What does your significant other think?

[amey01]

The thing is, at least I use the money I spend. The system gets used most days of the week - at least 300 days out of 365 - that is a pretty good investment in my books. For the record, my wife buys things like Kayaks and bicycles that get used about twice a year! But again, she understands this so all is good.

 

[Pcar928fan]

The thing is, at least I use the money I spend. The system gets used most days of the week - at least 300 days out of 365 - that is a pretty good investment in my books. For the record, my wife buys things like Kayaks and bicycles that get used about twice a year! But again, she understands this so all is good.

My mom (even though I am 42 years old now) always gives me a hard time about buying new toys and such, but after she gives me a little grief she always says, "Well, at least you use everything you buy and you buy it because you like it and want it, not because it is popular or trendy." She is right about that. I don't get the big guns out much these days though and the race car sits more than it runs, but I do try and get most all the rest of the toys out to play with and you just can't ask for more than that. If you spend YOUR money on stuff that YOU like and that YOU play with and that makes YOU happy there is no reason for ANYONE to complain (assuming of course you are getting all the regular bills paid and still putting some money away for retirement and a rainy day.) YMMV!

 

[Peter Hogan]

I can't complain though. We have a deal with the house remodel that we are going through. I am giving her complete control over the whole house remodel except for the media room. She is giving me complete control over the media room. YESSSSSS!!!!!! :rocker:

Only someone that was married could have written that ...

Peter

 

[Rich]

Only someone that was married could have written that ...

You say that like it is a bad thing.

Before you read too much in to my statement, you should probably understand a little background. The house we are remodeling is an intermediate house. We are currently designing the home we are going to build and we equally share control over every aspect of how that house is being designed. Not an easy task, but we are very fair about it with each other.

This intermediate house is one my wife picked out that she wanted to remodel and live in for a few years before we build the other one. I will be happy to live in this house for a few years, but overall I couldn't care less about it. I am focused on the house we are designing. She wanted it and she needed a project to keep her busy, so we bought it. She is in charge of the remodel of this house, she is working with the designer and overseeing the contractors, and I am perfectly happy to let her have complete control over all of it, except of course for the Media Room. And I have complete faith in her ability to do a good job with it. She is more capable than I am in terms of project management.

For those of you single guys quietly smirking about how good you have it and how us married boys are whipped, you have no clue what you are missing. I was single for 27 years and have now been married for almost 15 years. I would not trade it for anything. My wife and I have a very equal relationship. We both work very hard to ensure each others' happiness. And we have a great time together. I truly feel sorry for any of you that haven't had the opportunity to experience a relationship this deep and meaningful.

 

[lugano]

I would not trade it for anything. My wife and I have a very equal relationship. We both work very hard to ensure each others' happiness. And we have a great time together. I truly feel sorry for any of you that haven't had the opportunity to experience a relationship this deep and meaningful.

AMEN

much better said than I could do...

 

[DTB300]

For those of you single guys quietly smirking about how good you have it and how us married boys are whipped, you have no clue what you are missing. I was single for 27 years and have now been married for almost 15 years. I would not trade it for anything. My wife and I have a very equal relationship. We both work very hard to ensure each others' happiness. And we have a great time together. I truly feel sorry for any of you that haven't had the opportunity to experience a relationship this deep and meaningful.

Same here. I would not trade our relationship for anything. We both help each others happiness, not only with items of enjoyment, but also with our mental state of being too.

To answer the intial post. The wife knows the Stereo is my hobby and has been for many years now. She is aware of the costs of the items I have bought - no hidden purchases here - and she just shakes her head about it. But she knows that I will spend within reasons of current monetary situations, not jeopardizing other family or household necessities and needs.

Dan

 

[MiTT]

Same here. I would not trade our relationship for anything. We both help each others happiness, not only with items of enjoyment, but also with our mental state of being too.

To answer the intial post. The wife knows the Stereo is my hobby and has been for many years now. She is aware of the costs of the items I have bought - no hidden purchases here - and she just shakes her head about it. But she knows that I will spend within reasons of current monetary situations, not jeopardizing other family or household necessities and needs.

Dan

Same here on both fronts Dan. Wouldn't trade the relationship for anything - never been happier. And the wife knows everything I buy, shakes her head in disbelief sometimes, but knows it's my thing. She lovingly refers to me and my likeminded bretheren as "Audiots".

 

[JonFo]

.... She lovingly refers to me and my likeminded bretheren as "Audiots".

Hey, we resemble that remark :haha1:

 

[Sambob2]

I've known mine for 22 years, lived together for the last 12. I have to admit that before our daughter came into our lives I had a dedicated room. That room eventually became our daughter’s bedroom. My ReQuests and two mono amplifiers are now stuffed into our bedroom which is not to small but not the place for it to fit properly for optimum imaging. The rest of the front-end gear is twenty-five feet away in the original wall unit location in the other room. When I listen I have to run a pair of single ended cables between the equipment...at least for now. As soon as I get the attached garage built with the room above, you guessed it...I'm moving over with my equipment.

She doesn't mind too much knowing that my first education out of high school was audio engineering. So she supports me a little. She just does not understand why I have to sit in front of the dam thing and not move or do any work around the house while I am doing the little bit of critical listening I love to so much! Somehow she deals with me but then again most of my listening is done while they are out of the house. I like listening levels around 85 to 95 decibels...to loud for her. Our daughter on the other hand loves to come in and hop around twirl around and dance (she will be 9 next month)!

I have to admit, the day I brought the 6' tall ReQuests inside the house, she was dumbfounded by the size and the "see thru" look. Then I hooked them up and played a piano track...she thought the piano sounded like it was in the house really being played right there...and this was from downstairs! So I suppose I had her sold on the idea of the ML's!

Sam

 

[Yang1815]

don't have one.

a week before valentine's, what a timing eh?

 

[karma]

HI All,
I know my post above seemed like I was smirking. I suppose in a way I was. But this second post was planned even as I wrote the first one. I wanted to hear what you all had to say about your wife/audio relationships before writing this one.

What I see is a bunch of happy people in good and functional relationships. I can't honestly express envy. I CAN congratulate all of you on your family situations where you have worked out the inevitable issues connected to our very expensive hobby. That's not easy. I think you should take your wife out to an unannounced dinner and say thank you, dear. There are some amazing women represented in this thread. We can be hard to put up with.

Personally, I've been on both sides of the marriage thing. There are some people that should not be married and I'm one of them. I enjoy my freedom. But I miss the close and tender moments......and the food . My ex-wife was a great cook. It is a trade off. If the right woman came along I would, after some hard thinking, probably jump back in and not look back. But that's not a given.

In the meantime, I will continue to respect and honor what you have accomplished. I’ll try hard to not smirk any more. I don’t want to invite your sympathy. You would be wasting your time. Oh, is that another smirk? Sorry.
:cheers:

Sparky

 

[Rich]

Hey Sparky,

Ultimately, the choice of a spouse/significant other or the choice to remain single is a lot like the choice of tubes or solid state, CD or LP, electrostat or crappy cone speaker. It is all about finding the path that makes you happy and satisfied in your life. Each of us will choose a slightly different way, but the desired result is the same for all of us.

 

[jimbo]

When I first met my wife she thought I was a nut when it came to audio. But over the years she has come to aceept it. I actually think she likes it now. Since the home theater was added she now suggests watching movies together more than I normally would. She has her own expensive hobbies, so she never says anything about what I do.

 

[babydoc]

Love,Marriage, and Martin Logans

I have enjoyed this multifaceted portrayal of audiophilic wedded bliss. I have been married for more than 20 years and like many of the respondents was already a high-end addict with a dedicated sound room. This was accepted by my spouse who has her own passion about gardening (and believe me landscaping can give high end audio a run for the money!). As years have passed, we transitioned through VERY LARGE panels (Acoustat Spectra 66's) and Small monitors (Totem Manitous). Room sound treatment is tolerated and we jointly agreed on listening room furniture and lighting.
The ML Surround System (Summits, Stage, Script i's and ..... 4 Descents) went in without protest as long as the wiring was unobtrusive.
The final concession was a universal remote with a "wife" macro button that gets everything started and lined up.
Once my wife started watching her movies (largely English films and romantic "chick" flicks) on the surround system, it was all over but the shouting. So the moral of the story is to make your system wife-user-friendly and you will have a happy companion.

 

[Pcar928fan]

The final concession was a universal remote with a "wife" macro button that gets everything started and lined up.

That is a GOOD ONE! I didn't think of that... I will probably do that with a "mom" or "parents" button for when my mom or mother in law come over and we are not here and they want to watch some TV! All the parental units are pretty tech challenged! They all can surf the web and do email though, so they are not unteachable, but there are limits! The wife can learn it ALL, she if very tech savvy, but does not LIVE FOR IT like I do!:rocker:

 

[risabet]

Last night while reading TAS I showed my DW the review of the Avid "Acutus Reference" TT and that sparked a long discussion about values and worth. She couldn't understand the logic in a $19000 "record player."

I attempted to explain to her that the cost is indicative of the quality of the product and that the cost grows much faster than the return in sound, i. e. diminishing returns. I analogized between a Bentley and a Hyundai, both will get you there but the enjoyment of the trip will differ.

She is still pretty understanding re: this hobby but does point out that my hobbies (this and woodworking) are both expensive. I pointed out that neither is as expensive as a drinking or gambling habit and both keep me in the house. She wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not

 

[DTB300]

I attempted to explain to her that the cost is indicative of the quality of the product and that the cost grows much faster than the return in sound, i. e. diminishing returns.

This is one of the BIGGEST problems in the Audio industry, and probably in a lot of other hobbies and interestes. We all have to be careful about purchases based SOLELY on price. At what price do we feel the product does not give us an equal return in investment? This is a personal opinion that needs to be weighed. Large $$$ does not always equate to better.

Risabet, not implying that is what you are saying in your post, just something I always like to remind people about.

Dan

 

[Pcar928fan]

I pointed out that neither is as expensive as a drinking or gambling habit and both keep me in the house. She wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not

ROTFL! VERY GOOD!

 

[theWB]

Hey Sparky,

Ultimately, the choice of a spouse/significant other or the choice to remain single is a lot like the choice of tubes or solid state, CD or LP, electrostat or crappy cone speaker. It is all about finding the path that makes you happy and satisfied in your life. Each of us will choose a slightly different way, but the desired result is the same for all of us.

There is no choice for me, without someone to keep me in line I would already be dead like most of the guys I use to hang out with. I need someone in my life to keep me in line. I work very very hard, but I partied and played even harder. I've been married just 8 years this time, but the path I was on after my first marriage was a destructive one. I've lost 1 friend to a skydiving accident and 2 to motorcycle accidents 2 hobbies I was into heavily and took risks in often. I still ride,but don't take the risks Iused to, But I no longer jump.

 

[risabet]

This is one of the BIGGEST problems in the Audio industry, and probably in a lot of other hobbies and interestes. We all have to be careful about purchases based SOLELY on price. At what price do we feel the product does not give us an equal return in investment? This is a personal opinion that needs to be weighed. Large $$$ does not always equate to better.

Risabet, not implying that is what you are saying in your post, just something I always like to remind people about.

Dan

I would never purchase based on price, I was only pointing out that the price structure in this hobby, especially in TT typically gives you better performance at higher price levels, but that the performance increases do not obey a linear relationship.