Am I no longer allowed to consider myself an Audiophile?

It’s 2026, please don’t drive yourself into psychosis just because the ultra-mega-luxury high-end market exists. You might not even LIKE them that much in person. I’ve heard $500K - 1mil setups that I didn’t like, at all. You’ll see LOTS of show reports to this effect too. They’re not my style and not tuned for me. It doesn’t invalidate their existence, nor the rest of the audiophile market. 

So far only ultra-rich balls-out stuff I've heard that's made me go "ok yeah, I get it" are VAC amps and extravagant R2R tape decks.

@dayglow The Magico cost about 10x more and I do not think it sounds as good. However, no need to take it personally, maybe my ears are no good.

I won’t criticize or I’d be doing the same thing someone else did. Nothing wrong with displaying your equipment , I find it interesting as I’m sure others do and wish everyone would tell what they have. Personally I’ve never been a fan of Yamaha anything , don’t care for their bikes either but that is only my opinion and I’m sure many other folks have like for them. I think Elton John plays a Yamaha piano.

I have my feet firmly planted on both sides of this fence, but my heart is grounded in the music. Some of my equipment is extremely expensive (at least for me), while other elements are definitely bargain bin selections. This goes for cables too.

Regarding speakers: I seem to always be seeking speakers that sound better than what I own. While several different ones sound great, none have motivated me to make a change. For awhile I was certain Sonus Faber, Magico, B&W (have owned three sets in my 2nd system and only have the center channel remaining), Vandersteen (had one pair in the 2nd system and now gone), the Yamaha NS5000 mentioned above, and many more. My Acoustat 1+1, that I purchased for $350 over thirty years ago (I am the third owner), that were refreshed twice over the years pushing the total investment to near $500 (not a typo) are my reference speakers (supported by an active SPL Crossover and a pair of Rythmik F12SE subs). The only speakers that I would replace the Acoustat pair with are a few different TAD models. Of course, the prices are astronomical and I cannot justify the cost. My Audiogon name reflects my approach to buying almost everything, but especially audio. Thrifty Audio reflects my goal of getting the best possible for a reasonable amount.

Enjoy what you have and only upgrade if it truly makes sense to you. Being an Audiophile is more a state of mind and absolutely nothing about how much something costs.

Audiophiles are people who enjoy chasing perfection. Who enjoy the process as well as the outcome. I really enjoy extremely complex and ambiguous problems. Like those of which the goals are unclear, the means to the end are unclear, the solutions are ambiguous with multiple variables. It holds my attention. Also, I love listening to music. So, it has been my pursuit for most of my life and I have, what for me is the ultimate solution. Along the way I have had to figure out what my goals were, how components interact within  systems, how to assess equipment and separate hype from reality... etc.

You have made some good observations. I would not touch Magico with a ten foot pole. Not because they are not spectacularly good speakers, but for the reason you stated. You need an incredible set of support equipment and venue to allow them perform well. In anything less they sound terrible. 

So, if the process isn’t really fun and enjoyable... finding the perfect balance of equipment and venue is not going to happen. There are so many variables that there is virtually no chance of you accidenting upon them. So, best to adjust your goals towards easy going, relaxed components that are likely to produce good sounding music, versus a scientific instrument like the Web telescope for sound reproduction. The latter will take a lifetime of work to make the output sound great... 

So, good post, good point.