Ladies analogy lover?

A good friend and industry contact once said to me that "An audiophile loves music, a stereophile loves equipment."

I think people come at their entrance to the HiFi world along a continuum between the two poles. And to relate to another HiFi lover (HiFiphile?)it helps to know where they are coming from.

Personally, I have zero musical instrument training, nor any measurable talent, yet according to the tests, have near perfect pitch, and great ears. I am definetely motivated by being moved by the music, and hearing things in it I have never heard before, which is the underlying motivation when I buy my gear.

Some people, on the other hand, just like big shiny boxes with blinky lights on them, and expensive braided cables as big as your wrist. They like HAVING the gear as much or more than listening to the gear.

Opalchip hits the nail on the head. Whereas the music is supposed to be the end, and the gear is the means, some people reverse the two.

Krellm7, I don't think I can buy your definition completely. Being an audiophile/stereophile doesn't correlate with the with price tag of your system, but more with the lengths you have gone to in maximizing the performance of your system.

I'm a pretty budget oriented stereo guy, and my purchases are made with maximizing value as my foremost priority. Even if my means were unlimited, I suspect that I would still be a value shopper, just with a bigger price tag :) . But I put a lot of effort into dialing in the controlable variables in room setup, configuration, fine tuning, etc.