WAF-Long rant

[www.records]

Something that has been bothering me a little for some time, so I thought I would throw it around the room a bit.

I don't fully understand nor agree with the Wife Approval Factor. Nope, I don't. I know some of you guys have wives that enjoy the music listening aspect of our hobby, but I seem to see a lot of emphasis placed on the WAF of a speaker, rather than what just sounds the best to you, the hobbyist. I know there are a few women hobbyists, but they are by far in the minority at the several audio forums I frequent. Most wives, if they participate in the hobby, seem to enjoy the sitting down and listening with their husbands. I know this is a generalization and doesn't always hold true. But there are many of us (myself included) whose significant other could care less about our audio/music obsession.

So I ask this question. Why is it so important for the wife to approve of how our system looks when it is mainly our hobby? What sounds best to us is what should really matter. Right?

I should also state that I have been happily married to the same woman for almost 29 years. We both make concessions to the other. I know she doesn't particularly like the looks of my LARGE Altec Model 17 box speakers (9 cu.ft. enclosures) nor my album collection, but she lets me enjoy both and doesn't say a word about it. She gladly lets me enjoy my hobby. When I got my speakers, it never dawned on me to ask my wife for her approval. I proudly brought them home and she could tell by the look on my face and my rambling that they brought me a lot of joy.

I guess I would have a problem tolerating it any other way. It makes me love my wife even more knowing she lets me indulge in my passion without her criticism or needing her visual approval.

Thanks for letting me rant.

[McIntosh]

Why is it so important for the wife to approve of how our system looks when it is mainly our hobby? What sounds best to us is what should really matter. Right?

Because in the long run, half the money (or in other terms, one of the speakers) is hers ;)

[Randy W]

Here's the answer:

You need your own room (preferably big, rectangular and damped).

[Larry L]

If you can buy whatever you want without consulting the wife, you are a lucky man.:edthumbs:

[jstraw]

Are you divorced yet?

[Drew]

Its a wonderful day to be single.

[www.records]

Are you divorced yet?


LOL, not yet and I doubt I ever will be. My wife and I let each other enjoy our hobbies without ridicule from the other. Most divorce I see comes from couples who try to control and manipulate the other to conform to their own ideals. My wife and I accept each other, warts and all. Like I said, we have been happily married nearly 29 years and still counting.:righton:

[Feisal K]

I've not seen WAF being such a big deal if the audio equipment is in a room by itself. it's an issue only when your system is in the living room

[stanley chicago]

This thread had to pick up steam sooner or later! My WAF is high, but if my gear was in the family room instead of the "music room" downstairs, I'll bet we'd have different rules! :agree:

[dmckean]

I don't understand it either, it's always my wife pushing me to buy the better stuff when we go listening saying I'm giong to end up buying it down the road anyway. She's yet to complain about the looks of any of my equipment.

[jstraw]

LOL, not yet and I doubt I ever will be. My wife and I let each other enjoy our hobbies without ridicule from the other. Most divorce I see comes from couples who try to control and manipulate the other to conform to their own ideals. My wife and I accept each other, warts and all. Like I said, we have been happily married nearly 29 years and still counting.:righton:

We just made it to 19 and we're following your lead. We give each other breathing room. But there are things I wouldn't put in our living room without her approval. Though I did just get my speakers moved 22 inches out from the wall with no friction.

We've also set up a budget where we each have an "allowance" so we can suppoert our hobbies without worrying the household finances.

[TONEPUB]

Sounds like you have a very nice and understanding wife...

I keep mine happy by keeping the big system out in the studio
and have something that sounds good and looks good (and is
much smaller) in the house.

Works fine both ways.

My ex wife was pretty grumpy about hifi, hence.....

[markshan]

I have never used the term WAF as literally as you do here. I have always used it to denote a general level of physical aesthetic (eye appeal) to a piece and not literally "wife approval" or certainly not the approval of my wife in particular.

Believe me, if my wife were all that concerned with the way something looks, she never would have became my wife to begin with!

[www.records]

Yes, I do think I did well in the spouse department. I also took over a small room about 7 years ago on the far end of the house for my man stuff. 3 kids are raised and we have a 3 bedroom house, so we are not cramped. We are considering downsizing houses though, but will take hobbies into consideration if we do move.

I am also not a buy it, try it and flip it guy. I haven't bought any audio gear in over 2 years so it's not like I am dragging stuff home on a weekly or monthly basis. I have been thinking of trying some tube rolling lately. Thats pretty harmless, eh?

[sberger]

Well, I guess I'm one of the lucky ones also. It's nearly 12 years for us. We live in a small (about 1400 sq feet) home, with an even smaller living room. This room is dominated by my rig(which includes 2 Klipsch Heresy speakers on 4 foot stands in the center of the room) about 1200 lp's, 1000 or so cd's, and a Nitty Gritty record cleaner. In the dining room is another 500 or so lp's. She has not only put up with the expenditures and aesthetic issues, but she has built all the Ikea cabinets that hold my(our) lp's, because, she likes it and is good at those kinds of things.

Don't get me wrong, we still have "discussions" about me cutting back on my record purchases, but all in all, I really couldn't ask for more.

[Billy Budapest]

So I ask this question. Why is it so important for the wife to approve of how our system looks when it is mainly our hobby? What sounds best to us is what should really matter. Right?

When I use the term WAF, I mainly use it to mean "getting approval from my wife to make an audio purchase, because we both control the money in the household and make joint purchasing decisions." It doesn't have too much to do with how a component looks, but rather how much it costs.

[Dillydipper]

I think the "real world scenario" demands that, if we choose to live with one another, we learn to make concessions that benefit all concerned. Negotiating approval for your selfish benefit opens you up to the reciprocal threat of having the same tactic threaten "your" space with a Barbie doll collection, or curio cases full of Precious Moments figurines.

I prefer to keep my indulgences from "enabling" my life partner to become the same threat to our resources. Her convertible and my Magneplaners would prevent OUR retirement next-egg, if "tit" escalated to "tat".

[luckyman]

If you can buy whatever you want without consulting the wife, you are a lucky man.:edthumbs:

:edthumbs:

[Kent Teffeteller]

Hi,

I am truly a lucky man! Ingrid loves large loudspeakers and lots of McIntosh and Marantz tube gear around the house. She also loves studio tape machines, round screen color TV, and vintage test equipment. No WAF needed here. The smallest speakers around here are a pair of B&W bookshelves. We are mainly cornerhorn people.

[RayistaGeoff]

I've not seen WAF being such a big deal if the audio equipment is in a room by itself. it's an issue only when your system is in the living room
Yeah, this is really it, I think. Where you've got to have your stuff set up in a communal space, it's more of an issue. But then on the other hand my wife has at various times had either her DIY equipment (drills, saws, workbench, etc.) or her gardening stuff (potting bench, pots, compost) in the dining room, so I guess we're kind of even. :)

Geoff

[MBERGHAU]

It's all part of the give and take in marriage. Audio gear, especially speakers are "furniture" and my wife usually takes part in all furniture decisions strictly from an aesthetic standpoint. She takes lots of pride in decorating the house and for me to get some [monster] futuristic looking speaker to sit beside her antique end tables is simply not happening. It would be the equivalent of her blasting top 40 on a boom box while I'm trying to enjoy a Mahler symphony in the living room. Just because we have different passions doesn't mean we can't agree on stuff.

I do have a nice pair of KEF towers which we both agreed upon and they do blend in well with the rest of the room without being too obnoxious or obvious.

[Neta]

man up people

[Danny]

What's this thread about?


;)

[makarushka]

Perhaps I have not been married long enough and am also very lucky but my wife and I share a common taste in most things -- that's why we're together in the first place! While she may not always directly participate in my music and audio obsession, she fully understands it, and, more to the original point, happens to have the same feeling aesthetically about large speakers and gear as I do; she thinks it all looks cool ;) So WAF factor for me is not a concern at all when evaluating gear, only sonics.

The only thing that may upset her is if a piece of gear, no matter how sweet looking, is sitting somewhere it does not belong for too long, but that would apply to most things around the house and not just audio gear...

[Grant]

Well, perhaps if more women would care about sound quality like we men do...