What would you do differently?


Wives take a lot of heat in the audio press and on forums such as this one for their effects on their husbands' audio enjoyment. WAF is a recognizable acronym and effect, and there's always a lot of anguish over the "grief" of upgrades, etc. What would you do differently if you had nobody to answer to on any audio issues? Is it as simple as, "I'd spend a lot more and play the system a lot louder"?

Personally, I'd do a couple of things differently. First, I'd probably own more than one pair of speakers at any time and experiment a bit more. Sending and receiving speakers seems incomprehensible to my wife so it's a bigger hurdle than it's worth to do this currently, even if I break even on the costs. The second major thing I'd do is remove everything from the semi-dedicated room the system is in that I didn't want in there.

All in all, I suppose the back pressure is good as it keeps a bit of anticipation in the hobby. -Kirk

kthomas
Kelly,
A friend once described owning a big sailboat akin to sitting on a block of ice in the shower and throwing 20's in the toilet. I don't think of owning one of those and a pony as a cheaper alternative to this hobby ;-)

Although my marriage is NOT something I'd do differently ... absent it, I certainly would divert some landscaping and furnishings expenses over to the audio side. I'd become more of an early adopter of new technology rather than waiting for it to hit mainstream pricing levels. I'd do a lot more DIY experimenting, which of course would leave a lot of unfinished trial-and-error prototypes in highly visible listening positions much of the time. And I'm much more of a live music junkie than she, so actually I'd spend less time listening in the house and more in front of a band.

Sarah,
I'd be interested in your impressions of the 1SC's mated with some of your different pre/amp combo's - has this appeared in any threads to which you've contributed?

Tim
I think you guys forgot to mention the kids as well, in addition to the wife. Although I love them all so dearly, I would definitely be in audio nirvana with the money that comes out of the monthly paycheck to support the family. I guess the world really is divided into the haves and the have nots, that is, those with wife and those without, those with kids and those without, which are probably highly correlated with those with super audio systems and those without..... :)
Hi Dave, thanks for the offer for my hand, but as Justlisten pointed out, I'd better stay single so there's never any occasion for dividing up the property! As far as listening to the 1SC's on all the different amps, I've only owned them since I've had my tube amps, so I never heard them on solid state. I love them on the ARC CA-50, but I had to give them a good two weeks of all-day radio playing before they came to life. They really sound spectacular now, and I am okay w/having sold the Beethovens and Ayres to downsize to the Proacs and CA-50 (plus my Rel sub, of course; there'd be no bass without it). I am still really curious about the SET low watt sound, esp. with these speakers, but I'm through messing around for now.
Wow! Sarah you're one of a kind. I've had girlfriends who loved great music but never gave a hoot for how it's reproduced. My wife, who is from Trinidad Tobago is in that category but also has gotten so used to the great reproduction with my systems (I have an upstairs and downstairs sys.) She says if I die she's keeping it all. Also she can tell immediately when we visit someone's house how crappy their tv speakers or music system sounds.
Since I was single until age 33 I've been on both sides of the fence and what of course was nice is that when you're single you can buy whatever you want and not answer to anyone. And believe me, you cannot sneak new cables or a new component past my wife.. "what's that new box? that wasn't there before! how much did that one cost? WHAT? you paid WHAT? no presents for you this Christmas!