Okay guys, 1. Does your wife use the system to listen to her music or do you play it for her? 2. Do you stay in the room to listen to what she is playing even if it is love songs, like Air supply or Kenny G type music?
I play what ever my wife wants and yes I stay in the room. My wife feels the system is too complicated and changes too often for her to keep up with it.
We'll usually listen to what she likes in the morning while having tea. She'd rather not actually use the system herself though. Thankfully, we have pretty similar tastes in music and don't offend each other's sensibilities. Well, there is that thing she's got for Bon Jovi that requires occasional indulgence on my part.
My wife is too intimidated by my various systems to attempt to use them on her own. I think it's much to do about nothing but secretly I appreciate that she doesn't want to fiddle with the systems. In response to her descresioin I am delighted anytime the opporunity presents itself to play music that she wants to hear. Her acquiescence to my hobby is a small price to pay in return for indulging her in her music requests. We share similar musical tastes but I am most intrigued when she suggests something new. So much music and so little time. Anytime my wife and I can explore music together is quality time that almost justifies my fixation on musical reproduction.
I wish Liz would just focus on how easy any system is to use, I also wish my mom would so she could use my dads system and I wouldnt get calls when he is out of town. 2 things I will never understand, why women think gear is so complex and why men are glad they do has always baffled me. What do men think if they taught their wife they would suddenly lose some sort of "power"? There is nothing about any system that is beyond the average woman of grasping and I suspect most women just play stupid so they dont have to get involved with it all...........they are much smarter then many give them credit for, plus some men need an ego stroke so the women act stupid to feed the poor bastards need for comfort over his fragile insecurity. I wish women knew more about it all so they could enjoy it, help clean and maintain it.......and respect it more. Instead countless men look like nerds while their wives roll their eyes and dismiss the husbands inner nerd. It isnt complicated, its a little more than a couple buttons and dials in a certain order.......even with vinyl.
My "other half" is quite confident to use the main Hi-Fi but then she has to do very little. It's permanently on so all so has to worry about are two things - the volume control and the CD player. It took her a while to negotiate the latter, it being a Meridian. As far as musical tastes are concerned, that's another matter entirely. There is a certain level of cross-pollination but it's one way I confess. I like very little of her choice (it's not quite Kenny G but almost that bad) but she does like a fair deal of mine. Or at least she confesses to and I'm too long in the tooth to attempt to delve into the psychology of that little chestnut! Suffice it to say I will be in another room when she is listening! That's not an issue - we are both comfortable about spending time apart :)
The primary system in the " cave" she won't even attempt to use. Our family room and bedroom system finally after many times of showing her how easy it really is she will use. For her enjoyment and the protection of the system I always go over the use of the gear.
We will at times listen to music together, but it is hard to get her to sit and listen for any real length of time. I wish she just listen and enjoy the music more be it her choice or mine.
My wife won't even walk into the listening room. She did discover Pandora on our Sonos distributed system so I do hear quite a bit of her stuff (as interpreted by Pandora), just not on the "real" system.
My wife uses our rig on a regular basis but usually when I am not home. She plays more vinyl than cds. When we are both listening I usually pick the music but our tastes are very similar.
I'm with Chadnliz. For cryin' out loud you guys, if your wife feels intimidated by all the bells and whistles, sit her down and spend the 10 minures (at the very most)it would take to erase the unfounded fear of independent use.
Bander, Chad - It's not that I won't show her, it's that she has no interest. The only time she's in the room is for about 1 hour Sunday mornings while we have coffee because I make her. I play mellow stuff because she tolerates that easier. My teenage son does use the big rig from time to time when he wants to play records for his friends. More of a show-and-tell about vinyl than a listening session though. He's got his own mini rig in his room for that.
That wasnt intended for the wives who have no interest many dont but it is for the dbags that act like its this complex rack of electronics that if not operated properely will open some sort of worm hole or cause Atoms to colide and create some Universal death hole. Its a stereo............A STEREO, get over it guys.
Chad, I've re-read these posts several times and I don't see where anyone has said anything that should prompt you calling anyone "Dbags."It's offensive and it makes you sound overly sanctimonious. What's so hard to accept about the fact that someone's partner just would rather not bother to use the sound system? Please point out where anyone has suggested their wife is incompetent to use their stereo or that they are using their stereo as an means to demonstrate the intellectual inferiority of their partner? Truth be told, I suspect that it's more a question of how people differ in the way they want to spend their leisure time. For example, my wife is happy to listen to music, but given the choice, she'd usually rather read a good book in a quiet part of the house. I know plenty of people who "like" music but don't love it to the point they'll sit and make listening to it the focus of their attention.
Slow news day if your offended by me calling NOBODY in particular a non proafane name, its a generic term for a type of person I am sure is out there. If your actually offended then I salute you cause your life must be pretty good to take issue with something so meaningless.
I apologize if you're referring to me in your 10/20 post, Chadnliz. I read through all the posts, and I see that you didn't call any one person a name. I guess I don't really understand your comment, though; I didn't see posts in which people were pissed at you (although Photon did seem somewhat offended and unhappy).
Could you explain what you think is the important difference between calling one person or a group of people whose wives use the stereo names(dbags, poor bastards, insecure, nerds)? Seriously; I'm interested in why this seems so important to you. In fact, you seem pissed to me; but maybe I'm wrong.
Ok, in retrospect, I ripped on Chad more than he deserved. He didn't directly call anyone anything. Sometimes the way language is used in these forums does offend people who may not speak with such casual abandon. Sorry to come off like a fussy Sunday school teacher.
Look the bottom line is this hobby is full of odd birds, nerds and opionated ego maniacs. There is also some very normal and extremely fun and intelligent folks aswell. There are D'bags, idiots, Aholes, nerds, geeks and social misfits galore in these waters (go to a show and look around if you doubt me) there is also as noted plenty of perfectly normal folks aswell so figure out where you fit and rock on. I am a nerd about this, all happy men are nerds about something be it this, trains, stamps, hunting, even Harley guys are nerds in leather. As if this hobby isnt small enough now we are down to turning on eachother...............really? Ofcourse if you are a D'bag, geek, Ahole or a social misfit then I am sorry. :)
My wife is a little intimidated by my system so she refrains from playing the music she likes. For the most part she does not share my musical tastes but every now and then she suprises me. She enjoys jazz, trip hop, and classical (including opera) so the key is to focus on those musical genres we both like.
My wife is indifferent to the stereo. Years ago, she would operate it to hear her favorite records when I was not around, but when I got into separate components- preamp, amp, she wasn't too interested in operating it. She pretends to claim it is much to complicated to use, but I know better. A good example is when I bought our first microwave oven in the early 80s. I thought I would have to spend some time showing her how to operate it. Not the case at all, she took to it instantly, read the manual and never once asked for my help. I knew then that she is certainly as capable as me to self learn new gadgets- it is just a matter of interest. She has her iPod (I never had to show her how to use it) and that is good enough for her. Occasionally, I play her favorite records and get her to sit with me for a while and occasionally, I see she has downloaded some of my music onto her iPod.
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