Tommyt:
I am with Asa on this one. Who wears the pants in the family, you or her??? I'm not trying to tell you what to do and so forth. All I am making here is a suggestion. And that suggestion would be to go ahead and divorce the wifey and then get yourself a girlfriend who is as much into audio equipment and music as you are. If you do that, believe brother........... you won't be sorry.
Hang tough man, you'll be alright.
--Charles-- |
as an alternative to micro-monitors, there are some very attractive floorstanders that would probably pass your WAF test, e.g. viennas, verity audio, and especially avalons (sue me, i'm biased.)
not-a-Tim |
Tommyt, you have to draw a line in the sand. You said it yourself, you're trying to be to nice. When you give in on this issue, there will be another that you will need to cave in on next. Women are like children, always testing boundaries. Whether the woman or the man rules the roost, is up to the participants.
I'm not a marriage counselor, obviously, but if I were a real audiophile (which I am) and my wife told me no speaker stands or floorstanding models, I'd have to stuff her port.
I gave up drugs, alcohol, smoking, and sex for my wife, I'll be d@mned if I give up the only thing I have left that gives me pleasure.
My recommendation would be divorce, cut your losses before they get bigger. Hopefully there are no children involved yet. |
Believe me guys I will get what I want. The main reason I posted this thread was to find out if there were any good sounding speakers that didn't have to be on stands and weren't huge. Afterall the room I'm furnishing isn't large to begin with. Because I'm not truely knowledgeable about speakers and don't have many high-end audio stores in the area to audition them, I thought it would be wise to ask audio-nuts who have listened to all the speakers out there to get an idea what I should look for. Maybe I did a poor job of wording the question. But you know what, It was fun reading the responses you guys had. True audio freaks. I'm leaning towards a smaller stand mount speaker. Beleive me when I say, my wife is as cool as it gets. She is not a control freak, just concerned about the looks of the family room. Afterall the Klipsch speakers were pretty ugly, even I'll admit to that. Someday when we have a big enough house, I'll have my own room of kick ass audio/video gear. Thanks for all your responses, it's time to pick on someone else. |
In that case, try a nice pair of Proac Response 2S. Make sure they're on stands, and out a couple feet from room boundaries. |
Don't get divorced, she got my last hi fi. It's cheaper to keep her. I could have had the ultimate system but she got the upgrading bug. :)
I'll take take the stereo |
Yup I can help you, take her with you when you go audition speakers. That way she has input on the right color speaker for the room or you can get those lil Bose cubes(HT in the box)and hide them. To all the single men reading this post -take a lesson, this is why you need complete your system before marriage or you end up with a Bose--Ht in the box system. |
What about B&W 602 bookshelf speakers, at roughly $600 per pair? I don't own them, but have heard them in a dealer's audition room, and they sounded very clean and detailed. They have a reputation for sounding bright initially, but neutral once they're broken in. At a lower price, what about KEF Cresta 2 speakers, or PSB Alphas? I think our friend is looking for some advice on equipment, not chest-thumping riffs impugning his masculinity unless he chooses confrontation over accomodation. Maybe a few of you have career ambitions to become the underwriters for the college tuition payments of some domestic relations lawyer's offspring, but I think he's just looking to buy some good-sounding speakers he and his wife can both live with. |
I had to send off to Australia to find an audiophile wife. I think one of these guys got the last American one. I insisted on the prenup just in case.
Seriously though, if you can find a pair of Paradigm Studio 20's via Audiogon or Ebay, they are a fantastic bang for the buck. Expect a used cost of approximately $350-450 depending upon wether they are version 1 or 2. |
Hey, this exact same thing happened to me.
....let me tell you the story.
I thought I was pretty savvy, when I asked her to marry me I made her vow that I got to keep the audio hobby and I get to keep buying equipment, she was of course so happy she said "yes" and did so with a big smile on her face.
When she made me sell my house and buy a bigger one for "us" she promised that I could have my own audio room, again no problem we both were happy about the deal.
But there was no spendng money on audio stuff, I actually got yelled at for joinng BMG for those 7 "free" CDs.
When she got a big entertainment center for the family room I wanted audio and so she gave me dimensions for the acceptable sized speakers. Oh yeah! A little lookng and Sonus Faber Concertina's fit easily in the dimensions so I got them. They looked big, so she recanted. But I pulled out the tape measure. She admitted they were in the size limt and next bought stuff to hide them- plants and clocks etc....... all appeared good....
....time passes...
Then she kept getting mad when I go into the dedicated room no more than 1 time per week to listen to music as I am "avoiding" her. I cannot listen to a full CD when she comes in and starts complaining about why I'm not hanging out with her. She also gets mad when we both watch TV and I try to speak, as it does not allow her to follow the plot of the reality TV junk on the screen; also when a movie is playing and you want actual surround sound with LFE. "its too loud." I am trying to be nice so let it go. Eventually...
...divorce in progress.
You seem like a nice guy, but make your stand now and find out what you are in for.
Been there dude. Not fun. |
Buy a nice set of head-phones.
If you insist on speakers you want to look at horns.
If you don't like horns you need something specifically designed for on-wall placement. Anything else will have an anoying lower midrange boost. |
I had the same problem in my kitchen.
I ended up with B&W 302's on shelf brackets held on
with double-stick tape.Never fallen or been a problem.
I think any smaller front ported speaker should do fine.
Bigger speakers would just need bigger brackets.This way
of mounting is better than drilling holes in the rear of the speaker,as some bracketry calls for.By the way,I paired
the 302's with a Bryston B60 and a sony sacd player.My wife
loves the sound and is thrilled with the speakers off the floor.
|
NO point throwing model #s at you in thsi situation.
Make her a partner in this search. Look at and examine all the speakers together, you get to choose the sound, she the size and looks. There is bound to be something you both will agree on. |
I recommend Wall Mount Electrostatic Speakers
Check out Martin Logan Script i or older model such as Martin Logan Stylos
http://www.martinlogan.com/script_i_speaker.html
They look like decor hang on the wall.
Ldk |
This thread started 4 years ago. I think it's a mute point at this time.
john1in2, boy does that sound like the same old song.
Two reasons why most marriages end in divorce:
1) The woman goes into the marriage believing she can change the man.
2) The man goes into the marraige believing the woman will not change. |
I would second the Gallo micros. A perfect solution really and it is within your budget. Sound is suprisingly good. |
Get some big MAGGIES and really piss her off. Get the Tympani IV and tell her it's a room divider!!! OH did you say you wanted to avoid DDDDddddd. Oh forget it I'm to late anyway |
Darn, I didn't notice the original post was from '02. My sympathies and best wishes to john1in2@san.rr.com . |
for WAF try the NHT satelite system driven by a pathos integrated and shandling cd player. If she does not like that she is hopeless. |
As in many things, it's all in the presentation. You need to resort to the old bait and switch, my boy! Show her photos (and price tag) for a set of Avant Garde Trios. Then, with that "threat" still hanging in the air, propose a pair of ... oh, say, ProAc 1's. (Or insert your favorite monitor with high quality wood finish detail here.) They'll seem downright reasonable by comparison. Heck, she'll probably fall all over herself helping you buy them. Yeah, yeah, that's the ticket ...
LEGAL CAUTION: The above advice is offered for entertainment value only and should not be relied upon. Should your significant other not react as predicteed and instead brain you with one of your fairway woods, it's not my fault. Really. Some restrictions apply. Past returns are not guarantees of future results. Your mileage may vary.
Happy Listening. |
This hobby seems to be a problem with some married guys.
Would it be better if he came home late, smelling like smoke, beer or women's perfume instead of buying a lousy set of speakers for the living room ??
"Let the poor guy be his happy self for God's sake" (my wife's quote after reading this thread)
I told her before we got married this is my hobby, love me or leave me, we're still married.
Jmcgrogan2, I like your analogy, you'd make a good counselor !! |
The speakers do not have to be out from the wall all the time do they? I imagine this would only apply during those times when you are in your 'happy hour' and doing critical listening. Would she be happy if you left the speakers against the walls most of the time but just pulled them out when you wanted to enjoy them at their best? If she is not happy with that compromise, then maybe the problem is bigger than the speaker issue.
Also for the cut-up who recommended getawife.com - just for the heck of it I tried that site and it automatically re-directs you to a site that features pictures of nude teenage girls. Actually kind of sad. |
'money changes everything'-cyndi lauper |
Baddabob, that was the solution I had in my first apartment after getting married. The speakers sat close to the rack against a side wall where they were fine as background music, but I could rearrange the room in two minutes and have great sound. It's a simple solution that easily satisfies both parties involved-- The room is arranged the way she wants it, and I get the music in the room I want it in. |
I will not divorce a woman because of audio only.
Wife are very important in our life.I just lost
my wife last year,thats why I know.Work it out bro. |
Jayctoy --
I'm sorry to hear about your losing your wife, and I'm sure I'm not the only one on this forum who feels that way. While I don't know either you or your late wife aside from what you say here, I'm sure you wouldn't have posted your message unless you and she cared for each other a great deal. The loss of any family member is not easy, but to lose your partner in life is hard indeed. Such a loss puts our audiophile hobby, interesting and satisfying though it can be, into clearer perspective, and I think you're doing us all a favor by pointing that out. Anybody having a disagreement with his wife over things like what kind of speaker to put in the living room should find a way to work it out, even if she's being very unreasonable. You never know how long you will have to live together, and getting along with your wife is more important than getting your way about speakers. |
O2Pete thanks,I am glad you see it that way.The worse
part when you try to find onother partner,most of the
women,I corresponded they are not even half of my late
wife in terms of kindness,understanding,this are the
women who will divorce you in a second,and geta goodlawyer.
Next thing you know,they are getting half of your
fortune,maybe even asking one of your monoblock amp,
one speaker,one cable.I have a feeling, I will never get
marry again.Sacry.... |
you wrote " my room.." That might be the problem right there. It is "your" room, and yet your wife has a say? My suggestion would be to solve the speaker problem by dealing with the room issue. A room of your own! I mean, not one that you make claims for, but one that you have claims to. If you and your wife agree about this, then much of the other problem will be resolved. If what you are really struggling with is a desire to share "your" passion for music and movies with your wife, then your conversation begins not here, but there with her.If You wish her to share your passion for anything and she does not, then it is control issue and it is your problem- i.e. there is no happy face on this button. |
