[Photon46]

My wife's a sweetheart about my audio gear. She really doesn't object to anything, even room treatments. It helps that the audio gear is in a different room than the living room. We both have an understanding about when budgetary matters allow for guilt free equipment upgrades, money's never been an issue. HOWEVER, she has definitely gotten irritated with me when my GAS has gotten out of hand. GAS as in "guitar acquisition syndrome." Anytime I end up with more than six guitars at any given time, the hints are not so subtle that it's time to thin the herd. I can't say I really disagree though. There's only so many I really play, six is probably overkill in all honesty. You know how it is though, the siren call of a new six string can be powerful indeed.

[PhilNYC]

So I'm curious how you guys get the toys past your
better half.  Perhaps we can all learn from each other
and get more in the future!

Can't wait to hear what you come up with!

I became a dealer....

[brj]

(Brj loves the story about her painting my audio room while I was at the Superbowl last year)

Oh, come on - any woman that not only gives up the largest living area in the house to her husband's audio pursuit, but volunteers to paint it while he is at the Superbowl is automatically up for the audio wife of the decade award!  Never mind the fact that she actually finished most of the 8 foot tall room treatments.... or buys him a new audio rack... or a new listening chair... or... or... or...  amazingly enough, the list goes on!   

Time to go buy her some more artwork.... or a vacation that doesn't involve "compounds"!

Either way... 

[Daygloworange]

HOWEVER, she has definitely gotten irritated with me when my GAS has gotten out of hand. GAS as in "guitar acquisition syndrome." Anytime I end up with more than six guitars at any given time, the hints are not so subtle that it's time to thin the herd.

Stand your ground duuuuuude!!!   

Women have shoes  .....We have gitrs!      

You know how it is though, the siren call of a new six string can be powerful indeed.

You're preaching to the choir dude!

Cheers 

[arthurs]

Time to go buy her some more artwork.... or a vacation that doesn't involve "compounds"!

Either way... 

I asked her if I could get her something nice for herself, I think she said she really wants to see what the computer based audio with mods is all about, I told her I will work on it....................I have no shame....

[JLM]

Like others as fortunate, I have an audio man cave, so it'd take months for wifey to find any new toys.  But the last couple of years it seems that I'm flipping more stuff than buying and the purchases have been less expensive.  As mentioned above my audio habit is much cheaper than hunting, golfing, boating, etc. could be.

The big one was custom commissioned speakers that we picked up 900 miles from home (sort of on our way home from vacation).  Renting the U-haul to bring them home didn't help either.     But it was all part of the deal with the man cave (to move from where I wanted to live to where she wanted to live).

[geezer]

My wife is one of the great ones. She has never quibbled about any of my audio purchases.

By the way, her name is Anna. I call her Annie. She insists that when I write it I always use this old fashioned spelling. I wonder why?

(Does anyone know the plural form of the Latin-derived word "anus"?

[sabes]

ok, is there anyone else out there honest enough to admit that they sneak the equipment in under cover of darkness, sprinkle it liberally with dust, and respond to queries from she-who-must-not-be-named with a casual "this old thing? it came with the house"...funded, of course, with offshore accounts, corporate credit cards, various ill-gotten gains and complicit college roommates...i feel another bout of counselling coming on...

[brj]

Time to go buy her some more artwork.... or a vacation that doesn't involve "compounds"!

Either way... 

I asked her if I could get her something nice for herself, I think she said she really wants to see what the computer based audio with mods is all about, I told her I will work on it....................I have no shame....

  Have you had your hearing checked lately?

Frankly, the fact that she knows your dealer says a lot right there... helping you get your fix and all...

[mgalusha]

I'm very fortunate in this regard as well. In our old house she tolerated Vandy 3A's in the living room, which are some pretty damned ugly speakers and I had a dedicated HT in the basement. Fortunately she knew about my audio junkiness before we got married, she came over one day and saw the 4ft high sub I was building and was all for it.

If Art's wife gets audio wife of the decade award for painting while he went to the Super Bowl (which is truly awesome) mine is running a close second. My dedicated listening room is done except for painting the trim and putting in the lights and carpet. She insisted that it get built sooner rather than later and was willing to sacrifice having the new grass put on the property for it, she also painted it this past weekend while I spent the time at my workbench hacking on the DCX. Gotta love a wife that will paint your listening room while you are building gear to put in it.

Yep, she's an angel IMO. Oh yeah, anytime I have folks over to listen she insists on laying out a spread so no one goes hungry. I think it was Josh who mentioned that she likes him to play DJ. Funny, Mary is expressing that with the new listening room she won't be able to hear my music. I found that the perfect reason to put an SB3 in the living room and sync it with my primary SB.

[TONEPUB]

My wife and I had that discussion on the third date.  I told her if the
hifi was a problem, she needed a different boyfriend.

Fortunately, 16 years later, she's still here!

[John151]

Three old cliches have proven valuable for me and my audio gear:  1)  Ignorance is bliss,  2)  out of sight, out of mind, and 3) Hear no evil, speak no evil.  So long as she does not know how much stuff costs (she never asks), and she does not have to see the stuff, and she is not bothered by the music, ,then all is well.   I had the basement finished a few years ago so I could keep my two loves separate. Part of the basement project involved sound proofing, so she can't hear me playing late at night.   However, even in the man cave, the Maggies were too conspicuous, and had to be removed from the premises.

[arthurs]

Jeff, food for thought....you could do a short profile of some of the tolerant audio wives listed in this thread with an accompanying pic or two of them in their spouses listening rooms and a short Q&A for perspective....would probably help the overall audio community to be able to share stories of other put upon wives with our own and for those of us blessed with tolerant wives, give them some recognition beyond our groveling! 

WAF of the Month!

[Affordable$$Audio]

Jeff:
My wife and I have come to a simple agreement, any money I earn on the side from eBay or Craigslist is mine to spend on audio as I please.  regular income goes for the necessities and anything else to keep me out of the doghouse

[TONEPUB]

Jeff, food for thought....you could do a short profile of some of the tolerant audio wives listed in this thread with an accompanying pic or two of them in their spouses listening rooms and a short Q&A for perspective....would probably help the overall audio community to be able to share stories of other put upon wives with our own and for those of us blessed with tolerant wives, give them some recognition beyond our groveling! 

WAF of the Month!

We actually have a story or two in the pipeline, that's why I started this thread.  Now that we will be featuring a female
writer that will be reviewing gear on a regular, we will be getting her perspective a lot more going forward.

As a happily married guy, I think I understand somewhat the dynamics of negotiation with this stuff.  But another key
fact is that women like to talk about stuff they want to buy (like couches, etc) as an "US" purchase.  They will say things
like, "That stereo is for you, but the COUCH is for the whole family to enjoy.."

The key is to move as many electronics purchases to the US side of the spreadsheet as possible.

Case in point, when we had the Sooloos music server in for review, my wife said "we need to get this thing,
it's great!"  To which I said: "Seeing you like it too, does it count as an US purchase?"

She agreed and I didn't have to fight her on the Sooloos.  And to make it even better, our teenage
daughter spends about 80% of the time she used to spend watching TV listening to music.  And my
mother in law (who is awesome) always plays with it when she comes over, so it truly is something
that the whole family does enjoy.

So if we can get our better halves more excited about the experience it will get easier to buy
the stuff we want in the first place.

Guys are you with me?