Robert
Tapehead
Time to stir a little...
Given the distinctly anti-American gear and pro-British stance of many on this forum, maybe 'audiophile' is a contraction of 'audio' and 'Anglophile'?
PS: The inverted snobbery that surfaces occasionally indicates that there is also another category - 'audiophobe', or someone who resents any and all that own either music collections or audio systems that he/she can only aspire to (or need a few more years of work and saving to be able to afford), so castigate those that have already got there - either through windfalls or by accumulation over a longer period.
Certainly I would have huge admiration for someone running big active ATCs or PMCs from a high quality source. Very expensive items but I see the owners generally as non audiophiles and would view them in a completely different light to someone spending say £50k on a pile of tweaky SET amplification, silver wiring are single driver speakers.
I don't think envy or resentment has much to do with this.