Girlfriends and wifes, how do YOU cope?

Typical shrink, Detlof! What will you do, if your lady becomes a true audiophile in her own right? That's what I did. The motto here is more simple and more effective than yours:
If you can't beat them, join them.....and then beat them anyway, because mostly we hear better, especially into those details which make for PRAT.

I'm always amused by these threads. I don't see how dealing with audio expenditures are different than the various other negotiations, communications, and compromises that are part and parcel of relationships.

To some people, I would say that the difficulties they have in this area are the tip of a larger iceberg which they should work on.

Some folks seem to be more emotionally wedded to their audio gear than to their significant others. In these pathetic cases, I would advise getting out of their relationships if they can... Your priorities are elsewhere.

Most people who participate in these threads are just taking the opportunity to harmlessly vent. Also he says - she says is a popular formula at comedy clubs. Frivolity is good entertainment as are the largely frivolous luxuries (in the grand scheme of things) that are a focus of audiophiles.

Sek, you make an interesting point and most can hardly disagree. Certainly, hobbies should generally play second fiddle to a long term relationship. At the same time, good long term relationships are "give and take" so successful ones are usually those that allow everyone involved to express themselves and be themselves.

I would like to add though, that the gear and the music are wed (no pun intended). Food and shelter are certainly the highest priorities for everyone, but art is not frivolous (going back to pre-historic times, it has always had a place in even the most desperate conditions). The gear is much like the canvas -- necessary to convey what is really important. Do we tend to spend toooo much time on the gear? Sure. But that's our hobby, and the means to the passion: Music.

To your point, let's not let it interfere too much with all our other passions in life. Thanks again for the thoughts. With that said, let's keep having some fun with this ;-) Cheers.

Katharina, as you well know, I'm an old cynic, but I hope all the same, that neither you or anybody else took my post above seriously. I was just poking fun...Hope you come over soon, golden eared one, and I'll heat up the Quads. Cheers,

1 - get her into the sound of the system (even if you have to listen to horrid eighties music).

2 - make small changes on a regular basis - and ask her to give her opinion of the changes they make.

3 - choose a part of your system that you can roll over on a regular basis without changing the basic sound or spending much money at all ... then swap that part out just for the sake of change as often as possible.

4 - be open and honest about the costs involved in 2 & 3.

5 - make your major changes after she supports the small changes ... don't treat big changes any different than the small ones.

This strategy has worked for me very well as of late. One year ago my system was monitors on wooden milk crate with electronics not nearly as resolving as I would have liked. In the past week my wife has signed for the deliveries of my Hales Rev 3s and Classe CAP-150. She's actually on my case to get the CAP into the system so she can hear how it sounds!