Have you ever deceived your wife-audio purchase

Does hiding major audio purchases from your wife constitute a form of cheating? Maybe she has hid some purchases from you. If so, possibly your marriage certificate isn't worth the paper its printed on. I always clear a major audio purchase with her first but items under $200.00 (audio accessories like tubes etc) don't constitute a major purchase unless it is your last $200.00. By the way I have been married for 33 years.

Everything is done either through her paypal account or with CC, so I dont even try to hide anything. We pretty much decide what we want, and whats the best gear we can afford to get there, and buy it. She listens to the system almost as much as I do and enjoys upgrading and auditioning new things as much as me.

Tom_hankins sounds like you have the ideal relationship with your wife!

You know wife deception may be a more sensitive issue with some and not others. I will give an example: A while back an audiogon member had his amp listed for sale along with his phone number. I called to inquire and the guy told me that if I purchased his amp he wasn't going to be around to ship it! Asked why & he informed me his wife and kids just left him due to his audio purchases and he was ready to end his life. I talked to that guy for an hour and finally asked if he had any relatives nearby and said his Dad was close. Before hanging up he convinced me he would contact his father and he would be fine.

Another example: I called a fellow member on a preamp sale and talked to him briefly before his wife grabbed the phone and protestingly asked "Are you buying or selling?" I responded that I was buying, she said great and gave the phone back to her husband. I'm sure they are rare incidents.

Phd your absolutely right and we should probably be a little more careful about how things are worded. I am fortunate that my wife enjoys my hobby and is probably a bigger music fan than I. She's also more aware of things like "diminishing returns".
Looking back over this thread makes me realise there is a fine line between addictions and obsessing over ones hobby, and lets face it, it's no secret that most addictions can be hard on relationships.

Funny thread, caught my eye right off, with my recent history. I've been on a spending binge bringing my old Pro Logic mid-fi system into a high-end 21st century version, all spawned (as is often the case) by a complete refinish of the family room. Fortunately, she doesn't know the value of things, and knows from the past that my audio purchases, usually on the pre-owned market, can include some very low (relatively) prices compared to what other things have cost. Anyway, as it turns out, the US Postal Service only sells money orders capped at $1k. So when I recently bought a new Fathom F113 subwoofer for $2265, I stashed the two receipts for $1k each and cleverly left the one for $265 sitting on the dresser next to loose change and other odds and ends routinely found in my pockets. Told her I got a great deal on a used subwoofer. She never noticed (a near gaffe!) that the box was unopened with it's original JL Audio-stamped packing tape.

However, an earlier post about kids and an expensive turntable (similarly introduced into the household via subterfuge) conjures my worse fears, that someday something will happen that will smoke me out of the woodline. Now that I have a 60" plasma (she's on board with that one), I feel I have a giant neon billboard in my house that says, "ROB ME!!" I'd hate to have a conversation with the insurance company with her present. That's outside of hiding my proportionate anxiety with the kids and the gear...