Does it / Do they pass the wife test? Speakers

I have had Maggie MGA IIIa', Spendor SP 9/1's and SP 100's, tall & thin Soliloquy 5.3's and stand mounted Soliloquy SM 2A3's, and everything in between and then I got a pair of vintage Quad ESL 63's (which normally have a dubious, at best WAF) with cherry top and bottoms and the original brown cloth and she absoultely loved them. Soooo "retro looking" she said, "not to mention their amazing sound". So go figure..

I think the only true WAF speakers are invisible. You need to try a different track. Pick the speakers you want, then ask her to choose between those and two much uglier speakers....just a thought.

It depends what your wife likes. If she likes nice hardwoods, find a good speaker with a really nice cabinet in her wood of choice. Try to minimize black screen cloth. My latest speaker selection, Meadowlark Ospreys, was okay with my wife because of their beautiful cherry cabinets. My wife hated my previous beloved Merlin 4+'s and the Vandersteen 2Ci's prior to that. No big black speakers for wifey!

Go for the Diapason Adamantes they are piece of Art.

When it comes to equipment/speakers that look as good as they sound, atleast to the female gender, think Italian or French. My JM Lab Mini Utopias have always been well received by women. If you're willing to consider used, the Minis are smaller than your 104.2s and are frequenly listed on Audiogon.