Girlfriends and wifes, how do YOU cope?

I always tell the truth and either get an approval or not. I did however tell my wife that "our" Bel Canto DAC was a computer for the stereo (which it really is, but this does somehow "glorify" it a bit). To this day she introduces new visitors, to our home, (who are interested in the rig) to "the computer" for our stereo. Fifteen year olds are very impressed with this "line". I (we) are in a no spend mode right now, but I just purchased $100 worth of tubes today (which we can barely afford) and all that I did was ask. As a thank you for my wife's approval, I stopped by a thrift shop on the way back from the post office and picked her up a little gift for a dollar, which is a Princess Diana "Mix 'N' Match, Magnetic Dress Up Fun Kit", still in the shrink wrap. She loves Princess Diana stuff. The other agreement that we have made is that I have to sell other stuff (I have a lot of stuff) to offset the expense of the Hi-fi system. So far, including the $100 today, I am only in the hole $200 on over $6K of expenditures in the past year and I have kept up my part of this bargain. With the exception of my blood pressure readings, I have never lied to my wife.

My wife is very understanding. She understands I could be into any number of hobbies, which cost tons more money and take me out for the weekend.

Honetsty about what you can afford is the best approach. To finance my hobby, I drive a 5 year old, 4 cylinder econo-car which is paid for. My family enjoys watching DVDs with soundtrack through my stereo system. There is plenty of time to enjoy my music at other times. How many of you know someone who has an expensive boat which is used only a few times a year? How many people buy thousands of dollars worth of jet fuel every year and have only a few photos and stories to show for it? I use my stereo 365 days a year and enjoy every minute!

Girl friends and wives are easy to cope with, provided you follow some very simple audio rules that I've picked up from the audiogon site....

1) Try to find a truly balanced mate. Avoid the single ended type, as I hear they don't sound as good and tend to get a bit loose after a while.

2) Make sure she's solid state. Older tube types tend to burn out after too much use and are hard to find replacements for. (Tube swapping can be fun, but don't get caught.)

3) Be sure to use adequate room treatments. Mine likes Ethan Allan. Avoid Sears and Ikea, or your mate will constantly sound bad.

4) If you don't like what you hear after a few months, upgrade quickly to something else. Constant upgrading can be quite expensive.

5) Make sure that she has an adequate source of power in order to avoid unecessary static and interference. If that doesn't help, get her own dedicated line, plug her in, and leave her alone.

6) Give her a chance to warm up before you do any serious listening. This is especially helpful for tube wives, who can become sweet sounding and forgiving after you listened to them for half an hour or so.

7) Try to find a remote control model. If they're too loud you can simply turn them off without lifting your feet off the couch.

8) Certain new models can be programmed to respond to a series of commands, such as: "Honey, I'll be back by 2:00 AM", or Can you get me another beer from the fridge?" However, these models tend to be very expensive and hard to find on the open market. Those of us that do have them, tend not to part with them.

9) If they blow a fuse, it means you've accidently touched something that's overly sensistive, or she's got her wires crossed.

10) If the volume becomes too loud, leave the room and go put away dishes or clean something. The volume will be lower and less irritating when you return.

Above all, make sure you spend time listening to her each evening and be sure not to turn her off until you leave for work in the morning. --Lorne

I learned many many years ago from a pro...my father. My dad just turned eighty four a couple of months ago and I swear to God he's still sneaking equipment into the house! I don't want to sound disrespectful to my wife because she excels in so many other areas, but she really doesn't pay a whole lot of attention to the equipment. That's not to say that an entirely different set of speakers wouldn't turn her head, but if you change out an amp that looks similar or stay in a particular style of speaker albeit a more expensive one in the line, it makes it a little easier to slip it in the house. I once traded in my Spectral DMC-10 preamp that we had for many years for a Spectral DMC-20II that looked almost identical except the power supply was as large as the main unit. I told her that I bought a new power supply and that was the end of that discussion. Most women would commit their husbands to an asylum if they ever knew we'd spend some crazy money on a power cord. I'm thinking that she's thinking how much could a power cord cost? Twenty or thirty bucks tops...Speaker cables and interconnects are no brainers. No one other than us fanatics would consider paying the tidy sum equal to the price of a decent second car for a few feet of wire. I better get off this thing pronto. I think I hear my wife heading this way right now and I don't want her to know what I'm up to. Oh hi honey..