Am I right for this forum?

There is not on one side : music lovers...

And on the other side : audiophiles...

I know because i always were an audiophile but i did not have the money to become one all along my life...( i erroneously thought all my life that it takes money to be one really ) 😁

Then i retired...😊 With 7 day on 7 for my hobby...

Now i begun to learn HOW to create an audiophile system starting with basic synergetical pieces of gear from the ground up...

Then i had to read about acoustics, make experiments and create my own tweaks too... I called this journey : embeddings devices control of the mechanical,electrical and especially acoustical working dimensions...

Then to keep it short:

There is only ignorant audiophile who look at price tags for upgrades and  learning and learned audiophiles  who create their own audiophile realm with acoustics experiments .. We are all music lovers... (Some are more experienced with music of all the earth cultures as i am thats all )

( acoustics with and (s) is a noun not an adjective then do not refer to room acoustic only i modify my speakers with acoustics knowledge not merely with room acoustic experience )

Cost is not a great indicator of sound quality, and sound quality is highly subjective. It sounds like you’ve been around plenty of true high end sound, and know what music sounds like, so you have some advantages that many don’t even realize they don’t possess! Technology continues to improve, but there’s still a great deal of "art" involved with putting together a system....whether we can prove it not, or have a well paid review to back an opinion. My system isn’t modern, fancy, or trendy at all, and I often feel less than worthy in many discussions, but I know it sounds extremely good. (at least by my own standards)

The internet poses some interesting personality dynamics that may or may not correlate in real life. No worries if your online (or real life) personality simply puts you in the category of being quiet, patient, or an unobtrusive human being who’s not used to tooting his own horn publicly. Many folks may not type particularly well, and/or grew up in a much less socially confrontational environment. Many could very well be extremely gifted audio enthusiasts with outstanding systems that have been built over many years, but are simply not comfortable arguing a point online with people that can’t be seen, hear, or read personally, and have no idea of what their audio experience or abilities are. Some people are just more aggressive online, and lean towards being cyber bullies IMHO, especially about audio.

Yes, you belong!

If you love music and you appreciate the equipment used to reproduce it in your home, it's cost has nothing to do with whether you can stake your claim to being an audiophile. 

Your relative investment is an indicator of dedication, but not the only one. I have known people that do not have large incomes but are fanatical about sound reproduction and dedicate enormous effort to achieving the best possible sound. They are as well.

On the other hand I know quite a few people that have huge investments in audio equipment and yet are definitely not audiophiles. It is a pursuit… something to do. Something to show off, to help them set them apart. Not a driving force and major source of joy. For most audiophiles, no one but family and close friends even know they are. Typically it is a solitary pursuit. But it has become “popular”.

But then I remember the term has always been controversial. I would be occasionally asked what other interests I had and I would respond I have an audio problem… the response would be oh, my husband or brother is an audiophile also… he has a Bose system. My blood pressure would rise and I had to contain anger and frustration… and not blurt out “that is not even remotely an audiophile system, that is a marketing scam”… and say, that’s nice.

On the other hand, English is a living language, maybe the definition is now much more all encompassing.

Should you be on Audiogon. If you enjoy it.

Thanks to so many for so much encouragement—even to chrshanl37 for comparing my post to Stewart Smalley (ouch! but point taken). The general, and reasonable, consensus seems to be that "music lover" and "audiophile" are not synonymous, but not mutually exclusive either. Of course, that's true. And, despite the fact that I don't suffer from the kind of intervention-demanding fanaticism described by ghdprentice, I do consider myself an audiophile. You probably know the snide definition attributed to Allan Parsons: "Audiophiles don't use their equipment to listen to your music. Audiophiles use your music to listen to their equipment." Like the comment about Stewart Smalley, that stings a bit—because I often enough choose what I want to hear for the recording quality rather than the performance quality or even the music's own intrinsic quality. I mean, I do have recordings that sound great on my system but are insipid musically, and I do periodically listen to them. That is to say, I find it thrilling that a technology can reproduce something like a symphony orchestra in my living room with astonishingly convincing realism. Never mind the music; that fact is compelling in its own right.

Finally, though, the music is what matters. But musical taste is very personal, and not frankly all that easy to share even with close friends. This forum, it seems to me, rarely is interesting when the music itself is at issue. And that makes sense, when you think about it. We have very different backgrounds, different levels of musical knowledge, and different tastes in music—but we all love good sound quality. Of course, even there, taste counts for a lot. But still, more expensive equipment does, usually, sound better, "system synergy" is a thing that needs to be learned, and inexpensive tweaks can sometimes bring very satisfying results. That's what I come to this forum for more than anything else: advice on ways I can improve my sound quality without spending a lot. 

Anyway, thanks for the (mostly) friendly responses here. In case anyone's interested, I'm going to make my "virtual system" public now.