At what price is one considered an Audiophile.

I think audiophile is primarily a passion and frame of mind. When you are truly passionate to get the best possible sound achievable… and people think you are crazy.

Often the test is monetary. Because the percentage you are willing to commit to your passion is a legitimate gauge. So the idea that an audiophile is someone who’s system cost more than his automobile(s). This has been true for all of my life… even when my car was a used cheap Datsun 1200 and now with a contemporary 4Runner and Lexus in the garage.

It is about passion and commitment.

On the other hand there are audiophile components. These are built to exacting requirements where component costs are unimportant… sound quality is the only objective. These tend to start around $10K to $20K. So every aspect is optimized… the best… not cheapest subcomponents are used.

So, budding audiophiles seek out off brands, used audiophile equipment and off beat techniques to get the best sound they can.

IMO cost has very little to do with being an audiophile. You can be an audiophile with your phone and a good pair of wireless earbuds, or an dongle DAC and a pair of cheap but good wired earbuds. So it really isn’t about the gear. It is about the intent of the listener to elevate their listening experience from just casual listening to one where there is an appreciation of the quality of the sound and/or the detail. As a matter of fact, if you never listened to recorded music and often attended live musical performances where the house system or performance gear was good, and you appreciated the sound and detail in the music and the performance, I would consider you an audiophile.

Haven't we been through this question several times already? Snore...

I helped a friend curate one of the best sounding systems I’ve heard in real life (ie in a home not in a show room or audio show) for $3k.  It absolutely spanks some $20k systems I’ve heard.. 

I think it’s about sitting back and being transported to the venue.. It’s possible ina very affordable way with some research and patience.

personally I’ve rejected that label when applied to me.. I take it as a pejorative term.

Today I took two old amps,a Classe Ca 100  and a old AMC 30 watt tube model into the little local shop I frequent. I wanted him to check them out and get a clean bill of health ( they’re techs too ) before I listed them for sale. We ended up listening to both my amps and the monster Mark Levinson amp he had running before I came in. Other equipment was, vintage rebuilt Luxman pre, Aurender N10 server ,a korean dac that they import and Usher speakers. We listened to all types of music changing out the amps ( Classe still sounds great ) and ultimately he ended up buying the two amps, fine by me saves the hassle of shipping heavy amps. So all in all we listened to some pretty good equipment, and when I walked out a there it was the first time out of dozens of times hanging out in his shop that I was able to say to myself “ wow my system sounds better “. It cost me a pretty good sum to able to say that , was it worth it? Oh hell ya😀!