Sound System Quality Levels

This level list attempts to objectively quantify how good a sound system is. I haven't really seen something like this, so I came up with my own version for the sake of comparisons for discussions.

When analyzing a sound reproduction setup, quality from source to speakers and the listening environment should be taken into account. Each has a very significant impact on the setup. Putting good equipment in a noisy environment will not produce a good setup.

Some have reported that upgrading a piece of the setup will actually make the entire setup sound worse. This is usually due to the new piece revealing hidden flaws in the system. While this may downgrade the system's level, the problem piece(s) should be found and upgraded instead of putting the old piece back in and leaving the system in a degraded state.

The number of speakers is irrelevant for this list as it focuses on clarity, not quantity.

The same goes for output wattage. Louder setups with the same or greater distortion doesn't count as a level upgrade since clarity isn't maintained. The same goes for adding a subwoofer to shake the walls.

My definition of an audiophile is someone who loves sonic clarity and will work towards making that clarity happen. This definition does not include someone who buys an over priced system and just sets it up in the living room.

For the level list, the smaller the level number, the better the rating. Each higher level builds on the good points of the previous level.

Sound System Quality Levels
1. This is the best there is. It is so good and amazing that it will cause an Underwear Changing Event upon listening (bring diapers). Unfortunately these systems are not very commercially viable because they are so highly customized and expensive. These can be made by professionals and hard core audiophiles and are often worked on and tweaked for years. These systems are extremely rare because of the price and work that's involved with them.
2. These systems constitute the bulk of the truly good sound systems and start the low to midrange amazing level. The sound is characterized as silky smooth (practically no measurable distortion) and the world literally opens up into a stage when something decent is played. Sound systems "commercially sold" on this level are usually a level or two below this level (more hype for the rich than purity for the audiophile). A sound system on this level usually requires heavy tweaking by a professional or the very serious home brew / DIY crowds.
3. This level marks the crossing over from average consumer sound systems to good sound systems. The sound is characterized as smooth, having good depth that can be seen into, vibrant sound that comes alive, frequency accurate, hearing things that one never knew was there, hearing the studio's recording and mixing limitations, hearing and being able to separate overlapping vocals and instruments, and being able to hear the difference between lossless and lossy audio CODEC's. This type of sound system can get dangerously loud without immediately having the feeling of hurting one's ears because of the low distortion. Listening truly becomes fun with a sound system on this level. True studio monitors (headphones and speakers) are on this level and will often have active crossovers with one amplifier per driver (bi-amp'ing and tri-amp'ing). Most of the "high end" sound systems (usually sold to the gullible rich) fall into this level. Commercial mass production of system components on this level is far more practical than higher levels so components are easier to find and install. These components are prime candidates for audiophiles and DIY'ers to electronically modify into higher levels and are often popular because of that.
4. Medium level consumer systems. These are often sold as high end consumer systems on the show room floor. The sound quality is decent but not overly great. These are close to full frequency accurate but will often cut off early on the high frequencies (often because lossy audio CODEC's do that). Distortion is at reasonably low levels but not low enough to separate voices and instruments like in higher levels. Most of the better headphones and public address (PA) systems fall into this level. With some electronics know how, it is often possible to bump pieces of these systems up one level.
5. Low end consumer systems. These are the mass produced "junk" systems that are often on sale in discount and department stores. They are very common and massed produced. Most of the common "decent" headphones, PA systems, and better portable stereos fall into this level. The sound is characterized as tolerable but suffers frequency range drop outs and the beginnings of noticable distortion.
6. The "hearable and understandable but not overly great" level. Sound is characterized by noticable frequency range drop outs and distortion. These usually include portable stereos, cheap computer speakers, cheap headphones, and better TV speakers. Common PA systems are also on this level.
7. The mediocre sound level. Sound is characterized as having specific frequency ranges dropped and often having bad distortion. This includes the rumblings of common TV speakers, AM radio, and VoIP phones.
8. Telephone land lines.
9. Cell phones, speaker phones, voice mail box speakers, and drive through kiosk speakers. Anything that's understandable but takes a lot of work to do so.
10. Anything at or below this level is pathetic and not understandable.