What is an audiophile? Are you an audiophile?


I had been pondering this question since I have been involved in audio. Not sure what audiophile means. I went to a few fellow audio gurus get together events and although I had fun and liked the company, I felt out of place. In fact of the opinions and passion people here on Audiogon have, I do not have such strong attachments. So what is your take.... are you an audiophile? If you are, how do you know?
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@mahgister 

"Music is a therapeutic nevermind the system /room price tag or S.Q."

Yes -- vibrational therapy! 

I gotta say that emaillists really has a handle on the best sense of what being an audiophile is/ought to be. It's not the gear that matters. It's what the gear delivers.

Yes, yes I think emaillists has it right. I do agree with what he said completely. My grandfather had lots of vacuum tubes and now I have a tube amp. I NEVER imagined that listing to music through those glass bottles piped into speakers would bring me so much contentment and peace.

Why do we even need to separate the gear from the experience? One would need to get into the mind of another enthusiast to really know their motivations. This is all just a huge spankfest and it is a total waste of time. Such conversations are prompted by all sorts of reasons; none of which are related to audio.