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How to Stand Up for Your Audio Setup ? Must Read

I am sure many of you has gotton into a terrible conflict with your "House-Ruling-Monster"... Your girl, your wife... Maybe right here, right now; whenyou are reaing this, you've just got out from one... seems like they can't stop complaining about your so called "Huge Big Black and Silver Boxes"... b_tch about your "Water Hoses"... claims that it's a waste of money & time... Shoots out "bullet" like a M16.

For once, maybe I can think of some Pre-Customized answers to those ANNOYING & UPSETTING complaints. They might be fight-causing but sometimes, they work just GREAT!
(**This is on your own risk! Dont come back crying if you get smacked or beaten up by your monster...)

TOP TEN "WHAT-TO-SAY WHEN...":

1.)When your wife complaints that you are spending too much money on "whatever-you-just-bought-home"...

ANSWER: Tell her that her $300.00 Gucci HandBag cost even more, because she ONLY use it for about 10 times in a year and each time is about 5 hours. 50 hours of usage makes her handbag's Average Hourly Value $6/hr. Your $900.00 "whatever-you-bought-home" WOULD BE CHEAPER, because you use that to listen to music almost everyday for at least 3 hrs a day, let's say 300 days out of 365 days in a year you listen to your music, 900 hrs of listening gives an Average Hourly Value of your interconnect to be $1.00/hr so it will still be cheaper. If the monster is still b_tching about it's price, suggest lower the amount of cuddling time and instead, higher the amount of time you will use with your rig, this way they Average Hourly Value will even be CHEAPER because you use them more...

2.)If your wife is claimming that you spend too much time with your Stereo...

ANSWER: Hobby is to release daily accumulated stress and to ease your mind from bad experiences and rough time throughout the day. They are in balanced ratio. The more stress you have, the longer time you will spend with your stereos... If you (your wife) can help reduce the stress with less complaints, it will also help reduce the time you spend with your rig.

3.) If she compaints that your speakers are too big...

ANSWER: Tell her that they are still smaller than her closet.

4.) If she claims that she wants a Home Theater too...

ANSWER: Sell one of your cheapest speaker cables and buy her a Sony/Technics/Teac/Philips Home Theater, make sure it has 10,000 colorful LEDs for her to look and 10,000 buttons for her to press.

5.) If she claims that your "Big Huge Black Speakers" are ugly...

ANSWER: Suggest buying a new one, usually Avalon, Genesis, Watt or those expensive speakers are also pretty, as well they usually sound better than the one you have.

6.) If she compaints that the ConEd bill is too high and she assumes it's because you have too many electronics...

ANSWER: Dumb the heater away and suggest to use your HUGE CLASS A AMPLIFIER or 12 TUBES AMPLIFIER for heating purposes instead.

7.) If she complaints that the TV is too small, and it look funny sitting in the middle of your "Big Huge Black Boxes"...

ANSWER: Get a projector!

8.) If she ask you to shut off your stereo so she can watch TV...

ANSWER: Get her a pair of Wireless Headphones...

9.) If she says that you have too many CDs/DVDs/LPs...

ANSWER: Tell her to go count how many pieces of clothings she has (it may take a day or two...), and suggest that either she can stop buying clothes and you will stop buying CDs also; or she can continue buying and so do you.

10.) If she EVER say she's gonna divorce you because she can't stand your hobby...

ANSWER: Divorce her and go marry your Stereos.

DISCLAIMER: Above is only a joke, I lay no responsiblity for anything bad (might be really bad) that happens if you really go use them. Situation varies and might result may be dfferent. On your own risk, my friend! Happy New Year!
infinity_audio
stne418
91 posts
 
Many people have hobbies. Unfortunately the husband and wife often do not share an interest in high end audio that is mutual and/or equal in intensity. Nevertheless, the best way to get your wife to ease up is to try to involve her in the experience, including the shopping, and to also take an interest in the music she likes too by buying it and playing it on the FAMILY'S high end system. Spend some "together time" in front of your (both of you is what I mean by the word "your") speakers! Maybe with some wine and cheese. Every CD doesn't have to be listened to intently. Converse, laugh etc.

In my case, I also, in addition to the above, remind her I loved music and good sound LONG before I met her and that her acceptance of me and my hobbies was part of the deal. If she felt so strongly against my system, which is tucked out of sight in one basement room of an 11 room house, she should have discussed it like we did chores, work, religion, childrearing, handling money, in-laws, career paths, grad school, politics and the like in our pre-marriage DATING period. Too late for me to give it up now.

It is important to buy enough house to be able to "hide" your system! Living and dining rooms belong to the WIFE!!!
Lose the living space battle WILLINGLY to win a future....

Have good saving habits...Your equipment should not putting the family future or present at risk. Buy with cash. Sell unused equipment asap.

We usually do not upgrade yearly or even every three years. My current preamp is 11 years old (1991)! We just got our first speakers in 17 years (used via Audiogon). I did most of the work, but she was pleased with the $2800 savings as compared to new at the dealer who was unwilling to meet HER very reasonable price expectations. By the way my wife made the previous purchase on 12/24/1985 as a Christmas gift, including negotiating the price and picking the excellent rosewood finish without me being present. WE (notice?) purchased amps in 1982, 1984, 1988 (tubes) and 1997.

So...don't be bringing expensive stuff that only marginally improves overall system performance to HER EARS in every new moon.
infinity_audio OP
186 posts
 
Lucky you.
nguyennd
2 posts
 
I have never married, so I do not have a wife to complaint about my audio equipment expenses. However, ever since I got laid off from my previous jobs, the women I dated made some jokes about my hobbies. They said, "Now, you can eat your stereos just in case you don't have money to buy groceries." :) I just laugh it off. I don't let it bother me. They don't care too much about good sound. To them, Guci watches, and hand bags tend to be more important. I quickly realize that they are not for me, simply because we do not have the same hobbies. I spend a lot of time listening to music, and they don't. Which means that there would be very time that we would spend together if we were to be married. We all have different hobbies, and I agree with the Infinity_Audio comments and appreciate his witty remarks and WILL use some of them when I have a wife. :) Now, I got to look for a job first.

Happy New Year everyone.
avideo
222 posts
 
I suppose I'm quite lucky. My girlfriend lives with me - but it's my home and long before she got here I had my main system set up in my living room.
And I did teach her how to use the tuner and CD player - so she can listen to whatever she likes when I'm not around. It also doesn't hurt that I take her to symphony concerts at least once each month; where we have very decent seats.
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