At what price is one considered an Audiophile.

I remember when I was a kid in 1975, there were tons of 'hi-fi' shops around. You could get a modest receiver, turntable, and a set of speakers for $500. Later you might add a cassette deck. And everyone was an audiophile (at least us guys lol) cuz we took sound seriously, we went to each others' houses, spun records, and talked about sound. And, if there was a young clerk in our fave 'hi-fi' store, we used to hang out there and listen to stuff we couldn't afford. 

I just checked an inflation calculator and $500 then is a bit under 3k now. And arguably you can set up a listenable system for that. Especially in these days of globalism, computer design, and the ability to buy used stuff from all over. 

A couple of years ago we bought a condo in FL and of course I need a sound system, right? But trying to keep it minimalist with no 'stuff' as in no CDs etc. So we bought a Bluestream PowerNode 2i (I run the TV thru it too), a pair of 
Klipsch RP-600Ms, and some stands. I plug in my SSD with flacs of 1800 CDs and listen to Tidal and Adagio. How's the sound? Well, still a bit boomy, the apt has tile floors. But I'm working on it (there's one definition of an audiophile, no matter what you have, you're always 'working on it').

I discovered that the speaker stands can hold sand, and we're near a beach, so when I explained to my wife the theoretical advantages of filing the stands with sand, she became an enthusiastic participant (she loves doing stuff that's free). Took us a couple of weeks to get enough sand to fill the speaker stands, but we got it done. 

When you tell someone you filled your speaker stands with sand, that makes you an audiophile when you know they think you're crazy. 

BTW that system was less than 2k, and probably sounds better than that receiver/table/speaker combo from 1975, for a third less money.

question itself is incorrect

lots of audiophiles spend next to no money--they build hifi from their parts collection, buy a circuit board, build freo schematic, etc. 

Just the fact that you are on this forum means you are either an established audiophile or interested in becoming one. The amount you spend is usually the transition point where you go from audiophile to audiophool. BTW, there is absolutely nothing wrong with either version. The majority of us, including myself, would be phools if our budget allowed it! If you love recorded music and the gear used to reproduce it, welcome to the club.

As others have said it’s about the love of music and the passion to reproduce it as best you can. Yes you can get great sound from budget gear.  But let’s face it 99.9 percent of us are males with testosterone and egos and it feels good to buy that expensive gear and show it off too.