An Audiophile is Anyone Who Loves Audio Regardless of Monetary Status. Agree?

@sfseay: "That is the silliest thing I have heard here in a long time."

That can only mean you haven't been here long or you haven't been paying attention.

+1 N80
In the scheme of silly statements that hardly bounces the needle off the stops......

@reubent exactly no one should tell the other they cant be. Audiophile Is public domain and not owned by any person or select elite group

It's dopey, I know, but I think I'll keep calling myself a "soundie." It seems to get to the point without the pretentious baggage that rubs so many of us the wrong way. It's also an easy way to describe our hobby to curious outsiders.  Because it's an obvious pastiche on foodie, people get it and we can move on to something else without embarrassing myself.

The point I was trying to make was that we often hear people say you don't have to spend a lot of money to get hi-fi quality sound. But that sentiment is utterly drowned out by discussions about components that cost thousands each, speakers that cost tens of thousands each cables that cost thousands and tweaks that cost thousands.

So the point is, if someone took a top down look at discussions here on Audiogon, or the items for sale for that matter, they would have to assume that it does, in fact, require a lot of money to actually experience high fidelity audio.

So we can all pat ourselves on the backs about how egalitarian we are and how in reality it takes very little money to be an audiophile.......but that sure as heck isn't what it looks like looking from the outside in.

But let's put a dollar amount on it. Buying used, what would be the least amount you think you could spend for a system that would be your primary daily listening system for 5 years? Can anyone honestly get that below $2000?

And even if you can, how do you think $2000 sounds for a used stereo to most people? Hint: It sounds like a ton of money. And probably wouldn't be enough to buy many of our own speaker cables.