“acceptance is the first step to recovery”
I know people who go to so many live gigs it puts me to shame. They buy CDs and merch, they take time to get to know and promote artists and they do not own a stick of Hi Fi gear. They play CDs in their modest cars.
They are, in my view Audiophiles and the very best ones at that.
In my view that makes them music lovers but not “audiophiles”. But there is no right and wrong here…
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They love great Music, they love great quality sound and they tell me when they don’t get it.
If being an audiophile means you don’t have to be a music lover… then what’s the point?
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I don’t really know. Maybe it’s just a random form of gadget infatuation, or a narrowband genre of perfectionist fetishism. Does it matter? Their point is different to your point. You both think the other is missing the point.
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Loving music and going to concerts doesn’t make you an audiophile.
You see, I think it does.
I am reminded of fishermen who just obsess about rods and reels & stuff but never really fish.
It’s a hobby, but it ain’t fishing, not real fishing…
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I think you can be a music lover and not be an audiophile. But you can’t be an audiophile and not love music.
I would contend that a great live performance is the best Hi Fi experience you can have. That doesn’t mean all live concerts fit the bill, but with a little discernment you can work it out.
Only last night I was in a living room with 25 people and we all enjoyed a sublime performance of new music not even committed to tape as yet.
That’s extreme Hi Fi with artists of this quality. You’d need to spend a lot of money on Hi Fi to get the reaction from people that was shown on the night and even then I don’t think it’s possible.
Your trying to re create the sound of a vintage fender amp and Telecaster when we had a real one along with a voice that didn’t need the PA save for a little reverb. Add in a lovely Guild acoustic for good measure…
The real deal… provenance…
People who consistently search out that kind of experience and travel along way to do so, are audiophiles by any definition
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I voted for “audiophile” but I really want a third choice: reformed audiophile.
I no longer drink the kool-aid full strength but still have lots of expensive toys from my kool-aid drinking days. I also enjoy reading some of the more audiophile centered discussions here on the Roon Community site but I don’t post negative comments since it’s not my money that they are spending. If it makes them happy, more power to them.
And yes, I am also a music lover and jazz fan.
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… musicophiles. 
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I would suggest one can think of it as a four-field. One axis is interest in music, one axis is interest in equipment. Every one of us is at our own unique point somewhere on the four-field but I don’t see why that makes any of us “right” and the others “wrong”, “better” or “worse”. Surely everybody is at the right point for them?
Music is Audio surely?
Funny how actual live musical instruments sound more like musical instruments than the best high end audio system. Don’t know why that is. 
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If audiophile is someone who invests all his income in equipment, then I am not.
If you mean someone who has spent $500 on a roon lifetime subscription, €20 a month on a TIDAL subscription, up to €200 a month on purchased music (preferably HiRes), listening to an average of 50 songs a day, etc. then I am one.
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Yes, you have a good point there, and the equipment fanatics don’t have any upper hand here. I would personally consider them less of an audiophile than a real music lover.
Just my view though.
The official definition of audiophile: a person who is enthusiastic about high-fidelity sound reproduction.
Everything else, including personal definitions or opinions (more or less related to the matter on hand), are just background noise.
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I consider myself to be a audiophile because I want the best possible musical experience! That, and the knowlegde that music can sound beter and beter by spending more money is the reaseon why i vote yes!
But… It’s all about the beauty of the music and even in a car music can lift you up and makes you happy, sad of what ever emotion as a result of music.
And the term audiophile is always a nice start for a conversation about who we are!
I’m just normal. But everyone else thinks I’m an audiophile and have an “altar” at the end of the room where I worship. So I suppose I am.
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