Like Craig above, my wife has pretty much zero interest in the stereo, but has made a few comments over the past couple of years indicating she knows that it is not run of the mill stuff. After seeing Diana Krall live in a local venue with less than stellar acoustics two years ago she said: "She sounds better in the living room at home." She also commented recently on how crappy the boom box at work sounded with some pop music, and suggested that after hearing the CD there, she couldn't get excited about buying it.
Experiences with your "Better Halves"
MY girlfriend and I recently went to an audio store just to burn some time before dinner with friends. We played some of our salsa and R&B CDs in a musical fidelity (Nuvista amp+ some other MF components) with B&W CDM9 speakers. When the store manager asked for our opinion she stated "the highs are a little rough, separation was superb, imaging was good, the bass was very clear although a bit forward probably because of the room" - and this was all in one breath. Needless to say I was impressed!! She had only listened to my rambles after listening sessions at friends and audio stores. It is apparent that she has very gifted hearing ability even though power ratings, capacitance or impedance matching are the equivalent of words found in a Russian Restaurant menu to her. I am interested in learning about your experiences as couples, this has certainly been quite an awakening to me.