The Mechanics of WAF

You gave a perfectly absurd example. Trust me WAF is more complicated than that. My W is a musician and won't let me change the LR system even though we got better speakers for my system in the basement. She herself thinks they are better but the cherry cheeks don't match the maple LR furniture! plenty of room and I'll even keep the grill covers on!

Take a listen to Joe Jackson "Is you is or is you aint my baby" Lots of answers there.

I recently successfully established with my wife that my audio room is a separate "republic" from the household, like one of those Eastern European Reublics of Gilead or one of those independent states that keep up cropping up in Africa. As such, I am this room's "dictator," and, as its sole leader, I have a full right to recruit a new minister into my regime (buy a new tube amp) or sentence one of my political opponents to the Gulag (sell something on audiogon). The rest of the household is ruled by parliamentary democracy, with my wife as President, and me as Vice President. As President of the "mainland apartment", she regularly provides asylum for Italian dissidents (B&B and Casina furniture, ArteLuce lighting). I would suggest precisely this political division of power from male audiophiles suffering from WAF woes, as well as (this is absolutely essential) having separate credit cards with separate credit card bills at the end of the month. That way the wife never sees how much your republic spends on "internal affairs."

I agree with Onhwy61. A lot of audiophiles I know don't even consult their spouses, and this often results in marital discord--both for aesthetic concerns and the money spent. But the guys I know are generally buying these monster speakers that totally dominate the living area, not subtle bookshelf units or small, good-looking floorstanders that blend easily into the decor. Another problem is that many audiophiles don't have a dedicated room, so their toys must share a space that many women want clean and presentable. Me, I'm pretty lucky. I have a basement that I insisted be turned into a listening/viewing area. My wife, knowing that I spent most of my money on the house downpayment, willingly consented. She's made some mildly disparaging comments since--usually about the clutter--but overall she's been extremely tolerant and understanding.

I think a lot of the WAF claims is ads are white lies. I think in many of the cases the seller didn't like the sound of the speakers and is trying to unload them. I mean, would YOU buy speakers that someone says don't sound good? One would like to think it wouldn't matter, but audiophiles seems to be easily influenced by the written word and word of mouth - instead of their own ears.

As for WAF: I see where 7 foot tall, 1400lb behemoths might not work in most rooms, even large dedicated ones. But to me, the inverse is also true. If my wife were to redecorate the house and say, "sorry, there's no room for your stereo. You'll need to get one that you can hide." "Sorry sweetie. I'm moving in the 20.1/Rs then." I don't succumb to her 100% of the time and neither does she to me. Welcome to married life.

Luckily my wife shares my passion for music, so it's an easy compromise. But she does enjoy getting me to admit that often it's more about the gear or recording artifacts than about the music. Guilty as charged.