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

I honestly think that being an Audiophile is enjoying the magic of reproduced sounds in ones own private listening space.

I am not even certain music needs to be a part of the equation. 

I have a feeling there are people people out there that like listening to spoken word, great orations, poetry, even just recordings of nature or jet planes taking off. I don’t think music needs to be a part of it.

@vinny55 : You’ve kind of got all tangled up in my comments and seem to have misunderstood them all. I’m playing devils advocate here. I’m an audiophile by pure kismet. I have a decent older system that I was given.

At my cabin I routinely enjoy a nearly 40 year old 25w Toshiba receiver with a 15 year old Toshiba DVD player spinning the CDs all through a pair of Polk Audio Monitor 70s that I picked up on Craig’s list for $180....for the pair. And I enjoy listening to the music through it.

But here is the deal:

I personally would never have spent anywhere close to $4000 for a system if I was starting out fresh and chances are, even now that I’ve kind of gotten into this stuff with the system that was given to me...if it was all gone tomorrow...I’d still have to think long and hard about spending $4000 to try and replace it. And probably wouldn’t.

So all charges of elitism are misplaced. I’m just pointing out that in this and similar threads there is always this element of "oh sure, you can get great sound for a few hundred bucks"..............but in light of the majority of the conversations and recommendations that’s not what you’re going to hear in practice.

Sure, my old Panasonic record changer with round speakers is good enough.......as long as I’m enthusiastic about audio.

See....it just doesn’t ring true.

Vinny- sorry, but your system probably sounds what a $2-$4k system should sound like. Your system does not or will not compete with a $10k or higher system, let alone a $100k system. 
Instead of trying to convince us of the impossible, you should stick to what you initially asked.
I know people that love music and they love their cheaper system and I also people that spent $100k that aren’t happy. 
In his hobby, just like others, you can start off small and then upgrade over time.

vinny says:
" 4k is pennies compared to the cables and power conditioners you elitists spend"

boxer says: 
You are correct, it is pennies. No disrespect implied. 

At one time I had Rogers LS35As, DQ10s, and LaScalas in my living room powered by 300B/2A3 switchable amp, custom EL84 SE amp and a pair of modded Dyna70s. Mix and match. Maybe considered an "audiophile" then. Don't know- don't care.  All bought used for little over $2k. Just enjoyed playing with the stuff.