Wife hates new speakers......Sigh

Roger that! I agree with you on keeping the wife involved. Totally understand now about the confined quarters.

Ok can I dispel some misunderstandings?

1. I did not pull the wool over her eyes. I showed her pics and told her I would like to bid on them as they were an amazing speaker at a never to be repeated price. She watched me bid on them, asked how I went. She actively helped me search for a shipping company. When that failed she and I talked about the campervan option.

2. We do not own this house. There isn't a room available for a "man cave" as it is a 3 bedroom home. Master bedroom, office and spare room for guests.

3. The furniture we have is what we have. Wasting money on refurnishing a rental for a short span of (hopefully) 12 -18 months is not wise nor an option.

4. My wonderful wife is usually very tolerant. I think work pressures may have caused her to be a tad less accommodating than usual. We are both frustrated by our cramped spaces, more so her as it ruins her decorating and the way she feels. We are working on solving that problem somehow.

5. The space is a shared space. We do not have any other place in the whole little house for a TV unit. It is what it is.

6. We went out into the city last night and had Malaysian. Her idea and a nice evening. I think I'll be ok with the speakers now (maybe!) but I'm going to have to find ways to make the downstairs area more to her liking.

7. They sound phenomenal! :D


This will all work out I'm sure, do in fact it seems there is good communication between you both.


Barney
 
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I had a similar situation. I bought a pair of B&W 803s. My wife hated them from the get go. It was all about the tweeter mounted on top. She didn't like the looks of it. She was afraid of damaging it when she dusted etc. I barely had them a year and then sold them to keep the peace. There are plenty of great speakers out there. No need to fall in love with one set.
 
I hope you didn't loose too much money when selling your B&W's after 1 year.

What did you replace them with?
 
I went with Opera Loudpeakers (Quintas), an Italian manufacturer. Actually I am more pleased with the Operas than I was with the B&Ws.
 
My wife is awesome when it comes to speakers. At one time I had my 8ft long subwoofer under the 110" projection screen, flanked by 8ft. tall line array speakers, with Magnaplanar Tympani IVa in front of the line arrays. I gradually convinced her "bigger is better"
 
I would echo a few other comments(I didn't read every page). Those look like fabulous speakers, put them in storage, find a great pair of smaller (bookshelf if necessary) speakers. Then when you get a bigger place, hopefully with a family room you can turn into your own listening room/home theater, bring them back out again.

I couldn't find a retail price for those anywhere. But as a pure guess, $5,000 to $10,000/pr? Nice Marantz reciever, but IMHO, high end speakers like that deserve separate preamp/amp (not to start a war ;) ). In a larger room, that will help you get more out of them.
 
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Man, Homer! You've gotten a few bruises in here!
It sounds to me like you're doing OK by your wife, and apparently, she by you. Sounds like she had a bad day. Surely you have a good head on your shoulders, and your wife a good head on hers, too. As someone who's been married for a long-assed time, there are too many subtleties and nuanced responses possible to offer decent advice or consolation.

However... I'll try!

Don't get so distracted by the doohickeys and toys that you lose sight of the big picture, BUT ALSO don't become someone different for the sake of the marriage. You gotta be you (that's who she married, after all), but you also gotta be a considerate partner. I WILL say that it's not some damned testicular-strategy game, where you buy her shoes or some such crap like you're effing Ricky Ricardo. If you play that $h!t, she will too. Then you'll start questioning every nice thing she ever does for you. Just be you and let her be her. That may mean that the speakers don't get to stay, or it might mean she has to live with speakers she doesn't love. That's life.
 
Kids, happy wife, happy life! I’m speaking with 45 years of experience. :D

I’m lucky, my wife appreciates good sound. When I brought the latest speakers into the living room she said they are huge! I just said “smaller than the China cabinet” :rolleyes:

Then when she heard them, all complaints died ;)
 
Our plans have been ongoing for over 3 years. We had local government approval for the design however when the plans went to be certified there was an error in levels so we've had to pay more money to the local government for an approval to vary from the original levels.

So the house is stuck in red tape nonsense. No lack of trying!
It's pretty clear she is more frustrated with the red tape and delays of the new house than she is with the speakers .
 
Get either a pair of these:

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or a pair of these:

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Then tell her that the sale of the Magnats will recoup what you spent on the ugly speakers. You might find she is suddenly more predisposed to the looks of the Magnats. Mind you, if she adores the looks of either of them, you have a much bigger problem to deal with.
 
Geez I didn't think he was getting beat up, just a bunch of advice and experience sharing. That's just the way I would want it. Truthful and not sugar coated. With a little ribbing just for fun.

I would be very appreciative of that, personally.

Edit: hell, I'm happy if I get 3 replies on my threads.
 
If I buy something the wife hates, I'll just go into stealth mode for a while until the storm passes. Put the grills on the speakers, and just let them sit for a while. Don't play them, don't refer to them in any way, don't talk about them... just let them settle in and become part of the landscape. If that fails... think about renting a bigger house until the one you're building is done. Moving twice might be a pain, but there's benefits.

This just reminds me of how lucky I am. My wife would probably be overjoyed if I brought home four Peavey or Cerwin Vega PA speakers and stacked them in the living room. The only speakers she doesn't like aesthetically are what she calls "droid speakers"... anything that looks like it will sprout arms and legs start walking about the room like something out of Star Wars.
 
Put them in storage and let her know you did it to keep her happy. Then mope around for weeks acting like the world ended because you miss the speakers so much. If she doesn't break down and ask you to bring them back, then put the new house on fast track.

But really I love big speaker systems, but in small rooms you won't get their potential. A small system with a hidden sub will sound just as good.
 
Feel your small space dilemma. Previous house was shared TV Audio area, for 20 years. Audio was tolerated or "Too Loud".
 
Not to pile on, but the room looks way to small for them. Put them in storage until you get that larger space, until then bookshelf's on stands could be the ticket.
BTW very nice speakers you have there.


Best-

Boozehound
 
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This could be your chance to pick up an extra set of smaller speakers. Just tell her that you thought about her concerns and realized she is right, they are too big. Shop some different smaller ones. Put the big ones in storage. Then when you move to the new place, BOOM two sets ready to go! Maybe pickup another amp as well along the way before the move.

The chance to buy audio gear might become more difficult after you are in the new place. There is always "need something else first" it seems with home ownership.
 
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