Stereo solutions to appease a not so understanding spouse
- Thread starter xs650shawn
- Start date
alienprophet
Super Member
Love it!
A marriage based on mutual respect??? What a concept.
I am also happily married and the Mrs. and I respect each others hobbies / interests.
The best advice I have is to get her involved. I had all modern gear, it was my wifes idea to get a turntable. She actually asked for one for her birthday. She had acquired here fathers collection of LPs. A rather large collection. We both love music and have a similar taste. (this helps!)
Now it has become a mutual interest that we share. We can kill an hour in the local record store ravaging through the bargain bins for that blast from the past. It has become something that we can do together.
Make compromises and let her have say in the style of a system in a common area. Hide the expedit and get some sensible modern bookshelf speakers. They are much more aesthetically pleasing nowadays. Put your gear on some sort of mcm buffet / credenza and keep it simple. TT, receiver, cd player.
Plus having her involved will make swapping and purchasing gear that much easier. The only question I ever hear is what kind of deal I got / how much I spent. Lovin CL and Goodwill!
Good Luck.
By the way, a system like this should be agreeable. (not my pic. It is from derekva on the "need suggestion for record cabinet" thread)
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atarione
Super Member
tell her the speakers stay then swat her on the butt and tell her to go get you a beer..
it is the only way =p
nah...not sure what to tell you,
I am happy to say i have broken up with any woman that started seeming like she was going to be a pain right away... just not going to deal with it.
my wife is a kewl chick and we like most of the same stuff she love vinyl and has her own vintage tt and receiver and speakers.
I don't gripe (much) about her shoes and she don't gripe much about my computer stuff / audio gear..etc
but mostly it has been pretty easy (in this regard) we don't really get into many fights/arguments and we have a bit more perspective even ..now 2yrs on from her cancer treatments.
but mostly just as a younger man...I just decided life was way to short to date / marry high maintenance women... and I stuck with it, It was sort of easy i guess for me cause meeting women interested in me was not that hard in my 20s and 30s for sure.
it is the only way =p
nah...not sure what to tell you,
I am happy to say i have broken up with any woman that started seeming like she was going to be a pain right away... just not going to deal with it.
my wife is a kewl chick and we like most of the same stuff she love vinyl and has her own vintage tt and receiver and speakers.
I don't gripe (much) about her shoes and she don't gripe much about my computer stuff / audio gear..etc
but mostly it has been pretty easy (in this regard) we don't really get into many fights/arguments and we have a bit more perspective even ..now 2yrs on from her cancer treatments.
but mostly just as a younger man...I just decided life was way to short to date / marry high maintenance women... and I stuck with it, It was sort of easy i guess for me cause meeting women interested in me was not that hard in my 20s and 30s for sure.
Perhaps it was the humility that got you the chicks?
All jokes aside, I like your approach......the moment they seem high maintenance, get the hell out.
Problem for me, my wife has one helluva poker face. :yes:
Didn't realize she is batty-nuts until too late.
But aren't all women just a little crazy? 28 days in the average lunar cycle, 28 days in the average menstrual cycle.
Not saying they're werewolves, but.....:scratch2:
I'm just goofing off here, mods, I love my wife, and women are one of the things I most enjoy about being a man. For sure.
atarione
Super Member
Perhaps it was the humility that got you the chicks?
lol.. maybe... i honestly think it was the fact i straight didn't care that much, weird but true if you got stuff going on and are not that worried about meeting women ...women will come after you.. also if you can make a girl laugh (not at your face ...but with you) you can probably get her.
in fact is I was rather shy in my teens and most of my early girlfriends where girls that came on to me...
but my wife does say my "modesty" is why she fell in love (I THINK SHE IS BEING SARCASTIC???) :scratch2:
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same boat, brother. Had I only known then what I eventually learned.....:sigh:
Coytee
Super Member
Show her someone else who's wife is putting up with this.... and then pick your (smaller) speaker of choice.
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=25574&d=1158340579
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=25574&d=1158340579
Show her someone else who's wife is putting up with this.... and then pick your (smaller) speaker of choice.
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=25574&d=1158340579
Putting up with what? The only issue I see is a dog's ass in a living room.
Putting up with what? The only issue I see is a dog's ass in a living room.
Be glad its not someone named Jay!
Lbgrrl
Beatles Fan
As a woman AND a vintage audio enthusiast, let me make a suggestion. The Expedit is the problem. I love records and think the equipment looks cool, but even I would not want a black Tower O Records in my living room. No. Look for a sleek retro/Danish modern cabinet, something lower and wider, with doors that will hide wires and other stuff. The receiver and turntable can sit on top of the cabinet. The records might need to take their Expedit and move elsewhere in the house.
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Expedit is not a proper piece of furniture in multi-use living room. In dedicated music room it would be more in place. If you do not have a dedicated room, I suggest to build cistom closet and keep records there. That way you will have easy access and no one sees them at the same time.
xs650shawn
Active Member
Wow, hadn't anticipated the types of responses this got. I can assure everyone, the bone of contention with my wife was always the speakers, and/or placement of them. She actually helped pick the expidit, which has a larger purpose in the grand scheme. We had long talked about a use for the other side of our "great room" where the TV was not the focus; a sitting area where we could read or whatever and not be distracted by the TV. Since getting back into having an actual stereo, I felt it also should be separate from the TV area. The expidit will serve as storage for my (growing) vinyl collection (my fascination with which is recent, but I don't think my wife will ever understand, and I don't expect her to), but also my large CD collection, and multitudes of books. The expidit is also probably not a permanent fixture, as we plan a built-in entertainment center in the future, where my wife plans on storing her books eventually. She later said that she was worried I was going to want "bigger" speakers in the future. Now I am not saying I won't want to upgrade later, but not necessarily to bigger speakers. I am currently content with the ones I have, monolithic as they are. I ended up moving everything to an adjacent wall, and I think it works better with the grand plan of the room. Plus, the wife is content with it where it is. If I simply rotate the speakers in a bit, the soundstage seems pretty good too.
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shawn wisely understands the basic precept of "Happy wife, happy life."
Well played, sir.
Well played, sir.
xs650shawn
Active Member
Well said.
xs650shawn
Active Member
No HT setup beyond television. Had one in past, never really used it. Now don't watch much television. What I do watch on regular basis is usually after the kids go to bed, so not able to use loud HT setup anyway.
There sure are a bunch of very beautiful small speakers that you do not even need a sub with - one member posted some black and white shots of some really beautiful small speakers - very nice looking setup yesterday. I understand she helped pick out the expedite - however there are smaller consoles that could hide everything nicely.
It cracks me up about the day I brought home some Cornwalls (craigslist add) - I told my wife I was heading out to pick up some older speakers - they might be big - she was like - okay (giving me a very questioning look) - anyhow - I was able to get away with it because we had a TV room where I shoved them - she was still very freaked out. I thought - ok - I'll have them beautifully refinished (to my wife they are just BIG beautifully finished speakers) - which I did - nope - they are still too large - but at this point we are cool.
Sometimes you just bring something home - get a rash of )*)()? about it - usually only a few minutes - and then it stays planted. "What a second turntable? what is wrong with your current one?" hahha.
Best of luck!
It cracks me up about the day I brought home some Cornwalls (craigslist add) - I told my wife I was heading out to pick up some older speakers - they might be big - she was like - okay (giving me a very questioning look) - anyhow - I was able to get away with it because we had a TV room where I shoved them - she was still very freaked out. I thought - ok - I'll have them beautifully refinished (to my wife they are just BIG beautifully finished speakers) - which I did - nope - they are still too large - but at this point we are cool.
Sometimes you just bring something home - get a rash of )*)()? about it - usually only a few minutes - and then it stays planted. "What a second turntable? what is wrong with your current one?" hahha.
Best of luck!
Most TV programs now are in 5.1, so surround setup makes sense even if you do not watch action movies. I have one in family room with main speakers good food music. I also play multichannel music from DVD-A and SACD there once in a while.
Hi Shawn,
Thanks for the feedback and clarification. Could we ask where you are located, and what are the speakers you have and their rough dimensions? If the Expedit 4 x 4 is 58 inches tall, then I'm assuming your speakers are roughly 32-34 inches tall x about 8-10 inches wide, and because they're up against the wall, say around 9-10 inches deep?
The placement against the wall and up against the expedit sides will block some of the center radiation and can really muck up the soundstage, plus the speakers may need to be tilted back or actually put up on stands to get the tweeters to sitting ear level. With the speakers pulled out a bit wider and toed-in, you can get some of that back, especially if you pull the speakers out to be front face even with the front of the Expedit.
At the risk of pushing the limits, you may wish to consider a more complete speaker that will still, in general, meet your visual needs, while giving you a really big boost in sound quality. You may need to upgrade your amplification as these are 4 ohms speakers though (check that your Yamaha receiver can push these, as they do like power).
The speakers that I'm suggesting would be the KEF 104/2. They have similar physical specifications (35.5 x 11 x 16.5 inches) but are deep enough so that even against the wall, they are almost flush with the front of the Expedit (Depth: 15 3/8 "). They come in a variety of finishes including black, teak, walnut, and rosewood, and they physically resemble your current speakers, perhaps on a bit of steroids! The grille even covers the bass port.
However, when properly resurrounded and center donuted (total of 4 each for the pair), tweeters checked and sorted out (drying ferrofluid, easily cleaned and re-fluided), and the crossover recapped), they will hold their own with almost anything out there, have excellent full range sound and image extremely well. Used models typically run $300-500, and hopefully local to you. Refurbishing can run about <$200, depending on you to do some of the work. There are a number of threads on AK about their refurbishment. They don't need stands as they were designed to work on the floor and sound axis tilts upward by design.
http://kef.com/html/en/explore/about_kef/museum/1980s/reference_series_104_2/index.html
http://kef.com/uploads/files/en/museum_pdf/80s/Reference_Series_Model_104_2_r.pdf
Here's some pics from the web:
See this page for some gorgeous Santos Rosewood Raymond Cooke Special Editions:
http://www.avforums.com/threads/kef-104-2-raymond-cooke-special-edition.1846348/
Thanks for the feedback and clarification. Could we ask where you are located, and what are the speakers you have and their rough dimensions? If the Expedit 4 x 4 is 58 inches tall, then I'm assuming your speakers are roughly 32-34 inches tall x about 8-10 inches wide, and because they're up against the wall, say around 9-10 inches deep?
The placement against the wall and up against the expedit sides will block some of the center radiation and can really muck up the soundstage, plus the speakers may need to be tilted back or actually put up on stands to get the tweeters to sitting ear level. With the speakers pulled out a bit wider and toed-in, you can get some of that back, especially if you pull the speakers out to be front face even with the front of the Expedit.
At the risk of pushing the limits, you may wish to consider a more complete speaker that will still, in general, meet your visual needs, while giving you a really big boost in sound quality. You may need to upgrade your amplification as these are 4 ohms speakers though (check that your Yamaha receiver can push these, as they do like power).
The speakers that I'm suggesting would be the KEF 104/2. They have similar physical specifications (35.5 x 11 x 16.5 inches) but are deep enough so that even against the wall, they are almost flush with the front of the Expedit (Depth: 15 3/8 "). They come in a variety of finishes including black, teak, walnut, and rosewood, and they physically resemble your current speakers, perhaps on a bit of steroids! The grille even covers the bass port.
However, when properly resurrounded and center donuted (total of 4 each for the pair), tweeters checked and sorted out (drying ferrofluid, easily cleaned and re-fluided), and the crossover recapped), they will hold their own with almost anything out there, have excellent full range sound and image extremely well. Used models typically run $300-500, and hopefully local to you. Refurbishing can run about <$200, depending on you to do some of the work. There are a number of threads on AK about their refurbishment. They don't need stands as they were designed to work on the floor and sound axis tilts upward by design.
http://kef.com/html/en/explore/about_kef/museum/1980s/reference_series_104_2/index.html
http://kef.com/uploads/files/en/museum_pdf/80s/Reference_Series_Model_104_2_r.pdf
Here's some pics from the web:
See this page for some gorgeous Santos Rosewood Raymond Cooke Special Editions:
http://www.avforums.com/threads/kef-104-2-raymond-cooke-special-edition.1846348/
Furniture But Not Racks
Don't want to hijack this thread but thought there would be overlap. Ive been meaning to start a thread on listening spaces with audio furniture but NOT TRADITIONAL racks. Here's a pic to get started. Moderator feel free to move to a new thread if this is an issue
Don't want to hijack this thread but thought there would be overlap. Ive been meaning to start a thread on listening spaces with audio furniture but NOT TRADITIONAL racks. Here's a pic to get started. Moderator feel free to move to a new thread if this is an issue
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