Miles Davis, the Cuisinart and other Hi-Fi Horrors


A real-time play by play of an album side.

Our family room – where the hi-fi is set up – is one contiguous space with the kitchen. I am, at the moment, listening to a Miles Davis LP. Just for fun I thought I'd list the non-musical interludes that have occurred in the last ten minutes since the needle hit the groove:

1)Said Cuisinart making short work of three different types of vegetables.
2)A reminder that there are some oranges in the fridge
3)Spoon banging on outside of glass bowl.
4)Admonishment of the hound for trying to sneak down the basement steps (photo of hound on "system" page)
5)More spoon banging
6)Fridge door opening and closing and opening and closing and...
7)A query about our supply of Parmesan cheese.
8)Dog lapping watter.

All this within one side of an LP. I hope side two is better.
grimace
My Wife "gave" me the FROG (ambitiously called a "listening room") over the garage when we moved in (and all I had to do was pick up the mortgage payment)!

Neither car is in the garage and therefore the electric garage door is only used about 5-6 times per month. The motor is attached to a joist under the floor of the listening room.

I usually don't even try to listen until after my Wife goes to bed. But, I'll bet $100 that 80% of the time, or more, she only raises the garage door when I'm listening. Dedicated lines and $10k in power treatment doesn't help when the damn floor is vibrating like a MAGIC FINGERS bed. WTH?!

Given 21 years of marriage, I don't think she's subtly trying to send a message to me to come to bed for entertainment. I'm left to guess that I may not be the only guy whose other family member(s) may be somewhat passive-agressive about the time/money/attention that we lavish on our systems! :)
Greg I can only hope it was "Bitch's Brew"(Not A Fan) an extra wooden spoon in there wouldn't really matter to me.You could request that "whomever, only use the spoon on the beat" but that may raise other problems of course.Happy holidays and remember it's all about family.
Greg, I feel your pain.

I also just learned that there's a completely different set of hi-fi horrors for those with listening rooms. I relocated my listening space to a quieter part of the house and now sit with my back to the door. When my wife came down to say goodnight last week I was listening carefully with my eyes closed. She put her hand on my shoulder and ... yikes! Now I keep one eye open at all times--and glance over my shoulder everytime the house creaks. I may have to put in a motion detector to get some piece of mind!

I hope side 2 was better for you.

e
Ethos - what you need is a rear view mirror on your listening chair, or a trip wire attached to some bells so you can't be taken by surprise.

Usually my room is pretty good, but last night was a bit much. The other thing I get often is snoring dogs. They have big soft faces and can be VERY loud. If they get going at the same time they're in stereo.