Need help with Spouse Approval

[ralph-bway]

Hi all,

Just showed the wife my plans for 2 eight foot tall, 8 cubic foot TL subs, and the 2 eight foot tall line arrays to go with them.

I thought she'd like the idea. She hit me in the head with a stick.

It occured to me (as I rubbed the rapidly rising lump on my head) that this is a subject sorely lacking helpful advise.

Anyone want to share their experiences, and much much more importantly, any suggestions (preferably suggestions that have worked).

I wasn't sure if I should post this here or in everything else. But it seems we have a free rein with electronics as long as we don't short out the neighborhood or electrocute the dog.

[bzdang]

Get her to buy herself something expensive first. Then revisit the issue.

[Bill Fitzpatrick]

Post a photo of the area in which you want them placed.

Not sure what the free reign with electronics has to do with it.

[fcel]

How about built a fake wall where you could open the wall when you want to listen to your toys. The wall could be built like a closet door, in a zig-zag shape, that can be fully open with the door collapsing to both side of the existing walls. I think you get the idea. If you can built speakers, building this fake wall is a piece of cake.

The only problem with this is that if you have to place your speakers too far out into the room, your wife would kill you for taking up so much real estate. Other than that, I don't see any wifes that could be so unreasonable to have their men not be able to enjoy their toys.

I have to say that I have not done something like this before. It's just an idea. So far in my married life, my wife have not given me any grief .... yet.

[Smithline]

The wife acceptance factor has been around as long as audio.Something that big will never do for a non audiophile.Think about sheer fabric screens,unfortunately most cloth that won't make them sound retched is not going to meet W.A.F. factors. GOOD LUCK !

[paulspencer]

I think keeping your spouse happy is about a certain mix of:

* creativity & good design - getting involved in the whole room

* bribery & trickery in the days, weeks, months leading up to unleashing your design (depending on how big the challenge)

If you are having trouble, then I say make sure you are getting involved in the design of the whole room. If you think only about your speakers in isolation of the room, then a style conscious woman is going to object. I would too. I'm fussy about speakers in the room, they have to integrate visually.

Maybe it's time to start thinking beyond just making a nice looking line array box. You could design them to look as if they are built in to the room. Build the TLs floor to ceiling with downfiring drivers. The visible box would then match the surrounding walls, as if it were a HVAC duct or a part of the envelope. Then design your arrays as if they are also built in. This would eliminate bafflestep and give you +3db of output. Put some interesting grilles on. Suddenly she does not have to deal with big speakers put into the room which is often a barrier. Now she is dealing with a modified building envelope.

Obviously she is interested in the room, so take things further. Can the room do with an interior upgrade? New furniture? Different colour? Window furnishings? Or perhaps some things need to leave the room, with some new stuff so there is a consistent theme in the room.

Start to think like an interior designer and your options will open right up. Work on also achieving what she wants, and she will be much more accomodating, if you are both then working to achieve what the other wants as well. The result is even more satisfying when you had to work hard to please your spouse with a different perspective.

[paulspencer]

Originally posted by Smithline
Something that big will never do for a non audiophile.Think about sheer fabric screens,unfortunately most cloth that won't make them sound retched is not going to meet W.A.F. factors. GOOD LUCK !

This is a symptom of having a focus that is too narrow. It's very easy to become fixated on your hobby. Your spouse is concerned with the look of the room as a whole and hence she is looking at thd bigger picture. If you do the same, then the rules are different.

Design a nice looking box and hope she will accept it ... that's playing by one set of rules.

Design everything to work as a whole ... different set of rules.

Don't underestimate the value of creative and lateral thinking when it comes to WAF

[johninCR]

What's with all this tip toeing around the issue. She got what she wanted in the other 99% of the living area, so you get to decide on how to use a few measely square feet. Just make it visually appealing and proportional to the room.

The key is how to get want you want without hard feelings. Calmly explain that it's something you really want to do, and that you guarantee it will sound really good and cost only X compared with something that will cost 4X from the store and not sound as good. Tell her you want her help in coming up with a design she can live with.

A pair of TL sonotube subs combined with a pair of line arrays is going to be difficult to make look good. Maybe you could hide the sub cabs in the ceiling. Another alternative would be "the coffin" double TL sub, which looks like a piece of furniture. Otherwise you'd have to disguise the subs by turning them into faux columns or matching them exactly to the walls to make them almost invisible.

Tall line arrays are going to be an easier sell because the small footprint makes them easier to fit in the decor of any room. Maybe you could even integrate the TL subs into the line array cab.

[Smithline]

A speaker is a speaker is a speaker=they want to be in the room,not jammed where someone doen't see them.As you know you can go to most houses and make the stereo sound better by putting the speakers where they belong.You can do all kinds of things to camaflage the speakers,but it takes months,you still have speaker wires,some piece of furnature blocking them etc.....I have done Greek pillars,faux finishes,fake marbel and all kinds of
scenic finishes,but you want a sound room and she doesn't.I even built speaker lamps at one time for back channels.The room itself could sound crappy,my wife is still mad about the acoustic treatments i did to our living.
it may be time for plan B . You are lucky,the subs can go in different places
than the arrays.An 8 foot tall speaker throws a gigantic sound stage,it should be a gigantic room say about 1800 square feet.Now if you want a fast speaker like most of us nim rods do,build to the room instead of building to the speakers,not as bad a compromise that you'd expect,think more about your sound stage being at ear level.YOU CAN DO IT !

[ALFIrE]

similar problem here...

I'll give the speakers as a Xmas present. There's no way she would throw them out that way!