The only speakers I've owned that women have liked are my audio physic virgo speakers. Those have decent bass. I get the opposite reaction on most of my other speakers. Joseph, Herron, and smaller Dynaudios are also fairly small and well finished.
Check into british monitors such as linn and mordant-short for speakers that you can put on bookshelves or near the wall.
A good floor standing bass speaker designed to be put right against the wall is the NHT 3.3 and 2.9. A long shot. I don't think they look that great, but they would be fairly unobtrusive if placed on either side of a big TV. Great bass. |
I had a set of Verity Fidelios home and my wife was happy with them. They sound very good to boot. The Verity Parsifals are only slightly larger. Check others threads with Verity so you see what other people think about the speaker.
Hope this helps |
My wife made me upgrade from Dunlavy IV/a to the V's. More bass and dynamics. |
I used the country of origin to sell my wife on new speakers. I now own a new pair of Reynaud speakers which are designed and manufactured in France. They look OK as well and she does enjoy the smooth HF's. I was almost set to go with more gear from France from the Kora line but switched coutries and picked up an Audion amplifier from England. My wife lived in London in the 70's and spent time in France as well. We also collect various European advertising pieces mostly from France. This has worked for me so far. Next stop will probably be one of the Scandinavian countries. |
Not knowing your wife, this is an impossible guess. I will give it a try , and suggest the small Magnaplaners. She can be told they are cloth covered room dividers or Japanese screens.....whatever appeals to her aesthetic value. Another option is the small Soundlab speakers, same description on overall appearance. I have the largest Soundlab speakers in our living room, over 7 feet tall. One of my best friends has a very beautiful wife who upon laying eyes on them the first time, ran over to them, put her hand on the face and said "these are really beautiful, I love them.....what do they do?" My wife has much greater appreciation of these speakers now. |
Just upgraded from Vandersteens (huge black things) to elegant Meadowlarks. My wife actually said she liked the new speakers (a first). Check out the lighter "ash" color. Lots of bass and easy to drive.
Hands down best finish is the Vienna Acoustics. Mozart has good (not great) bass. |
Probably the best finish-out on speakers goes to Legacy Audio. Unfortunately, the sonics don't keep up with the
cosmetics. |
My B&W P5 are well received in Cherry. The Matrix I had for a while were a little too obnoxious (they were tolerated). The Nautilus 804 and 803 look stylish in Cherry also (The 803 my next upgrade). |
If size is an issue, the Mordant-short mentioned above is a nice small speaker. B&W CDM-2 look nice too. |
diapason adamantes' are small stand-mounted speakers that are georgeous, & do a disappearing act sonically. *what* speakers,honey?!? ;~) bass output is also wery good for speakers of this size. r:e: subs, to do 'em properly for 2-channel audio, they may very-well end-up being more obtrusive than full-range floor-standers, as far as the wife is concerned. i'm saving for newform research nhb645's or r645's, which are butt-ugly, imho - the wife's too - i only hope they sound as good as reputed, so that way she won't let me get rid of 'em after the 30-day in-home trial is over! :>) |
Bose mini speakers look and sound AMAZING. I have them in every room. |
The Totem line of speakers are very sharp. My wife has no
problem with the smaller Arros in the bedroom - and they sound great! It's a good idea to stick with an integrated
in some cases just to lose a few wires. There are some nice units out there. |
fortunately, my wife has allowed me to claim our entertainment area as my own. not only did i get to decide on speakers and electronics, i even chose the rock and roll art works, designed the storage cabinets for my lp collection, and picked out all the furniture and lighting. how good is that! last year, when i sold (on audiogon) my avalon acsents that were finished in curly maple and bought eidolons in myrtle burl, she asked why i would want to get the same speakers i had in a different finish. (i did tell her the truth.... tho not the price.) anyway, my bride thinks the avalons are beautiful, as do all the other women in our extended family. as do i. |
It does rather depend on your decor and your wife, but my wife reacts favourably to the Silverline Sonatina and the Martin Logan Aerius and SL3. She also likes the Thiel 2.3 and 1.5, but I don't. |
I should have added that I don't think small book-shelf speakers is the way to go. They really need to be out into the room on metal stands and my wife has always disliked the look of metal stands. I have no idea how they sound but the small Final electrostatic hybrid looks very cute. |
You can alway go for Sonus Faber. My wife lves my Guarneri's with their funky stringed stands and perfect workmanship. Of course, she loves her TV even more and thus I am relegated to the basement. Iguess it depends on you decor. We go for Scandinavian/Italian furniture, and thus my wife also likes the looks of Martin Logan speakers, the Gallo speakers (in bright red!), and Revel Gems. Maggies didn't fo it for her. She'd even go for Avantgarde Duos in birght red if I was so inclined (they would match the oriental carpet, you see....) |
My wife like the MARTIn LOGANs better than the B&W 802s and they are all black.Said that she like the transperancy?? |
The new Audio Physic Avanti 3 is a knockout...sure to please |
She might like a pair of Merlins with a dark optional finish. ProAc speakers have a really nice finish too. |
My wife hated my Maggie 3.5R's. Her complaint was the size. Although the speakers are not deep, they do have a relatively large "face". After doing research I was prepared to accept the consequences of the trade. One Saturday we went on a speaker hunting marathon, it wasn't that bad there are only three stores that I would consider, with the last being my favorite dealer. We didn't critically listen to any speakers that day. We listened, but just to get a general idea of the sound. I was prepared to end up with a small moniter, but to my surprise she liked the black B&W 801's very much. At that time the Nautilus series was right around the corner and she also like the photo of the N802. We have been back to the store several times and she always asks about the N802, but I took the 801 III's rather than wait. After this long, boring story, my suggestion is to get her involved, make her feel as though her opinion is valuable. Use her opinion and work within her suggestions. Let her pick the color of the cabinet and the grille cloth. There are many great speakers avaliable, so you should be able to find something that does not upset her. Good Luck, Doug |
Anything that sounds good when concealed in a cabinet with the doors closed. Good luck. |
Not sure what budget you're looking at, but I've a few recommendations - B&W Nautilus 805, Nautilus 802, and Sonus Faber Concerto. They are all great at the pricepoints, and seem to score high on the femme factor. My girlfriend bought our pair of N805s, so they certainly met her approval :-) |
My wife loved the NHT2.9's I got, she thought the tight, black lines were very cool, especially in the high gloss finish. I am now getting Vienna Accoustics Mahler in Beach, which happens to match both type of wood and design style of our furniture, so those went over OK as well, although they are a bit big for her taste. She wants my B&W gone... Waaaaaaaaay gone... |
Take a look at Thiel 1.5. Small floor standing, etal. Check audioreview.com
Sound goog. Have tied in a Velodyne subwoofer for base |
After years of listening to my wife complain about my Vandersteens (as noted above - big black things), about a month ago I replaced them with Totem Arros .... incredibly small and elegant floorstander, and they don't seem to mind being placed close to the wall (another big consideration). ( I got a thumbs down on any monitor that needed to be placed on a stand .... ) Oh yeah ... they sound great too....
So far so good (but then I haven't yet broken the news about the REL sub that's going to have to join the Arros.....) |
My B&W 805's have high WAF. I matched their cherry finish with a REL Strata III in cherry, which is tolerated, if not loved. But seriously, I have gained an unexpected pride in ownership after a while. The 805's have a "Classic Modern " style, kind of like a Jean Michel Frank piece of furniture, (simple design, highest quality materials and manufacturing) I asked my wife which speakers she liked, and SHE chose the 805's first! My first and second choices were the Aeriel Model 6, and the Audio Physic Tempo respectively. Good luck. Let us know how it turns out. |
worth a peek and a listen. |
My wife hates any speaker that requires a wire attached and has to be placed away from the wall. You will have to hide the speakers completely , put them in the wall or choose something tiny and cute to satisfy this type of woman. If you are into sound you just have to take a stand. Claim a room and set up your system properly. Just don't try to claim the living room ! Since media rooms are in vogue you might also suggest that. If you don't have any "spare rooms" buy a pair of good monitors with stands and move them to your living room after the wife goes to bed. They can be kept in a hall or closet when not in use. |
My wife made me use some very expensive B&W in-wall speakers until I brought the B&W CDM-1SE minimonitors home. They sound fabulous and look great in the cherry finish. One of Sam Tellig's (Stereophile) favorite speakers. They've just been discontinued for a Nautilus version and cost $600-800 used, a steal. I recommend the Vandersteen 2W (used) or 2Wq (new) as the sub over a B&W sub. |
B&W 802 Nautilus - people either love em or hate em. Fortunately my wife loves the look and we both love the sound. |
Not to be a pain but, I try to do it the other way. I find the speakers that I like and then find a wife that will tolerate, did I mention I am still single heheheh! |
My Wife loves my B&W N-802's.. I just worry that if she ever leaves me, she'll take my speakers!! Doh! |
Any women who isn't blown away by the pure sound of any of the ProAc line probably shouldn't be the wife of an audiophile.Try one of there bookshelfs they will astonish you.These things were made for jazz. |
any avalon speaker. looks and sounds beautiful! |
My wife hated the look of my NHT 2.9's. She loves the look of my Proac 3.8's. |
Paint them to match the back wall, she'll never know their there. Sorry just having fun. The dreadful wife syndrom. Hey my wife just thought it would be a great idea to change the room around and just destroyed one year of me final finding the perfect placements. Well luckly my wife thought the aerius i were just her decor, and luckly I love the sound. Hell, there big than the last speakers she made me get ride of. Why you say? They were to big. I guess she just likes how these look. Now is it that your wife doesn't like what they look like(fit her decor) or are they really to big. What ever the case find what you like and then take her w/you to see if she can live with it. But let the dealer know that store credit is not an option and they may come back(audition first). This way you at least can figure out options(possible colors she can live with). Long as they think their picking thinks out for the decor, your good to go. You know you can't decorate, that's her job. Well for speakers in the small cat I heard the little spendor(about $700-900 w/may choices of beautiful veneers) and a $1100 passion tube amp. For get what the preamp was. But the music was sweet. Well goodluck to you fleone. Happy hunting and remember, let her THINK she's picking it out. Now what you like first and let her choose color. Have fun. |
Hey Fleone, I'd like to help ya more. But I'm still trying to figure out how I'm going to get ride of my 16x16x15 inch sub and replace it with two 27Lx16Hx16W subs without my wife noticing. And you thought you had problems. Any ideas. Good luck to ya. |
Sonus Faber Amati Homage, Bohlender-Graebener in-wall ribbons, Gradient Revolutions (can go up against wall and still sound great because of unique directional bass loading). Or better yet, get her involved in the selection process - honoring her preferences is good for the marriage, and could be a lot of fun. If she's really into this feng shui energy stuff, she might be open to the idea that beautiful music can completely change the energy in a room, in a home, and in the people who live there. |
My wife listened to B&W 805s, Linn Ninkas, and Linn AV5140s. We ended up with the 5140s -- without the grills -- even though they were the largest pair she listened to. Reasons: Paul Simon & The Matrix both sound wonderful on them; although they're big, they're pretty attractive (cherry finish)... She actually encouraged buying them, said she was trying to break my Protestant-guilt upbringing... |
I saw a post by Cornfedboy where he talked of the new Avalon speaker called the Symbol. Very nice looking speaker.
Avalonacoustics.com |
You have gotten good suggestions, I would also try: Gallo [ http://www.roundsound.com ] , the very beautiful JMlab Utopia series, (the best-looking box speaker) especially check out the micro utopia [ http://www.focal.tm.fr/gb/home/utopia/index.htm ]. Martin Logan [ http://www.martinlogan.com ] a long shot but you never know what will be aesthetically appealing. |
Try the Piega's - HelloHiFi stocks some of the line. |
My wife's and my choices dovetailed sparingly down to Linn AV5140 (midrange threadbare, but nice in cherry), Nautilus 803 (nice in dark cherry, but really incoherent in the nearfield!), and the Verity Parsifal Encores (which so overwhelmed me that it was no contest!). Never got to compare 802N, Revel, Martin Logan, Aeriel 10, due to aethetic displeasure. The Encores are sometimes described as unobtrusive and sedate, diminutive, etc. 'Tsokay with me, as their visual quietness helped assure a place in my home. We'll never part.... |
