[vegasdave]

Again, the more I read into this thread, the more I feel it is more advantageous for an Audiophile to stay single. Or to live separately from a girlfriend. It seems to take a special significant other to understand this hobby. What is it about audio that brings out the demons in women?!?

And yes, there's overpricing in high end audio. It's been that way for 40 years. With Bryston for example, at least we know the quality going into it and them standing behind their products for 20 years.

[PRELUDE]

Even if you are the lucky one and answered yes, you still would have limitation for sure.
My brother is getting married next week and I told him you go and get the amp(4BSST2)and I will build the speakers for you soon but if you want to be on the safe side, do not tell her anything till I finish it then you always can have a excuse that it was a gift from my brother and you did not know about that.
Well, I found out the He did and seems like he wants to be a Mr. nice guy from day first and her first answer was:
MAKE SURE THEY NOT BIG

[kc8apf]

I married an electrical engineer.  Now she manages the audio team for Kindle products.  For 2-ch, she occasionally gives me a hard time about new amps/speakers.  For headphones, she's the one always getting something new.

[SteveFord]

I'd say yes, an audiophile can be happily married as long as you keep things in perspective.

Bringing home 20.7s which totally dominate a living room and blot out any hope of even a glimpse of the picture windows and carry a pretty hefty price tag, well...
Sometimes you go a little overboard and need to regroup!

Listening to music seems to be a solitary thing but the wife's stereo for watching TV and movies, well, that's a different animal altogether.
That they like!

[Chicago]

I have been married for 43 years and my better half doesn't always understand why I want a new gizmo but she rolls with it.  It helps that her hobby is more expensive than mine.  She has a horse and the cheapest part of owning a horse is the initial outlay to purchase one.  Horses come in three varieties, expensive, more expensive and most expensive.  They also live for about 25 years and the monthly expense never goes away and never goes down in price.  So I am pretty much covered unless I spend silly money on gear.  With that said the horse is all she ever spends money on and if I would have let her handle our finances we could have retired when we were about 30.   

[Pez]

Married and not only does my wife tolerate my crazy hobby I have my own dedicated room with full room treatment giant speakers and the works. On top of that I do my martial arts and travel a lot for that. I'm pretty set! 

[PDR]

Horses................

My wife is lucky that a horse owner can be happily married.
You think audiophools sneak stuff in behind their spouses back?
They got nothing on equestriaphools.....

And yes I have my own room.....and so do the horses,
the problem is theirs is nicer than mine!!

[Guy 13]

Hi all Audio Circle members.
I’ve been married to my Vietnamese wife for the last 18 years,
despite the difference of culture, etc…
I have my own listening room which is filled with many audio items.
I even have some of my audio stuff in (her/our) living room.
Of course I let her sing the Karaoke in the living room
and she leave me all by myself in my Penthouse listening room.
Works well for both of us,
However, I would like her to get interested in my stuff,
but she’s not and
I am not interested in signing Karaoke with her, therefore,
good arrangement for both of us.
Audiophile can be happily married with non audiophile wife.
It can get a little complicated when you want to put
your DIY stuff in her living room…
Which is not my case.
Lucky me.

Guy 13


 

[JLM]

Any loved one has a right (and obligation) to be upset (and confront) when a past time turns into an obsession (to the point of sickness, affecting well being of you/others). 

Signs that you might be sick (IMO):  Keeping secrets; ignoring loved ones; allowing it to affect your job/career; and/or touching your retirement funds.

These are OK (IMO):  Not moving into a nicer house/car when the current one meets the family's needs;  expecting access, in terms of space/time/money, to your hobby;  or doesn't exceed a pre-determined budgetary amount or routinely involve large impulse purchases (as defined case-by-case.)

[jupiterboy]

I got a hi-fi (more like mid-fi) system a few years after I got married. I shopped for a long while, and anytime I found a demo system that had real merit, I made an appointment and brought her in to listen. When we found an arrangement that captivated us both, which was very obvious to both of us, she wanted it as much as me. 2014 will be our 24th anniversary. We still have our original speakers and have outlasted our original integrated. The nights we have enjoyed listening together, not watching TV, but deeply listening to music we love have made our home a place we crave. Cooking together and hi-fi have been vital. We don’t make much, but we stay on budget and pay ourselves first, before we consider other pursuits.

[JLM]

I got a hi-fi (more like mid-fi) system a few years after I got married. I shopped for a long while, and anytime I found a demo system that had real merit, I made an appointment and brought her in to listen. When we found an arrangement that captivated us both, which was very obvious to both of us, she wanted it as much as me. 2014 will be our 24th anniversary. We still have our original speakers and have outlasted our original integrated. The nights we have enjoyed listening together, not watching TV, but deeply listening to music we love have made our home a place we crave. Cooking together and hi-fi have been vital. We don’t make much, but we stay on budget and pay ourselves first, before we consider other pursuits.

Good post, thanks for sharing.  I know an older couple who gave up TV in 1974 (Watergate).  That would help bring both together around the audio system.

[PRELUDE]

I got a hi-fi (more like mid-fi) system a few years after I got married. I shopped for a long while, and anytime I found a demo system that had real merit, I made an appointment and brought her in to listen. When we found an arrangement that captivated us both, which was very obvious to both of us, she wanted it as much as me. 2014 will be our 24th anniversary. We still have our original speakers and have outlasted our original integrated. The nights we have enjoyed listening together, not watching TV, but deeply listening to music we love have made our home a place we crave. Cooking together and hi-fi have been vital. We don’t make much, but we stay on budget and pay ourselves first, before we consider other pursuits.

Very nice answer and absolutely make sense.
NOTE:
I have never paid for any cable or satellite in my life.
I gave up TV in 1991 and I am happier then ever.

[kevin360]

My wife and I have been married for 33 years and I would consider it happily. When we met, she was a ballet dancer and I was a musician, so she was fully aware of my love for music. She likes it too, but she isn't as insane about it as I am. She has tolerated my obsession without apparent annoyance and I have kept my spending in check since we got married. In fact, my dedicated room was her idea. Well, she knew that it had been a desire of mine for decades, but it was she who suggested that it was time.

Signs that you might be sick (IMO):  Keeping secrets; ignoring loved ones; allowing it to affect your job/career; and/or touching your retirement funds.

I suppose that I am sick because I touched my retirement funds to build and fill it. Since I succumbed to the suggestion of including video (projector and drop screen), she enjoys that room too - a great place to enjoy a movie. We still have enough retirement money and I decided to keep working – 3 days a week. We own everything that we call ours. We'll be alright and it's something I'll thoroughly enjoy for the rest of my life - ditto that for my wife.

An audiophile can be happily married as long as he/she marries an understanding woman/man and the service of audiophilia doesn't get put ahead of fixing the roof, etc.

[thunderbrick]

.................... I feel it is more advantageous for an Audiophile to stay single.  What is it about audio that brings out the demons in women?!?

They are not demons unless they have to compete with your (audio/hot rod/sports/drinking) hobby.  If you make it clear she's your life's priority and support her interests then all should be well.  Either way we usually get what we deserve.   

Usually.   

[mav52]

I guess I'm lucky than most.  My wife and I both retired in our mid 50's.   My wife's hobby is wildlife photography and I don't mean using a point and shoot. her gear is all Nikon to include a D3S & a D800e and some holy smokes expensive Nikon long lens like the 500f4g vrII costing $8300, 300 2.8 vRII and a bunch of other lens, carbon tripods, Epson large format printers, paper, filters etc.. I support her hobby and she supports mine which also includes my other hobby, fishing.  Support your wives hobby and in most cases she will support yours of course she is making an additional income on her's and me, I'm just listening to music.