I have two solid prosumer systems at home with many different size speakers trying to cover the spectrum but the more i dig into the hobby the more i feel like I actually have no idea what im doing. I really notice a huge difference when i play through my computer using an audio enhancing equalizer (boom 3D). Definitely night and day difference from just raw dogging the receiver and speakers but im sure itll never actually qualify as hifi. I notice some places around the room sound incredible but moving around the sound changes and im very aware of the physics that make this happen. How else would true hifi feel different? I can play pretty loud music with no destination and my woofers handle the bass well feeling the notes not just a rumble like some other systems ive heard. Anything i try to play without the equalizer becomes super flat and i lose alot of the mids and highs is there gear that could replace this i could add to my receiver.
“Hifi” can either mean high fidelity to the original recording OR in the tradition of 20th century stereo equipment. I have a tube amp and vintage Klipsch heritage speakers. It’s in the style of old fashioned American “Hifi” systems but it’s not actually particularly faithful to the original recording. I will call my system a Hifi as a noun. Often when people use Hifi as an adjective it might mean an objectively accurate flat sound. But it also might mean some sort of audiophile sweetness that is not strictly an accurate reproduction of the audio signal.
People may argue which is the correct way to use the term. I can’t really weigh in. I’m just saying I’ve heard or read it all these ways. If you use the term you have to understand it’s a bit ambiguous.