In the broadest sense of the term whenever "phile" is attached to a word it means "love of".
I would tend to agree with those who spoke of passion/love of the hobby of audio and all that entails when using the term.

The biggest problem with the term "audiophile" among many who use it, is that they do so in order to establish their rank or status within the hobby. Using their own standards often based on knowledge or the cost of their equipment they define themselves as "audiophiles" and others who don't meet that standard as something less

The above paragraphs are quoted from anothers post because I am not quite as articulate(big word for me and probably mispelled)as many of the posters, but it pretty much sums up my thoughts.It is the love of the music/audio gear that leads me to claim the title of audio/music enthusiest rather than audiophile.I've come a long way from that 8 track player in the 70s and have experienced many goosebumps along the way and that my fellow enthusiests is what it's all about for me.