Treece,
I had the same problem in a room we converted into a library. The bookshelves were built in and mahogany. I found the Von Schweikert VR-1s matched the wood almost perfectly and sit in the bookshelves. They have different finishes, but I like this one. I would not have believed it beforehand, but the sound is great. The speakers disappear! They can sit back against the front wall. The stands are nice looking too. Just a thought for you. |
Gee, my wife told me before we got married that I could run wires all over the house and she would not care -- Ahhhhhh, true love, and she is an audiologist. |
All this talk about money and expensive equipment. That's just one aspect. What about the fact that the speakers and equipment should be able to disappear or at least look like fine furniture blending in with the decor.
I don't know about you all , but I am having trouble finding speakers that sound great, can play loud (to satify me) but can not be seen (to satify her). |
when we meet new couples of which the husband/boyfriend is also into audio, the hobby not only is one thing that us guys have in common, the girls also have something to complain to each other about.
meeting more non-millionaire audio enthusiasts makes this hobby easier for my wife to accept, and it makes pulling the trigger on a purchase easier for me as well : ) |
Tell her it's home theater.
Watch some movie together.
She will love it. |
If you are married - just imagine for a second what your life would be like with no women, love, sex, period, and having to live out the rest of your life like that...
...and whats the bad news? |
Joey
I hear you that you are not looking for advice. I am going to give you the website for the most life altering work I have ever done. Check it out for yourself and do what your heart tells you. There is infinite possibility for all of us.
The course I did is "The Hoffman Quadrinity Process".
The link is: http://hoffmaninstitute.org/
Good luck
Bennett |
My point was not to seek advice for myself (I've given up), but to point out that those who do have wives and girlfriends should Count your Blessings and not 'bitch' about 'wife approval factor' and crap like that. If you are married - just imagine for a second what your life would be like with no women, love, sex period, and having to live out the rest of your life like that - hearing about people 20 yrs younger than you getting married and having sex/kids. Kinda blows don't it? |
Joey,yahoo personals,,,go for it !!!!!!!!! |
Joeylawn36111
Vaporvr6 - consider yourself lucky if you have a girlfriend, period. ;) ^ what he said!! |
Joeylawn36111, just out of curiousity, where do you live that it's so hard to find a woman? Are your tastes exquisitely high? Or do you live in Timbuktoo?
Raytheprinter, buy all the stuff you want now, and stay single. You'll have the best of both worlds. Remember love is grand, but divorce is 100 grand. :-)
Cheers,
John |
Don't let them meet each other! |
im buying all the audio stuff i want now,while im single, |
Vaporvr6 - consider yourself lucky if you have a girlfriend, period. ;) |
My girlfriend is also an audio enthusiast. i guess i'm lucky! |
im very lucky that my wife of 22 years accepts my over indulgence in both of my hobbies & even though i know for a fact that she could care less how it sounds she always acts excited for me & appears to listen as i explain why the new stuff is better than the old.
out of the entire time ive been buying motorcycles & high end gear she only freaked out on me one time & that was when she came home to find me sawing in half her brand new love seat sofa so it would go thru the door easier,i needed to make more room for a new set of speakers i had just bought & destroying the love seat seemed like the right thing to do.
i feel bad for all the guys who have to sneak things in & out of their own homes so thier wives wont bite their heads off,as long as i live i'll never understand the whole WAF deal.
mike. |
Once I got married, the center positioned listening chair went first, then slowly, the 2-channel system phased out for a multi. Since the kid, the main room stereo is a toy. Almost literaly. Teak, Sony, KLH. Speaker's are 9 feet off the ground. Center Speaker (AR) usually obscured by toys. Literaly. Fisher Price, Mattel, HotWheels.
I do have my hi-fi in the "music room", but it's a rare retreat. Also obscured by my toys, Guitars, Drums, Abandoned Audio Projects. . |
Ddomnick, I empathise entirely...cope no more.
Upgrade the gf regularly since having more satisfying, better performing (well, not always), more efficient, better built, fresher, and well ready to review 'gear' around is a means to an, um, end.
Besides, the kids just loooooooooove my A/V system. |
hey Joey, ,nowadays you can have a woman delivered to your door,ready and willing,,escort service,,also try online dating service,youd be surprised at the number of women online looking for dates! |
It always amazes me when guys that are married or have a girlfriend complain about same. Try the alternative. Try being lonely and unable to get even a date to save your life. Count your blessings....... |
Luckily I've never had to worry about WAF for audio, flying, pets, guns, bows, musical instruments, bicycles, or any other hobbies or toys, etc. |
this is the funniest thread ive read so far!!! i was married when i was 20,and whenever i tryed to play the stereo ,shed say the music i listened to made her nervous,after a year of not listening to music i got rid of her!and bought a stereo and guitar.is there any single female audiophiles out there? |
Just found this thread. Good question. Someone once said that this is the reason furniture in the rest of the house is for. Talk about expensive! I would hate to match dollar for dollar on chairs vs electronics. Double the cost of everything? But, my advice is to carefully explain the following:
1. It keeps me out of bars.
2. We can have friends over to listen to music after dinner.
3. Electronics can be sold for real money.
Ever try to sell a chair or a lamp??
4. I usually keep my equipment for a long time. Its not
like redecorating.
5. Don't you want me to be happy?
6. Have a slush fund for each of you that is "mad money".
Anyway, sometimes you just go buy it because it makes you happy! Good luck! |
I see no one has posted to this for a while, and forgive me for doing a bit of catching up on these (newbie) but I am LMAO reading this thread... very great material indeed.
My setup is embarassingly humbly compared to what I have seen on A'gon, but my dear wife, who is stone deaf with ringing in one ear, could hear the difference from our previous system. I feel so bad she misses out on most of what hi-fi is all about but she understands clarity, both equipment-wise and in choice of program, so we get along well with it. Adhering to Angela100's criteria, on occasion, has no doubt "greased the wheels" and also we travel to Japan at least twice a year to see her family so there is equlibrium to some extent from that standpoint.
In the case of a wife who was totally unreasonable, well, I guess that is one case where cryo treatment might really do the trick... ;) |
|
I married an audioligist who loves to evaluate sound quality, so all women are not anti-equipment in the living room. |
Probably a better question is, How do they cope?" |
First, never, never, never have a girlfriend if you have a wife. Second, always tell the wife the truth about what it costs. She'll throw up. The more she chucks, the more numb she gets to the cost. Always tell her how great it is and how you're getting newer and more expensive equipment to have it be the best. Keep getting more expensive hobbies, sports, toys and collections. The more the better.
When she wants another ring, remind her that you support her in a style others dream about and you're simply not going to spoil her.
Buy another audio piece.
Engineer a custom audio room
Make at least on of your living rooms an audio room that she isn't exactly welcome in. Then make her an office she can tell her girl friends is hers. Then make a theater out of the other living room. Convert the dining room to a living room. Buy a house in another country. Travel so much she doesn't know if her head is screwed on correctly. Tell her again that her life is perfect.
Spend tons of time racing cars away from home. Only invite her to the track for the race weekends. She'll be a pain during practice when you really want to be with the racers. On the weekend, you can't be their friends when you have to beat them, so you'll want her company.
Then make sure that each place you have has so much audio equipment that's great that she thinks SHE'S rich.
Oh, yeah... it helps to be married to her for a long, long, long time. By now, her memory probably isn't very good and her demands are slowing down.
Bill |
Homer, do you actually have time to listen to your system?? ;-) |
my girlfriend spends more on clothes. |
Sheep are the perfect solution. They are indistinguishable in 4 of 5 blind tests versus women. They don't know how to use your charge cards and adding wool to a listening room really tightens up the bass. |
As long as I buy the new fridge, stove, re-do the kitchen and bathroom floors, wallpaper the laundry room, re-wire the electrical to put lights where she wants, dig holes in the yard to plant whatever flowers and shrubs she fancies this week, pay the mortgage, the bills, mow the lawn, vacuum the carpets, walk the dog (3 times a day minimum), brush the dog every day, fix the cars, cook most of the time, wash dishes, never forget her birthday and our anniversary, then... and only then, I can go ahead and buy stereo gear without a problem. She's really great though... |
Well the usual question women and HIFI...
AS a student with a very limited budget, there are a lot of choices to be made, and if i involved my girlfriend in them, I would never get new stuff :O( so i simply dont.. then when it arrives i take the bullet, and wait it out.. usually it takes a week.. However when i recievd my one month old speakers (Vienna Acoustics strauss) i thought she would leave me for sure.. |
I don't ask what's in the Saks and Neiman's bags
I always tell her how great she looks. She doesn't ask me how much the gear costs. |
Hi,
For a CD only bedroom system near $1K I'd start with the original top-loading Rega Planet CD player--Easy to load in the dark and much beloved by Stereophile. About $425, used.
It's very "live" sounding, plus it's musical and "analog-like", and is a great transport should you ever wish to upgrade.
Next, you can get a good deal on a used AMC 3030a tube hybrid class A integrated amp for about $300. It was also well-ranked by Stereophile and sounds superb. It has 4 ohm and 8 ohm speaker taps, but prefers higher impedance speakers.
Speakers are so much a matter of taste, as well as room and location-dependent I hardly know where to start.
What are your musical tastes? What is important to you, sonically? What isn't? Where will the speakers be?
I can say that I wouldn't spend more than around $400, tops on them, even better: half that.
If you spend about $100 on used interconnects by Alpha Core Goertz, Harmonic Tech, or Nordost and $100 on speaker cable (Monster's Powerline 2's still a bargain) total system cost comes out at about $1200.
That's nearly a "Class C" Stereophile system end-to-end.
|
As she passes you in the hallway while you are carrying that new-big-package with more "toys" for the listening room, just sweetly wisper: "Honey, it's all deductible." |
Hey..thanks for the suggestion,Ozfly..:)but I think Im gonna sell everything "except" my mattress and just like..throw it on the floor, ya know..)?Im single so who cares..right?
Anyway,since Im kinda new to this..got any suggestions on a good system for a small room with a small budget..:)? |
Welcome to the 'Gon Darla. I look forward to hearing more from you in the future. By the way, those air mattresses with the electric blow up pump attached to them are very comfortable. If you sell your furniture, save enough money to buy one of those ;-) |
OH YES...we're out here! Im with you,Joyelyse.I LOVE this shit! I have a guy friend in HOuston that I love to hang out with because he has the money for all this hi-end stereo equipment. Im going over to his house Saturday night to listen to his new stuff and Im totally psyched!BTW...Im in the process of selling my bedroom furniture just to buy some new stereo equipment...yes,chicks are in to this shit too..:)And some of us are just as "hooked" as you guys are..)! |
I know what you mean. My HUSBAND just gets so sick of me constantly telling him about what I read here, on AVS Forum, and on SoundStage! (my 3 favorite sources of information) I'd have trouble sneaking things past him though, since I need his name on the loan applications. I'm a little in the hole, but at least I don't have credit card debt. :)
Seriously though, even though I am the main audiophile in the family, I've brought him along with me. And it's invaluable. He brings his electrical engineering expertise that helps me understand some of the scientific aspects that I don't have the background for.
He and I have a $300 rule. If its over $300, we need to consult the other before spending any moneythough sometimes $150 is better. :) BTW, buying a bunch of things for under $300 is NOT a good way around this.
Dont assume your wives and girlfriends cant get into audio. Were out there. |
How you do dat Jay Cee, with your toy? |
My wife is the nicest you could ever have, Whatever
I like She likes,including my ex girlfriends.NO
PROBLEM, ON AUDIO,SHE JUST BOUGHT ME MERCEDES.
ARNT YOU GUYS JEALOUS?BEFORE I MARRIED HER I TWEAK
HER HEAD. |
Not a big deal for me. My girlfriend is prety cool about it. I have a combo of solid state and tube. She admires the warm glow of the tube system. She does get a little pissed when I buy new tweaks but I just tell her that I swap my old gear for new and she just looksat me smacks me in the back of the head and forgets about it. |
Start with a budget that she agrees to even if it is only $1000 or $1500 bucks- buy good used then gradually sell and upgrade to something better with the addition of a little cash when you have it.
If she likes the sound now and you let her hear something better then she might appreciate your upgrades
Lets face it, just as with a new car audio equipment depreciates too, so try to buy some damn good used at a reasonable price. Look at the Sony SACD-1 first sold for $5000 now used $2500 some times even less.
I am sorry though but if my wife was to stop my hobby I might have to divorce her, but also I have to be reasonable too with the upgrades!
P.S. if you have a girl friend I would lay down that law right up front or go find a woman into it! Dont waste your time thinking you can change her. Too many women marry guys with those thoughts and they end up apart too. Enough pontificating HUH? |
MC402,,your wife a neurosurgeon?..;-) |
Simple...just get them as involve and interested as you are with your listening to music and audio gears. The next thing you know she will buy you the stuff for your b-day/ Xmas. Wife bought me the ML Ascent last year and upgraded my amp this year to MC402. Next year... who knows what's next.. CD/DAC combo??? hint..hint..Lucky am I?? |
2) play Van Morrison's Moondance while making love to her (wine, candles, etc), she'll gladly enjoy your hobby from that point out
I did that with Pink Floyd,,,because of her,,I would have put YES. |
don't have either
used to have a wife - had to get petty upgrades slowly
but kept my cd habit - my money, my discs
had a girlfriend last year, she was an opera singer
noted how great my system was but not interested at all in any of my musical tastes
dumped opera singer
my hobby is so bad that the carpet needs replacing badly
but I just spent the bonus on a Nottingham spacedeck rig, phono stage, wall mount, etc.
how do you get them into this
two lessons
1) never let a gal dictate your passions and where you spend your money
2) play Van Morrison's Moondance while making love to her (wine, candles, etc), she'll gladly enjoy your hobby from that point out |
Hey Jsujo, great response. ther is a whole lot of 'ME' in this thread and a bit of 'us'. I tried to go for us in my above response, but I think you did quite well. |
My girlfriend loves the stuff, and to boot, she has supersensitive ears...one of the few who have hearing past what most do,,,
She is usually saying that she wants me to teach her about the stuff,,,and you know what else? She absolutely loves airshows and going to the shooting range,,,Now, how much is this woman worth? (she is a doctor,,me, a tennis coach with a useless grad degree in Biomechanics) oh, and loves animals...;-) |
