“Audiophile” Is It Still the Right Word?

If you’ve been following this series of Sunday Thoughts articles — whether it was my minor rant on “Where Are All the Young Audiophiles?“, or the discussion about “Snobbery (which wasn’t really about snobbery)”, you’ll know I’ve been banging on about how we talk about our hobby, how we present it, and how we invite (or perhaps inadvertently repel) others into it.

This week, I want to yadder on about a word we all use, often without thinking about what it really means or (more importantly) how it’s received by those outside the hobby. That word is (cue dramatic music)… “audiophile.”

On the surface, it’s a simple enough word. The dictionary will tell you an audiophile is “a person who is enthusiastic about high-fidelity sound reproduction” …or something similar. Fair enough. It sounds harmless, even a bit posh. A badge, and everyone loves a badge.

But spend five minutes in the wild (west), whether it’s on forums, Facebook groups, or even a HiFi show, and it’s clear the word “audiophile” carries a lot of…I dunno, but it carries a lot of it. Baggage, I guess you’d say in the States.

For some, it conjures the image of a music lover with a carefully put-together system who chases not just songs, but sonic nirvana. For others, it’s something altogether less flattering: the bearded, bespectacled nerd with a squillion quids worth (there’s been huge inflation since last week’s article) of kit, a stack of test tone LPs, and a violent allergic reaction to Bluetooth speakers – to be fair, I’ve shaved my beard off.

Somewhere along the way, the word “audiophile” has become, for some people, more about the gear than the music – and by my definition, it does mean this. And I think that is correct, by definition. For me, audiophile has always meant a person who loves the kit and the media, but not necessarily the music, though you’d assume any “audiophile” would also be a musicophile and love music, but that’s not always the case. 

Musicophile sounds clumsy, yes, like something that should come with a warning, but its meaning is obvious: a lover of music.

So what are we, really? Lovers of music or lovers of gear and media?

It’s a blurred line, of course. You can’t separate music from its medium entirely, just like you can’t deny the buzz of hearing your favourite tunes played through a truly brilliant system. But I do wonder whether “audiophile” has become too focused on fidelity as a pursuit, and not enough on music as an experience. I wonder if there could be a word that united us rather than separated us. 

Let’s be honest. If you were a newcomer to the world of HiFi, would you want to call yourself an audiophile? It kind of sounds a bit, well, dodgy. Like introducing yourself to your new partner’s father as an audiophile and being told you have exactly ten seconds to get out of his house – you know the meme, guys! 

Audiophile suggests a kind of scientific obsession, a person more concerned with signal-to-noise ratios than soul. And as we’ve discussed in previous Sunday Thoughts, especially the one about snobbery/arseholery in HiFi, it can often come across as exclusive rather than inclusive.

You don’t need to spend a fortune or speak fluent audiolese to love music. But the term “audiophile” can feel like a closed club, complete with its own language, hierarchies, and unwritten rules, especially to younger people or those just beginning their journey into better sound. Add that to the arseholery I’ve discussed before and you have a recipe for keeping folk well away.

Now, I’m not campaigning to banish the term. “Audiophile” has heritage, clarity, and SEO appeal – that’s most certainly an O and not an X. But it’s worth asking: is it helping or hindering the hobby? And if we were to playfully (or seriously) consider alternatives, what could they be?

Audio Enthusiast: Removes the “-phile” stigma and feels more inclusive. Overall…BORING! 

HiFi Listener. Straightforward and does what it says on the tin. Overall…BORING!

Music Reproduction Enthusiast: Accurate, but sounds like the title of a very niche academic paper. Overall…BORING AND A BIT OF A MOUTHFUL! 

High-Fidelity Advocate: Bit of a mouthful. Overall…NOPE!

Critical Listener: Used in audiophile circles, though it’s a bit detached. Overall…YAWN!

Gear Whisperer: It’s gear, not a horse. Overall…STUPID.

Sonic Explorer: Bit science fiction, but it’s not too bad. Overall…WHO IS GOING TO SERIOUSLY CALL THEMSELVES THIS?

HiFi Hermit: A bit accusative, but perhaps partly accurate for some. Overall…NOPE!

Vinyl Vigilante: Fights for the right to hear clicks and pops. Overall…SOUNDS LIKE YOU WEAR A SKI MASK AND MAY ATTACK FOR NO REASON.

Dynamic Ranger: I quite like it because it’s clever, but seriously? Overall…NOPE!

Ultimately, what we call ourselves isn’t nearly as important as how we present ourselves, as I was trying to get across in last week’s article. If the word “audiophile” starts conversations, invites curiosity, and encourages better listening, then great, keep it. But if it risks alienating people or reinforcing stereotypes, maybe we need to temper how we use it. Or just temper how we talk about stuff in public and on socials! 

At HiFi PiG, we’ve always tried to keep things fairly down-to-earth. I get just as excited about a clever budget all-in-one as I do about an unobtanium turntable. And I believe you can love your gear without becoming consumed by it, though some of us are better than others at this (guilty of the former, M’Lud). You can care about how music sounds without forgetting why you love it.

In past Sunday Thoughts pieces, I’ve looked at inclusivity in HiFi. This piece, in many ways, ties those themes together a bit. The words we use do matter. They signal who we are, who we welcome, and what this hobby stands for.

Maybe the solution isn’t to abandon “audiophile,” but to reclaim it, to widen its meaning. To let it mean someone who loves music and wants to hear it better, no matter their budget, preferred format, or level of technical knowledge. Because when you strip everything else away, the reviews, the forums, the shows, that’s really what this is about. The pursuit of a deeper personal connection to music – surely that’s what we want from our tunes and kit? Whether you call yourself an audiophile, a musicophile, or a dynamic ranger, the goal is the same: to feel something when you press play or drop the stylus into the groove.

And maybe it’s okay to be a little tongue-in-cheek about it all. After all, if we take ourselves too seriously, we risk forgetting the joy that brought us here in the first place. Seriously, there are some folk who need surgery to remove their cranium from their fundament in this game.

Stuart Smith

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