/polls pop up about whether people prefer speakers or headphones and why but I don't think I've ever seen a poll on how many people have listened to a hi-fi speaker rig (I have not). So, vote!

 

[eyeteeth]

70% of my listening is through my speakers.
The package is worth about 12K (?) which is not a guarantee of being "hifi" but I've got it sounding pretty good so far. Always room for improvement

And I do listen to good gear (horns, tubes, TTs) at a shop up the road from me.

 

[breez]

And it all boils down to what is the definition of "hi-fi rig"

 

[Mr.Radar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by breez And it all boils down to what is the definition of "hi-fi rig"

Let's say that the minimum requirements for hi-fi in this poll are a pair of speakers at the level of the Paradigm Atoms with a budget amp like the Sonic Impact T-Amp and a Toshiba 3960 CDP or a decent vintage turntable as the source.

 

[bozebuttons]

I have owned many speaker systems over the past 25 years (showing my age

)Got into headphones about 15 years ago but never gave up my speaker systems. Now I mostly listen to headphones ,But I still have a killer speaker system.

 

[bLue_oNioN]

I listened to Ray's speaker setup, surely that is Hi-Fi!

 

[chadbang]

At first this question seemed odd, but I thought about it and I guess good home systems are sort of a thing of the past. It used to be if you wanted a stereo you'd go out and buy a reciever, some speakers, a tape deck, turntable or cd player. You went to any mall, and there were mainly components for sale. I'm not talking ancient history, I mean well into the 80s and 90s. Now I hardly ever see components for sale. It must be getting harder to hear a real high fi. Mostly for sale to John Q Public are home theater systems and bookshelf systems. Recently I had a heck of a time just finding a stand-alone cd player at a mall. Crazy.

 

[RYCeT]

My CD3k sounds better than my budget HT setup. I prefer to listen to speaker though but not enough money to upgrade

 

[Lisa]

Think I voted wrong.
My speaker setup is NAD C 541i -> NAD C 350 -> KEF Q1
I didn't consider this High-Fi and voted that I never listened to a hi-fi speaker setup. The best I've ever heard is mid-fi. But if someone considers my setup hi-fi than I own one and listen to it a lot.

 

[tyrion]

I have a speaker set up that in audiophile terms is at best mid-fi but by your definition is hi-fi. I think it cost me around $3600 total. I prefer speakers most of the time. There are times that I prefer my headphones even though the conditions do not necessitate that I use them.

 

[Bill Ward]

KEF 105.4s I've had for nearly 20 years. Adcom separates driving.

BW

 

[elnero]

There wasn't really a category that I felt comfortable voting in. Maybe you should have one that says.

Yes, I owned one but sold it in favor of my headphone rig.

Actually my system wasn't truly hi-fi, my speakers were but the rest of my system was more mid-fi. I just felt I couldn't afford to put the money into the electronics required to really make the speakers sing and since I discovered headphones I wasn't really "listening" to the speaker rig anymore. By selling the speakers in favor of Paradigm Atoms I was able to put some money back into my headphone setup which has eventually led to a headphone system I'm incredibly happy with at this point.

Through various friends with decent setups and brief stints working in a high end audio shop and working for a speaker manufacturer I've also had quite a bit of exposure and experience with other setups as well so saying "Yes, I've done extensive listening through [one/some] many times but do not own one." might be a bit misleading.

Edit: Like Tyrion I wouldn't really consider my system at this point hi-fi but according to your clarification of the requirements it would be.

 

[EdipisReks]

a friend of mine has a set of MartinLogan Prodigy electrostatic speakers with a Descent sub woofer and appropriate amps and sources (the whole set up ended up costing something like $35,000). even in his basement, which is really too small for the speakers, it sounds absolutely unbelievably amazing. we are both big Bjork fans, and hearing Hyperballad on that setup is a revelation.