#hifiporm

One of our favourite pieces is an interview posted by Absolute Sounds, distributors for some of the world’s finest brands including Wilson Audio, Audio Research and Prima Luna. Absolute Sounds’ head honcho and trouser-dazzler, Ricardo Franassocivi, interviews Stereophile writer, vlogger and vinyl veteran, Michael Fremer.

Together they discuss trends and share opinions about the current state of the hi-fi community. One particular point that struck a chord with us is Michael’s take on the phrase “high end”. He feels the term is far too snobby and puts off music lovers who might otherwise consider investing in what he prefers to call “high performance” systems.

He compares hi-fi to the wine industry, where he suggests a similar snobbery exists and puts people off sampling and learning about different wines.

Here at The Hi-Fi Project, we couldn’t agree more. We’re on a mission to show everyone how wonderful music can be across a range of different budgets. We sneer back at hi-fi snobbery. After all, audio is subjective: what sounds ‘right’ to us won’t necessarily sound perfect to your ears. Our starting point is to get as close as possible to the sound of live performance - a pursuit we share with Ricardo - but we all have different tastes. Luckily the variety of hi-fi brands offer us a range of flavours. A great dealer should be able to guide you through options to arrive at your audio nirvana - and without a whiff of snobbery! 

Have you ever been snubbed by ‘high-end’ snobbery? Let us know what you think in the comments.

Both Michael and Ricardo also share frustration at the lack of variety of music played at hi-fi shows. Why is it that the same limited playlists are exhausted in every room?! Tell us what you’d like to hear.