How does one become an audiophile? Is it something you go to school for or does it apply to anyone who spends a lot of money on audio gear?
Audiophile is a subjective term. Some might think you need formal training or whatever, others feel a person could be called an audiophile because they spend thousands on equipment. I delved into the HiFi world for a while. Never really thought of my self as an audiophile, but I did develop an ear for sound. Once you listen to a high end audio set up for a while you start to hear more and become more critical of sound reproduction.
I have auditioned speakers that were taller than I am and cost thousands apiece. We are talking $25,000 or more. Speakers with titanium frames, electrostatic speakers, paper cones, carbon cones, metal cones, ribbon tweeters, cone tweeters, dome tweeters, the list goes on.
At what point does it really become absurd? I know guys who spent thousands on speaker cables. They also actually make little blocks to place under the speaker cables to keep them off the floor. Pieces of wood that cost 100's of dollars. The worst part is people swear they can hear a difference. Maybe they can. I cant... Does that mean I cant be an audiophile? To some the answer would be yes.
The old debate of whether to wire speakers directly to the posts or use gold plated connectors. Does bi-amping a set of speakers make a difference. What's the proper distance for speakers. Imaging, sound proofing, and the shape of your room. The list is endless.
All that, and we have not even got into debating which source is best? A $100,000 turntable vs CD, SACD, DVD audio, etc. Analog vs digital. Tubes or solid-state.
Years ago a company got caught basically putting a standard OPPO blu ray player into one of their easily recognizable metal faced frames and charged thousands more for the same $599 player. This all came about after a predominate reviewer claimed the imposter sounded better then the actual OPPO player. Was the exact same player. Debate went on for months. Some people even tired to defend the accused, claiming they made changes to the software. Some even argued the packaging was superior, or customer service was better. The bottom line is people still bought the high end copy because of the brand. Nothings changed.
So in conclusion, I have to laugh when I see Audiophile and HomePod in the same sentence. A true audiophile would not even consider a "Smart" device for any sort of critical listening. Like I have said before, I am sure the HomePod sounds great for it's intended use.