Can the WAF Kill an Audio System?


I have looked over a lot of system pics that members have posted and have read many comments about the Wife Approval Factor. Some systems look so clean it looks like the cleaning person just left. I am wondering if the WAF is at play here or if some folks just like a room than looks neat and tidy? A cleaning person could help with the dust factor in my room but could not help its looks -- with unsightly wiring, accessories and tweaks all over the place. Frankly, if my room were good looking my system would be DOA. The SQ of my system depends on this unsightly mess. A Wife Disapproval Factor (WDF) would kill my system. How about your system? Do you wish you had more freedom to do as you please or is everything just fine with your situation and your room?
sabai
We have a long standing agreement in our house. The biggest room is under my complete control for the stereo.  The basement is mine for exercise equipment. The rest of the house is up to her to do as she wishes. I sweeten the deal by remaining quiet when she buys or does something that I don't "get". 
With a bit of planning, it is possible to have both - a system that sounds good and that is also attractive and neat and tidy. (For the record, I live alone.)
gshepardbuster,

We have a similar arrangement in our house. Works well.

gsm18439,

"Neat and tidy" and good sound" are opposites in my room. When it was tidy the sound was not good. The more untidy it gets the better the sound. Sound wins hands down. There’s no going back.
To each his own madness, but I believe that if your system doesn't look good, it really won't sound good.  Of course, a room and system that looks like a hurricane just ran through it can actually sound amazing, but I would not want to sit and listen to music (organized sound) in a disorganized room.

How would you feel about boarding a commercial aircraft who's construction and maintenance appeared "untidy"?
I buy anything i want when i want it my wife loves all my stuff and i get no problems ever!!
My wife is awesome and loves the system. . . I did involve her in buying my equipment rack because I knew that was in important factor in looks and she needed the plants so I had to get creative with getting a vertical lattice at the window. The system looks and sounds better for it :)

- Steve
when you buy her new coffee tables just be sure there is sub in each one
Randy-11

Lol you looked at my profile. I thought it was a perfect solution! Don't you? 

- Steve
when you buy her new coffee tables just be sure there is sub in each one

HA!
About 15 years ago I bought my wife an "end table" to sit between our recliners....of course it also is a subwoofer.   ;^)

I have a dedicated room, and it is mine alone.  She can do what she wishes with the rest of the house. I really could care less about the decorating of other parts of the house, as long as it's done tastefully. This works well in our home.

Many years ago I too bought an "end table" that was actually a subwoofer. LOL

I just retired and decided to upgrade my system.  After doing look/listen research, I first took my wife to see the new OLED TVs.  That sold her on the new tv, all I had to do was I talk up the better sounds we would get from new speakers.  A week later, divine intervention!  My six year old Integra pre-pro had the audio side go DOA.  After talking to my audio shop, they found me a McIntosh MX -121 at the factory, at a hose-out price.  YEA!  I have always wanted a Mac, so I the end my wife agreed to the whole system.  Of course we also had to buy summer shoes, build new landscaping borders, and I am still paying back. LOL!  It was worth it, is all I have to say.  Good luck to all the married guys out there.
We have a quad level house. I get the family room and office. She gets the living room and bedroom to decorate any way she wants. We negotiate the kitchen, extra rooms and main bathroom. I get the garage and she can have the basement. works out great for both of us. I get any kind of audio gear I want and her thing is jewelry
I’ve been in the audio hobby for many decades and frankly I MUCH prefer a clean looking room. I see so many "only an audiophile could love" rooms with wires, tweaks, gear everywhere, which to me looks like the audiophile equivalent of a dorm room.

Audiophiles tend to be excited by the gear so of course there is a large contingent of "I paid for this gear and I want to see every inch of it." That goes even for speaker drivers "I want to see every bit of technology that is producing the sound!" To me this desire to have every bit of gear exposed and laid out in front of me while listening to music is as enticing as wanting to live in a house where every bit of wiring and plumbing is exposed.

I do love some audio jewellery, especially a great looking pair of speakers and tube amps. But the last thing that fits in the category of "great aesthetics" are cables of any sort, IMO.

So I go for the cleanest look I can, and I really do want the speakers to be as attractive as possible, though I don’t care to look at speaker drivers.  My wires are hidden and run to sources housed in a different room, and the decor of the room and speakers are selected to blend as best as possible.  Using this approach I’ve put together many fine systems in my room, where the aesthetics are very pleasing to me, my wife and guests, and when music is played that takes front and center not the technology.

It can be done, you just have to have the desire. Like dressing nicely to go to a restaurant...:-)

Of course it can be done , IF you have the abode and money to do it which 
not everyone does.
I doubt if anyone enjoys looking at a tangle of wire but for some no other course is feasible .
There are always parameters, WAF is just another. Certainly doesn’t make anything impossible. I think some guys just start feeling sorry for themselves.
Dedicated listening room with a dedicated AC line.
If your system is in the living room, you end up with a compromised listening room and a compromised living room.

Tom

hide the components behind a false wall & run it via an IR sensor

then buy some "room dividers" - the 20.7's are best