You're selling that? But you just got it


This post is for all you guys that have a SO or wife that sometimes gives you a hard time about the audio addiction. Wives rarely understand this hobby and often object to the expense. It doesn't help that for some reason woman are generally less into music and almost never excited by shiny electronics. So I thought I'd share what worked for me.

My wife was on board with the initial equipment I purchased several years ago when I first got back into hifi after a long break, but she definately was perplexed by any box switching after that and objected to the money spent.

At one point I had a little talk with her and her objections were permanently silenced. The problem was, she just did not understand the hobby. She was under the impression that the hobby was entirely about listening to music. Once you purchased a nice system, you just bought music and enjoyed. While buying and listening to music is also a hobby and also one I enjoy very much, the pursuit of hifi is a different hobby. That's what she did not understand. Once I explained to her that experimenting with different components and various tweaks was all part of the hobby that is the pursuit of hifi perfection, she understood what I was doing. It made sense to her and she stopped objecting. The box swapping IS the hobby. That's what the hobby is! Changing things up in a never ending pursuit to improve the sound quality. The wives and girlfriends just do not understand this unless you explain it to them. It also helps if you explain how you buy and sell used equipment with minimal financial loss. And if you compare the expense (and time spent) to friends that are into golf, lol. You're at home, golfers are never home.

BTW, I'm not talking about crazy box swappers that never even let the dust settle on a piece of equipment. There is no defense for that.
jaxwired
The only way for wives and girl friends to relate to our 'stuff' is easy, if they are into shoes, shoes and more shoes. Hopefully she has a closet full of shoes, to which you will always point to with the question of 'why do you need another pair, especially if they cost $300 plus?' Yes men, female obsession with shoes will give you all the cover you need to buy the next 'box', but watch out, she will quickly add a few additional pair's once you bring up this issue. There are a couple of good books are this 'fetish', so be prepared to counter all her arguments.
"The wives and girlfriends just do not understand this unless you explain it to them. It also helps if you explain how you buy and sell used equipment with minimal financial loss."

The easist way to impress a women is to tell her "how much you saved"

Women key in on saving and discounts as they do their comparative shopping before pulling the trigger

Never tell her what you spent ... tell her what you saved ... she'll be more impressed

Hi honey I just bought this turn table for $10000 ... or

Hi honey I just saved $5000 on this turn table ... now she's impressed because the $5000 you saved will buy her a lot of shoes

Buconero117
"watch out, she will quickly add a few additional pair's once you bring up this issue."

There is an easy way to counter this action

Just adopt a policy similar to Nuclear Disarmament ... for every pair of shoes she buys ... she must throw two pairs out

Jewelry is also a great equalizer ... I just bought my wife a Mood Ring ... works really well ... when she is in a good mood it glow bright green ... and when she is in a Bad mood it leaves a Red mark in the middle of my Freak'en forehead

HTH Dave

Hi honey I just saved $5000 on this turn table ... now she's impressed because the $5000 you saved will buy her a lot of shoes
Davehrab (Threads | Answers | This Thread)


No way Dave. Sorry, but your idea doesn't work for me. If the savings on a turntable is $5000 and you tell the wife, then this informs her that the turntable is really very expensive! A wife's first thought will be "if he saved $5000 on a turntable, then my goodness!, how much did it cost in the first place!" If a wife has no idea just how expensive high end gear costs, by talking about the savings, you have just clued her in. My wife does not ask me how much I spend on gear, never has, and I don't tell her how much I spend. I'm sure she assumes that the gear isn't cheap, but she would I'm sure be shocked at the cost of high end gear. She would probably think I lost my mind long ago. And my wife is not all into shoes like some.
What if she is the one into this hobby? Would she trade shoes for a gear? (are you there Elizabeth?)