I had told my wife I was going to buy a turntable and have been buying vinyl for the last 6 months. Well, about a week ago I bought the table, a VPI Super scoutmaster.
I got the tt home and my wife said ,"It will be nice that you can finally play your albums" I looked at here and said I still need a phono stage and cartridge. She couldn't beleive it. Not to mention the record cleaning machine, stylus pressure guage , etc.
When she was asking the price of the cartridge(diamond needle)she felt that would be better spent for a new shiny sparkly for her finger.
Anyone else with a similar experience with the significant other not relizing all that is required for a vinyl system.
Moonguy, I love the Gingko guys...both very nice people, however, when I tried the platform with MY turntable, it made matters much worse. Bearpaws make it much better. Bearpaws are adjustable up and down..so the fit is fine.
I liked some of your responses.I am lucky that I don't have to ask if I can buy that, my wife knows this is my hobby.
She was however shocked that it was going to cost thousands more for a phono stage and cartridge.
When I bought my last pre, I bought a nice diamond ring which my step son said was to soften the blow.
Are the bear paw feet the same height as the stock feet on the superscoutmaster as it has to mate with the external drive unit? Also , I plan on getting the 2 peice Gingko cloud base for the scoutmaster.
You neglected to budget a bribe for your wife when buying an expensive toy for yourself? You told her the truth about the real cost of stereo gear? For pity's sake, man, keep quiet about cables and NOS tubes, or you'll completely blow it. And she won't.
Nandric - If you need to have this discussion prior to getting married then you should already know that you're talking to the wrong person.
I have always made sure that my wife is well taken care of so that when I do choose to spent money on toys it's not a selfish purchase. When we were first married I got her a new flute that was much better quality than the one she had and even though she doesn't play it a lot, it's one of her favorite things.
Not only do I like to have nice things, but I much prefer for her to also have nice things.
If you know what's required prior to making a purchase make sure she's fully informed so that she doesn't think that you're constantly changing the plan.
You wouldn't like it if she came home with a new dress and then you found out that she also wanted new shoes and a purse that were also expensive. You'd prefer to know upfront, return the favor.
By the way, Moonguy....when you get your turntable, dump the VPI minifeet and screw in Bearpaws.... Vermontaudio.com Still another add-on to be reckoned with.
My wife always thought that a jewelry concession should always exist in hi end stereo stores. She thought they would make more money from sparkling minerals than from black boxes.
11-01-11: Hevac1 Thats why you do not bring anything home for the system unless it is complete.
I think this quote from Hevac1 says it all (according to me)..... If you have a nit-picky wife like many of us do (since this hobby is mostly about lots of discretionary income) then you'll have to get way smarter about managing your wife. Be wise about what you disclose about your intentions to upgrade or add new equipment, etc. Be wise when yo disclose that there's a new addition to the electronics, etc. You'll have to refrain from opening your mouth upon every idle thought you have re. your system, your desires for improvement of the system & your intentions to upgrade. Otherwise, it looks like, you're going to get in a lot of trouble..... It looks like you will need to do what you have to do before you'll get a chance to do what you want to do.
This is just one of the subjects that one should think about before marriage. However even Einstein made some serious mistakes. BTW I never meet a wife not coplaining about her husband.
That's the problem with vinyl, a cdp can be plug and play, with vinyl there's always something next. Table, arm, cartridge, phono stage, cables, weights, isolation, will it ever end? If only digits sounded as good...
I would just reason with her. Something like ...... "But gee honey, you're an overly expensive frivolous toy also, and I don't complain". That should work. Such great negotiating skills and I've never even been married!!
Let's be real here - getting into vinyl now and from scratch is a totally discretionary luxury spend. It's what someone might do if they have the big bag of excess funds to blow - it's just not a necessity. Buying all that gear & associated goodies is buying a lot of expensive man-toys (sorry, Elizabeth...). You apparently did not fully include your significant other/partner-in-marriage as part of the purchase plans nor shared the overall budget before you acted and now you wonder why you didn't realize the full extent of your overall purchase requirements?
BTW - we'd suggest you make sure the price of the sparkly or whatever toy you buy to mollify your wife very closely approximates the total cost of your latest batch of toys...
Thats why you do not bring anything home for the system unless it is complete. My wife knows this is a never ending money hungry hobby, but I'm happy. I think she looks at it as money in the bank.
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