Sorry . . . you have to get divorced. |
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Goto. Getawife.com Plenty to Choode From |
From what i can tell from your message, your only alternative to a divorce is some type of tiny bookshelf speaker that you can install someplace that is convenient for her to try and "hide". As such, you might as well buy some Bose or other "generic" cubes as you'll never be able to achieve audiophile quality like that. Your other alternative might be to check into some Gallo "baseballs" and see what you think of them. I'm sure that they are miles ahead of Bose, but i still wouldn't expect much out of little speaker like that. Sean
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Get yourself a girlfriend who likes music and equipment and leave you stuff over at her house!!! |
Lets see...you cant have speakers on stands, you cant have floor standers and you dont want in wall... You have three choices the way I see it 1. Divorce 2. headphones or 3. hang some speakers from the ceiling.
P.S. I'd consider #1 |
Check out the new Meadowlark monitor that is front ported and designed to work on a shelf or in a cabinet. |
I've been married to the same woman for 20 years. The other day I told her I was going to sell a piece of Audio gear ($3,000 preamp). She talked me out of it. I couldn't believe what she was saying and her aguments for keeping it. She has come a long way since the day we almost divorced over my first SAE amps. We still go on occassional dates to Audio stores. Hang in there. |
Show her a pair of Vienna acoustics Bach speakers.
Tim |
Start leaving your dirty underwear in different rooms and in surprising places around the house.
When she's had enough, tell her you are more than willing to negotiate a deal.
I've not tried this because my wife knows better, but I understand this strategy has worked for others.
Keep us posted. |
Get some headphones and don't let your spouse use them! Two can play that bitchy game thing. Good luck. |
I'm currently researching some smaller monitor speakers with either a front port or no port at all. My biggest problem is that there aren't many audio dealers in my area other than Best Buy or Circuit City and they have mostly crap. I don't have an opportunity to listen to a lot of the speakers that are highly recommended. Any suggestions? |
buy some some good headphones.
good sound, and you only see her mouth move. |
In situations like this I lead the woman over to the washer and dryer and say, "Honey, can we get rid of these horrible, big, ugly, expensive, white metal boxes?.....They not only use lots electricity and water, they SOUND bad."
Then go to the living room and gesture toward the "good" wall,
"Now if there were small wooden boxes over there, not nearly so big, not any more expensive, and made of beautifully finished wood instead of ugly white steel, PLUS SOUND GREAT, wouldn't that be a better investment?"
If she says clean clothes are a necessity, you remind her there is such a thing as a washeteria.
If she says the washeteria is inconvenient, you remind her that in the current situation, listening to music is inconvenient.
Both parties are entitled to a home filled with whatever "appliances" necessary to make life worthwhile.
If your in a really good mood, go for BOTH the washer and dryer AND the stereo speakers! |
Dude, you gotta get rid of that woman. I got one, I'm keeeping her too! Infinity Betas in the livingroom, wires all over the floor, preamp and cd player on the coffee table. Did I mention the dedicated 2 channel rig in what was once the master bedroom? An audiophile wife can be found you just got to search. You also have to put up with Sarah Brightman or something she likes too, but it's a small price to pay.
beemer :) |
a) Find a room that is not the main room of the house that everyone can agree is 'yours' or 'the music room'.
-else -
b) Dunno about 1K, but if you can go a little higher, think about speakers with furniture quality finishes (Avalon, Amati) that will appeal aesthetically. Then work on layouts that hide the cables & gear. |
Find a console (coffin style) stereo from the sixties. These are retro chic right now. Magnavox was a leading brand but was just mass market quality. The best was from H. H. Scott with their components built into a high class piece of furniture. I'm sure these were rare. Now that I think of it I would buy a scott for just the furniture if I could find one. You could always gut the coffin and put your own goodies in there.
Good Luck!
Stephen |
My advice is to buy some big plywood Klipsch corner horns. That should take care of your problem!
And once the problem is gone you can sell those crappy sounding ugly as sin speakers and buy anything you like! |
I think the problem began a long time ago when we first started living together. I had a pair of Klipsch Forte's. You know the one's that looked like small refrigerators. She would mildly complain about them. We got married and within a few months my brother had a nice pair of Klipsch Forte's - free of charge. Now she's got me by the balls.
If I wasn't such a nice guy. Does anyone have any input on the Spendor S3/5's? Can they do the job?
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You're gonna have to get a wall unit entertainment center. A big, expensive piece of furniture that most wives are willing to accept. Get one where you can put the TV in the middle section at waist height, with two other sections on either side of the TV for speakers. You might need to get a design that has cabinet doors to cover up the speakers and TV when not in use -- depends on her tastes. I recommend speakers with good upper bass through treble for the wings, like the B&W CDM 1NT for about $900 a pair. It's a 2-way design with a front firing port. It would be real hard to get decent bass without spending a lot more money and getting pretty large in size. When you fill in your home theater, I recommend you buy a subwoofer. You could get a front firing subwoofer of relatively small size, e.g., a Sunfire True Sub Architectural, and hide it along side the wall unit or even put it in a cabinet cavity under one of the speakers. Until then, the B&W's will do a fairly good job on two channel music. Good luck; we would all like to have our cake and eat it too. |
Gallo Micros will work, use the small O-rings and set them on top of something. The powered subwoofer is great and you can purchase now or later the center one and rear ones that would wall mount. Actually, she might allow the flower stands that are optional. |
I took my girlfriend to the local B&W dealer here in louisville,we just looked around a bit, then she found one of the theater rooms, i told her take a seat,i'll be back in a few, 20 min later when I returned ,her first words where, sound does matter,i thought all you needed was just a big screen.she had been reading consumer reports about tv's etc.so she is now a convert,so try taking yuor wife to one off the local highend stores,it worked for me,good luck.i am still trying to finish my system another year I think,need money. |
The divorce thing isn't necessarily as glamorous as it's made out to be. I hope I never go through it again.
There's an excellent little speaker that just might save your marriage. It's virtually unheard of because the designer is also a professional reviewer, and it would reflect negatively on him as a reviewer if he were to try to promote his own product (even though he avoids doing loudspeaker reviews). The designer is none other than Dick Olsher, and the speaker is the $675 a pair Samadhi Magic Cube. You can read about it at http://www.blackdahlia.com.
How about this blurb on the Magic Cube from the Samadi page, accessed from the BlackDahlia site:
"The perfect wife acceptance factor! Visual design is by an actual wife."
An ACTUAL WIFE, dude! What more could you ask for??
The driver layout is of the Magic Cube unorthodox and brilliant. The result is a correctly energized reverberant field, which is a significant contributor to natural timbre. The Magic Cube is very nicely balanced and is relaxing and enjoyable long-term, which is quite rare in this price range. This speaker was voiced using professional singer/actual wife Lesley Olsher as a live reference, so it excels on vocals.
I don't sell these speakers, but I do sell a nice little integrated amp you might consider driving them with. It's the little 30-watt JoLida hybrid, retail $350. Of course you might want to get something else, but with the JoLida you could quietly roll the input tubes and upgrade without ever being noticed.
If I had the constraints you do, this combo would be my choice.
Best of luck to you!
Duke |
B&W LM-1 (Leisure Monitor) can screw right in to a wall. |
This is a no brainer, keep your wife. She probably wants her things done and if you accomplish her tasks first, she'll probably compromise on yours. |
Another angle. Take her speaker shopping. Tell her we need good sound and good looks. She may become hooked on a great sounding and handsome speaker that is afordable...and she'll have helped pick it out...no, don't let her near the bose display....good luck |
Does your wife enjoy music? Who are her favorite artists? If the answer to the first question is "no" then you know what to do. If it is "yes" then get what you want. Get all of her favorite music and let hear listen to it for a week or two. She will want the audio equipment as much (if not more than) you do. It worked for me. My wife and I now enjoy my(our)system together and often. She has her set of music and I have mine. It works out pretty well. We now disagree on what to listen to but not on the equipment. She hears better than I do and now loves the big floor standers. |
Do what I did: Buy a pair of Cabasse Atlantis speakers. They are 8 ft. tall and look like Star Wars jet fighters with huge eyeballs protruding from the center. After having those in the family room, ANY other speaker has seemed small in comparison. Now, my wife doesn't flinch over Magnepans and Soundlabs! |
Seriously, try a pair of Paradigm Reference monitors.
Small speakers for about $550 shouldn't sound this good. |
I guess the Gallo Micro's may fit the bill here or just go with the Bose am5 's in white of course - I think it was designed by a group of wives. |
Harvey Rosenberg(aka Dr. Gizmo) says that the answer is to find something that she likes - he uses high heel shoes as an example - and buy some for her. She will then focus on her new objet d'amour for awhile. Monitor this time period and log it for reference. The next time you buy her some shoes, slip the new speakers into the living room while she is distracted. As long as she remains in her state of shoe ecstacy, she won't notice. When the enthrallment begins to wear off, buy her some more shoes. This way, her ability to notice the new speakers can be pemanently removed. |
A couple of years ago somebody introduced some speakers that were basically planars with a small cone speaker that were covered with famous art and were made to be hung on walls. They were claimed to sound pretty decent, but that was just by the show reports and new products sections of magazines so who knows. Anyway, probably the highest WAF speaker I've ever seen. I'm sure your divorce alternative is tongue in cheek, but unless you're a kept man, you should adopt a slightly more demanding attitude. That's a long list of "can'ts" - there has to be some reasonable compromise somewhere that you can have a decent setup without so many constraints. Maybe you have other priorities where you put your foot down and just can't have everything, but if music is anywhere near the top of your priority list, you need to tighten your belt and set some better ground rules for the "negotiations". -Kirk |
I heard the Vienna Acoustics "Waltz" and they come in a variety of wood finishes. They hang on the wall and sounded pretty good. Perhaps you can sneek in a small sub woofer such as a REL Strata or Storm and you would be set. |
I've heard that women don't respect men who don't keep their word and have terms. My guess is that she was testing you the whole time when you lived together and when you married and gave your speakers to you brother you failed the test. I'd call up my brother and explain to him that what your marriage needs is your speakers back where they belong along with your balls.
I wouldn't worry about what the speakers look like instead of how your being consistant and reliable as a husband.
Oh, about the question... I don't know much about speakers either.
Bill E. |
I don't need a marriage counselor, just some advice on speakers. I've seen excellent reviews on compact speakers such as Spendor S3/5's and Soliloquy Sat 5's. What I need is confirmation and some suggestions on other speakers in that category. What I intend to do is purchase a couple pair along with a sub and center speaker. |
Rent an apartment on the side, use the biggest best room for any system that makes you happy and while your at it, mise as well find a girlfriend on the side to enjoy listening with. Then read Albert Porter's reply and do I need tell ya more |
How are you planning on using a speaker like the Spendors? Your original post suggested that you couldn't put them on stands and seemed to imply that you had very little flexibility on placement. They're great little speakers, from all reports, but I can't imagine they're going to sound good stuck on a bookshelf. They're hard to find and I don't know that they'd sound good for HT, but the Linn Kan Mk II's are designed to at least be put close to a wall if not actually on a bookshelf. They're very musical and very small. They usually run about $450-500 a pair used, so you could get 4 for your target price. We're not giving you marriage advice, we're giving you audio-nut advice. It's a lot like golf-nut advice - if you want to pursue it with any real vigor, you're going to have to put up with a lot of potential friction with your significant other. Might as well brace yourself for it, but don't let it ruin your fun. -Kirk |
I'm a golf professional so I can relate to the golf-nut stuff and I'm only in the beginning stage of being an audio-nut. I will put speakers on stands if it comes down to it but I'm at least trying to compromise by going to smaller speakers. Can you imagine what my wife will be going through being married to a golf and audio-nut. She may divorce me. |
Your last name wouldn't happen to be Tolles, would it? |
No, I'm not a tour pro, I'm a club pro. |
What a shame - I thought we had a celebrity in our midst. Tommy Tolles has such a nice game! (I'm sure you do too - I'm a double bogey guy myself). I wonder what TT listens to?
Seriously, after you've sorted out your fronts, try a pair of Mission 77ds for rears (white, of course). Wifes love these because they are triangular in shape and blend right into the ceiling when mounted in the corners. They are dipoles and produce amazing "I'm right there" surround effects for HT. You can pick up a new pair on Ebay or the dreaded Ubid for well under $200 which makes them a steal! |
Did I say the Mission 77ds were dipole? Meant to say bipole! Tom(ay)to, Tom(ah)to... There is a pair up on Ebay right now (not mine) if you want to take a look - but you have to hear them for yourself. Very efficient speakers. |
Don't ask me I got a devorce. |
The Linn speakers are an excellent suggestion and are in your budget range. As mentioned, many of those Linns such as the Tukan were designed to be placed against the rear wall. Stereophile had a great review on the Tukan a few years back. In my case, I took my wife to a Hi-Fi show so she could see quite a few different manufacturers lines. Budget wise I wanted Martin Logan SL-3's at the time....they were NOT ACCEPTABLE visually but when she saw the Avalons.......I blew my budget but I got the Avalons I always wanted and I can put them anywhere in the living room I like!! Good luck with your dilema ! |
I'm a golf nut (9 handicap and don't care to work day in and day out to get any lower), a hockey nut, and an audio nut. Anyway, you're jammed so I'd go along with the B&W LM1's or the Gallo speakers. Wall mounted, small, unobtrusive. I own both, the LM1's reside in my bedroom and bathroom, the Gallo's in my HT system. Run your wires through the walls/ceilings or along the baseboards. They come in designer colors and are damned small. Both would benefit from a subwoofer, the Gallo MPS150 subwoofer is small and does a nice job (you can tuck it under a chair or couch easily). I'd go for a pair of LM1's and a MPS150 and once she chills out you can use'em for a dedicated HT while you roll in big-ass planars for your two channel rig. |
TommyT - the Spendor S3/5s would work great. Small and beautifully finished. Sound their best on stands but can be used in a bookcase without killing the sound. Very natural; terrific mid-range. Lack low base if that's important, but given your constraints compromise is necessary.
Come in a number of finishes - why not let the wife pick the one she likes, might help.
P.S. There's a pair in rosewood being offered in the classifed for $699 obo. |
Get what you want and say, "Get over it." She will.
I would have serious questions about a relationship in which one of the parties could not understand or would not accede to something as important as music. This isn't a matter of tolerating the disease of audiophilia. It is about honoring and respecting things that are important in each other's lives. Any time I hear someone say (speaking of SAF), "I can't have" or "she won't let me have" I start to worry. Healthy relationships are grounded in "I would prefer" or "have you thought about?", not in "you can't have!"
In the days before your prelate discovered the ineffable joys of celibacy, he was married to a remarkable woman of many virtues. She had, alas, a tendency to say, "You can't have." Unfortuantely for her, I was just as adamant and built my sound system, anyway. I made sure I was as responsive to her interests (horses) as she was to mine. We had some rounders for sure as both of us struggled for dominance and control but in the end I learned to love horses and she learned to love good audio.
IF you are behaving reasonably in the matter of money, etc. then stand your ground and tell her, gently and supportively, that she'll just have to adjust. And then give back to her the same kind of support for the things important in her life.
Will |
Buy the cheapest. She can keep them as part of the divorce settlement. |
With all due respect, grow a spine. |
This thread is very sad! This is like going on "The Man Show" and asking Adam Carolla and Jimmy Kimmel. |
