Music lover or audiophile?

inna, I have a friend, a fellow musician/teacher, who does not listen to a system fancier than his computer.  He doesn't get why I spend the money I do on my (rather modest, frankly) system.  He says when he wants to hear music he goes to a concert.  I, on the other hand, listen to my system far more often than I go out to hear music (few artists are worth the trouble to me at this point).  So, different strokes...but my point is that you can't accurately say my friend is not a "true music lover."

Agree with @tostadosunidos 

I've been a music lover all my life and have only at a few points during that lifetime did I have access to hi-fi. I'm pretty well versed in rock and roll as well as the blues. I have a fair understanding and appreciation for classical and opera. Not sure what the criteria are for "music lover" (is there a card, secret handshake, cryptic tattoo?) but I can assure you that I am one.

And here's a dirty little thought. Most of rock and roll is made by four to five musicians, often relying on huge amounts of distortion and volume, yelling screaming and wailing, frequently making marginally engineered recordings and many of us think we need special power cables (fill in the blank for whatever you think other crazy audiophiles do) to enjoy it?

It makes far more sense to be a music lover listening through low end equipment than to claim you need room treatments, special wiring for your home or $50k speakers to be a music lover.

No. Musicians are different. They hear and perform live music every day, they don't need and can't really tolerate hi-fi, I understand that.
Besides, one should not take what I say too literally. I also meant that any music lover should want decent sound too, good enough sound not spectacular.

The definition of an audiophile is: "A person who is especially interested in high-fidelity sound reproduction."

Is that a bad thing? I think not. I agree with many of the posters who see no issue with being a music lover and an audiophile; and, they understand that one is an extension of the other. I personally find it painful to listen to an MP3 thru a cheap boombox. 

I think the real issue is with the folks who inhabit the extremes of being a music lover or an audiophile. The extreme music lover becomes an obsessive collector who has to own everything ever released by their favorite artists, including boxed sets, remasters, colored vinyl and bootlegs. I have a couple of friends afflicted with this condition and they have massive credit card debt as a result. On the other hand, the extreme audiophile tends to own a turntable that is worth more than my entire audio system, car or even my house. I guess these folks have lost sight of the "law of diminishing returns." 

Thanks for the post. Here's my criteria. If you prefer live over recordings. If you'll listen to bootlegs to get the knowledge of the band. I've given copies of shows that were great performances or shows that person was at and they wouldn't listen to them because of the sound quality. Listening to a recording for a minute and deciding that it's no good just because of the sound quality. That's when I know where their heart is. Music's the best!