An Audiophile is a lover of Audio. The music they use is to facilitate the search for perfect sound. A lover of music is a Melomaniac.
So, if you love music but audio purity is neither your passion nor goal, then you are not an Audiophile, you are a Melomaniac.
And I am talking here about Audiophiles.No offense to anyone who misunderstood my question.
I am detecting a bit of a false dichotomy here.
Not that that is unusual. On all audio forums I visit, I seem to see this, "you are either an audiophile, or a music lover", sort of attitude among many people.
It is my melomania that lead me to being an audiophile. Music certainly comes first, but playing with the gear can also be loads of fun. I am both an audiophile, and a music lover.
For the vast majority of my listening, I don’t care about the gear. I am only listening to the music. But, there are times, maybe a few hours every couple of weeks, when all I pay attention to, is the gear; swap gear, mess with speaker placement, listen to "audiophile approved" recordings just because they sound great, not necessarily because I like the music.