@snilf, to me, being an audiophile is your state of mind. It isn’t a currency threshold of your system. Interest in audio gear and seeking of related information is what drew everybody to this site so if you’re here then you belong.
Of course there are a lot of different forums to get information. When I resurrected my system in 2019 after a 15 year hiatus, I started a Facebook private hifi group to get information about gear and music. It has slowly grown to over 800 members. One of the unforeseen benefits to me has been the friendships I’ve developed with some of the people that have joined the group and YouTubers that I’ve shared their content on the group, also manufacturers and distributors.
You also have another positive thing going for you which is being a musician. Isn’t it great to not only appreciate the music and the gear but also be able to create music?! Once again, resurrecting my rig lead me to resurrecting my long lost love of playing the drums! I hadn’t played for 40 years! Another long story I won’t get into here.
The bottom line for me is: life is short, stretch to do everything your mind endeavors and enjoy the journey!
This philosophy has yielded enjoyable results for me. My main system is at a level that’s definitely high end. The 2nd system is vintage, except when I use my DAC/streamer in it. The vintage rig may be worth 1k or so. However, I enjoy and look forward to listening to it as much as the main rig.
I’m also making music again. I discovered that making music with other musicians is a passion that slightly exceeds my love of listening to my systems.
The Facebook group I created is named: HiFi and music media releases. Everyone is welcome to join, post and contribute information.