Do Audiophiles really like music?

Its funny that you posed this question now because its something I've been pondering for about a year.
I started out 30 years ago as a music lover and thru the years became an audiophile. I have found that now I no longer listen to the music as much as I listen to the equipment. Somewhere along the line, I don't know quite when, this happened. So much so that I now probably enjoy listening to my FM tuner and car radio more than my current system. I've often wondered how many others in this hobby have had this happen to them.
I'm almost at the point of going back to a midfi system, where I started an enjoyed "the music" a lot more.
Unfortunately, this hobby can becaome an obsession if you're not careful. There's always going to be newer and better equipment out there!! Where does it end?
At some point you have ask yourself Am I a music lover or an equipment lover? or both.

I like my music,but i love the tubes glowing on my audio gear more..

What a great thread! It's good to examine our motivations occasionally. I just have one thought to add. I love live music but I don't relate this to listening at home. The crowd noise, bad acoustics, and social interaction put live shows in a differnent category for me. What motivates my audio hobby is totally different. I have been lucky to occasionally hear gifted people play beautiful instruments in small clubs and living rooms. The sounds a grand piano, guitar, or vioin can make in these atmospheres is completely unlike any public live performance I have heard. The closest I have found is high end audio preferably with no one else around. I also love the gear, but constantly need to remind myself not to focus on it. I'm here for the music.

I first found out about Audiophile Nervosa a little over 12 years ago when my girlfriend secretly purchased a solid state Mac preamp and amp I had pointed out to her at an estate sale for $25.00 each. They were way cool and retro looking but at that price I was certain those old things did not work. Besides, the glass on the preamp was broken.
Little did I know that they would completely blow away my new Pionneer AV receiver.
They looked Cool, Retro and sounded better than my modern stuff! Perfect to play my 5,000 LPs. My collection was suddenly unexplored territory.
I may not be much of an audiophile buy it's nice to have something that looks the business and sounds decent at the same time to play my LPs.
Say, who were the first audiophiles? Were they acousticians? I remember in high school that some guys would hang out in the boys' room singing Doo Wop and getting this cool echo sound. Were they audiophiles? I have recordings of polyphony that were recorded in courtyards that give the music a neat acoustic. I've also sat on concrete benches in parks where you could sit 100 feet from your companion and merely whisper a conversation. I've experienced the same phenomenon in domed buildings. Was all of that by design and does that make those architects audiophiles?
I'm sorry...it's a quiet day here being President's Day. I better go do some work. My girlfriend is off today and I know the last thing she would do is turn on the sound system. Oh well!

I like the gear but the music takes priority, as I just sold most of my system. One of the reasons is I didn't think I was getting the value for what I paid for the system. By value I mean I had more money invested in the system than anything else (except the house) and wasn't using it enough to justify the amount of $$$. Sure, it was great when I was listening but I can't even listen to it every day.

Anyway, I downsized into a considerably less expensive system & might downsize even further. Depends on how this next round goes.

My music enjoyment is not limited to just recorded music, as I have the pleasure of running sound for a few bands. I can't tell you how fascinating it is to be able to adjust just about every aspect of the performance to the way I like it. It’s not an ego trip but full involvement with the music.

Also, by downsizing my system, now my software is worth more than the hardware. I also am going to make myself buy more music instead of gear & have already acquired about 15 CD's since the beginning of the year, which although not a huge amount, is more than I have in the recent past.

Over the years I've associated audiophilia with gear that can do a better job of reproducing the recorded medium but therein lies the danger, as has already been mentioned. One can get carried away with the ability of the gear & focus on that aspect to the exclusion of anything else. It's not simply a matter of economics but what it was that made you start listening to music in the first place.

No doubt the gear can be very nice but w/o the music, it's no more than a high performance engine sitting on an engine stand.