I have a broad definition of an audiophile. To me, anyone who gives a damn about how his/her music is reproduced is an audiophile so even those who ask around about the best Home Theater In a Box or best PhP100 hedphone or computer speaker IS an audiophile to me.
Now, what makes me respect an audiophile is their ability to infict others with this passion who will in turn spread the hobby like bushfire (hey, not that kind of bush, uncles Racio & John Marco) to other people (or is "victims" more apt?).
Hyperion earned my respect as I have yet to see him turn anybody down for help with a tweak or two. When he cannot articulate why a tweak works (and damn he articulates well), he'll readily invite you to his abode to hear for yourself. The Audio Physic set-up I learned from him saved me from being forever tied to my headphones when listening at (my very small) home.
FrancisS earned my respect after I saw first hand his patience (he dug deep into his vocabulary to describe the Voigt's sound) and generosity (where's that Fisher amp now?) so that others may understand what the hell it is that tube amps, vintage at that, are all about. And let's not forget that this forum we're all reading right now comes from Francis' Wired State.
Pic A earned my respect for his meticulously figuring out my musical preferences and then picking out albums to get me started into classical music, a genre I previously considered the ultimate cure for insomia). I am now as likely to pick out Holly Cole as I am Brahms from my collection.
Rico Severino, Tata Salgado (anyone knows where he is now?) not only preserve my memories of the days I spent in Iloilo/Bacolod eating at Abuy's, Ted's LaPaz Batchoy, Bob's, Palapala, Marina, Breakthrough Villa, etc. but also patiently helped me build my first systems with very limited cash. I can still picture the look on Tata's reaction to my unbelieving expression when he sold me my first over PhP100 per meter speaker cable. I should mention Ferdi in this same breath not only for his patience but also for his true concern to build good systems for customers to the point of recommending other dealers' products!
Rene Rivo and Mang Johnny got me into tubes and now I can't get out. Together with Lito Gelano, they opened a whole new world of pre-owned stuff to this struggling audiophile.
John Marco, Ike T, Ed F, Michael sure sound like they are speaking in tongues to me when they start rattling out those B+, ohms, quarterwaves, etc. terminologies. But they've inspired me to read up on basic electronics and to accumulate tubes (like I told Racio, I'm fast becoming a 12AU7 museum).
I'll use up all of WiredState's storage capacity if I mention each and every Pinoydiophile that has shaped my tastes, knowledge, and gear/set-up. There's Assisi Audio who graciously hosted a pre-amp shootout. There's Racio who unselfishly shared his beloved G's to us who can't even dream of affording them and that Diana Krall ticket (though I'm not sure if he wasactually hitting on me that time!). There's Epoy and Joe3rp who graciously lugged around their CD players so we can hear those not available locally models. There is RaffyO who's trash pre-amp is now my PV11.
To the others that I can't write more about, you folks know what your efforts mean. Corrsty, Moz, Rajan, Audio_Tyro, Jason A/Manila, Ambel, Frank M, Edwin J, Yeo, ArnoldC, Arn L, Justjer, Noel D, etc., all of you are key reasons why there are 220 other audio lunatics today who take the time to go through and add to our ramblings on Pinoydiophiles.
Thanks to you all.