This has been interesting, particularly how influential the '70s decade has been in the audio hobby.
For me there was no identifiable time I became an "audiophile". But it started with music, Vaughn Monroe's "Ghost Riders In The Sky" when I was 7. Growing up there was often music in the house from my parent's consoles. In junior high I got a portable (suitcase style) mono player with BSR changer and AM, when I began collecting 45s. That survived through high school when I began buying LPs, and on until half way through college when I built my first stereo system - Dynakit ST-70, PAS-3, FM-3, and Dual 1009 with Empire cartridge.
Over the years I've owned an uncounted number of components but music always came first, with an effort to simply have a system which maximized the listening experience.