Should people with no turntable or reel to reel be considered audiophiles?

Audiophile what does the WORD mean?

Audio, what is it?
sound, especially when recorded, transmitted, or reproduced.


Phile, what is it?
denoting fondness for a specified thing.


Now I know what a Audiophile(r) is. DO YOU?

A person who has a fondness for sound, especially, when recorded, transmitted, or reproduced.

It does NOT include or exclude, ANYTHING.

There is only one requirement, YOU, ME, Him or Her. One person!
No one can exclude you. No one can include you.

YOU and only you, can say whether you are, or are not a Audiofiler.

It's very Simple...

Regards...

Be it sight, sound, the smell, the touch.
There’s something,
Inside that we need so much,
The sight of a touch, or the scent of a sound,
Or the strength of an arquebus deep in the ground.
The wonder of flowers, to be covered, and then to burst up,
through tarmack, to the sun again,
Or to fly to the sun without burning a wing,
To lie in the meadow and hear the grass sing,
To have all these things in our memories hoard,
And to use them,
To help us,

To find...

Yes, of course.

Beating the Porsche Club metaphor a bit: If I drive my VW Bug to the meeting, will I be accepted. Yes again, if I brought beer..

Absolutely yes. I can’t afford a Porsche, can’t drive a stick because of my knees, and don’t have a sports car because it’s not practical, but it doesn’t mean I’m not a car guy with an interest in higher performance vehicles. Likewise, with audio. My system is vintage mid-fi because I have to provide for my family and pay my mortgage, but that doesn’t keep me from reading everything I can about high end equipment and dreaming of the system I would buy if I hit lotto. As it turns out, I do own a turntable, but that’s mostly due to my age and the amount of LP’s I’ve carried around with me from my youth. I enjoy listening to my vinyl, but truth be told, I mostly listen to digital music because of the variety I can access online. And yes, I do consider myself an Audiophile.

YES.

It is snobbish attitudes like this that keep our hobby from growing. We need less elitism and certainly less arrogance. We are not and should not be a chummy little club barring the door against the masses.

Given the current political environment, attitudes that created unspoken barriers to entry are what led to restricted communities, clubs, and employers.   

As as for the auto reference, 928 owners are embraced as Porschefiles, just as Fiat Dino and Lancia Stratos owners are embraced by Ferrari owners.