What makes / defines an audiophile ?

Anyone who is aware of what "can be" in musical reproduction. Whether they achieve it in their own system or not.

Someone who wants an emotional response when listening to reproduced music.

When you enjoy CONSTANT thinking, reading, upgrading, listening, tweaking your system way more than SEX. And you all know it but won't admit it.

I mean more money in the music than the electronics. I think that electronics can sometimes be just about money, as in some guy who has enough cash to throw at his system, but the guys who go out and puts in the effort to buy music one cd at a time, and end up spending more on that than the electronics, these guys are really into it. Having more money in my stereo than my car does not make me as proud as if I had more money in my software than my electronics. To me that is the ultimate gauge of how much you are into music, and that is what I think being an audiophile is all about.

Simple! An audiophile is anyone who knows to connect his/her speakers in phase.