Great lesson & story. Married close to 40 years & learn something new quite often still to this day. -John
I accidentally overcame the Wife Factor
I had an experience today that I wanted to share. I currently have a small system with Zu Omens , Rogue Pre and 60 wpc SS DIY amp. I just acquired a pair of Rogue M-180’s , Hera pre and needed larger speakers. I purchased a pair of Tekton DI’s as I wanted to annoy the neighbors. However I withheld the Tekton purchase from my wife and they arrive Monday. I also want to reset the room from wife designed to a treated listening space with the correct wall location. My wife asked when I was getting a new couch and I told her room setup first . Room treatments next and then maybe a couch but probably 2 recliners. So I suggested to put the Zu system in the den for her and set her own streaming up. She was so delighted, I took that moment to act and said BTW I bought new speakers and they look like this. She asked when I was planning on telling her I said they Arrive Monday , so probably Tuesday. I could see the her thinking and got ready to be criticized. She looked at me and asked , “ can I stream my music and play what I want? She had a big grin and approved of the new Big Ugly boxes that are Industrial Flat Black. So I should have been honest and not a selfish child , but all she wanted was to enjoy her own system. She had never asked , but the big lesson is “ I never Offered “ . I’m typing this realizing what a lucky man I am and I need to be less self centered. So maybe someone else could have this positive experience without being dishonest. Cheers , Mike B.
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Agree, good story, @buellrider97, thanks for sharing! |
Great that your wife is also enough into music to want her own system. Honesty is the best Policy in my experience. That way I never have to remember what I said and when. My wife is fine with whatever I buy as long as she doesn’t have to deal with it. That’s why I have soundbars with wireless subs connected to the TVs for her and the family. One remote and nothing else to worry about. Hope you are both happy with your new setups! |
@bassbuyer , yes sir you are absolutely correct. I love your LIGHT BOX ! I’m 67 and when I was in high school I made a pair 2’x3’ - 12” deep with 3 channel controls for each box. Used Blue for base, green for mid, and yellow for high frequencies. Had em wall mounted above my JBL L-26’s running Dynaco gear. Playing Deep Purple and loving my rig. Also how do you like the Pine Tree cables?I emailed Terry London about them and he highly recommended them. Im budget driven and I need a loom of balanced IC’s for my new gear. Cheers , Mike. |
Thanks I saw the light box at a church fair and had to have it. It took a lot of cleaning up but it works great. I’ve had a good experience with Pine Tree Audio cables. I have a their USB cable connecting my Innuos Zen MK3 to my Holo Audio Cyan 2 DAC. Sounds great. They have a lot of options including cool colors which I like. I also like that they are based in Fitchburg, MA. I buy local if I can. Recommend checking them out. |
@immatthewj , I understand. I got a settlement check about 6 months ago for a 10 year old work injury. The final pay out was $85K. I jumped on the free Rogue amps and then spent $4k to Dark em and retube and $2K for the Rogue Hera. I was eying a pair of new Tannoy’s , and wife wanted a new kitchen. Ours is 35 years old original brown tile 😆. So she got $80K and I bought Tekton for $3300. Anyway I’m doing life on a beer budget and it is what it is. I did get a reality check about her wanting her own system which is pretty cool. One year for her birthday I got her a new MoFi Master Album of the B-52’s and a pair of tickets to go see them. She can’t work the manual vintage Thorens TT we have , but at the concert she left her seat and stayed right at the edge of the stage and danced with the band the entire show. Security was kind enough to let her do her thing. She’s a five foot - Zero , free spirit from Santa Barbara that found me when I was down and out. I’ve spent the last 25 years trying to keep up. I think for me it’s the music lifestyle more than how extravagant my rig is. Still wish I could have some 15” Tannoy’s or 15” JBL with horns. I guess those 5 Harley’s over 45 years were more important. Cheers my Peers, Mike. |
Reading that did my heart good, @buellrider97 . |
When the spouse has her own dedicated space/rig, justifying purchases tends to get a lot easier, in general. My spouse has pretty much taken over the family room, which is a repurposed hybrid hometheater/music room, save for more intrusive room treatment...and I rarely go in there. I also see non-audiophiles exposed to some high fidelity on a regular basis, i.e. a bunch of these soccer mom types sitting around in there with their wine glasses. John Mayer is hot, apparently...At the least, he is also a gifted musician...but, some of the Diana Krall fans around here celebrating her lack of talent have no excuse.
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Ha Ha Gano ! I hear you. To all I’m just trying to reclaim this one room. We have our bedroom , her bedroom , her office , her garage space, her coffee bar. But realistically she was scared of my motorcycles but never restricted me. My bass boat takes up half the garage and my guns and workbench take up space too. Old age reared its ugly head and I recently got rid of my Harley , my hot rod Buell and can’t ride my road bicycle or snow ski. I’ve always enjoyed my modest gear and I just want to have a large system again and a dedicated Man Space. I’m sitting here waiting for Fed Ex and I see that Collective Soul is playing 10 miles away in 2 weeks. It just happens to be my wife’s current favorite band. So double score today , speakers and tickets. I’ve been clean and sober 30 years and old habits die hard and honesty is a tough one. |
well @buellrider97 you are much better at managing your things and relationships than I am. I am playing catchup all the time :) |
