Have you ever deceived your wife-audio purchase

I was away on business when my new Sound Lab U1X speakers arrived, I got a couple of email photos from my wife saying that some mysterious crates had turned up and customs were hassling for payment of import duty.
It cost me a holiday of a lifetime for her to forget those 'little' crates that I overlooked.
At the moment with system problems that I am having, her big put down is that, "my ipod sounds better than that" Ouch!

Cables and delivery of new vinyl purchases mostly arrive without comment from her - or just some spares arriving for work, dear!

Does hiding major audio purchases from your wife constitute a form of cheating? Maybe she has hid some purchases from you. If so, possibly your marriage certificate isn't worth the paper its printed on. I always clear a major audio purchase with her first but items under $200.00 (audio accessories like tubes etc) don't constitute a major purchase unless it is your last $200.00. By the way I have been married for 33 years.

Everything is done either through her paypal account or with CC, so I dont even try to hide anything. We pretty much decide what we want, and whats the best gear we can afford to get there, and buy it. She listens to the system almost as much as I do and enjoys upgrading and auditioning new things as much as me.

Tom_hankins sounds like you have the ideal relationship with your wife!

You know wife deception may be a more sensitive issue with some and not others. I will give an example: A while back an audiogon member had his amp listed for sale along with his phone number. I called to inquire and the guy told me that if I purchased his amp he wasn't going to be around to ship it! Asked why & he informed me his wife and kids just left him due to his audio purchases and he was ready to end his life. I talked to that guy for an hour and finally asked if he had any relatives nearby and said his Dad was close. Before hanging up he convinced me he would contact his father and he would be fine.

Another example: I called a fellow member on a preamp sale and talked to him briefly before his wife grabbed the phone and protestingly asked "Are you buying or selling?" I responded that I was buying, she said great and gave the phone back to her husband. I'm sure they are rare incidents.

Phd your absolutely right and we should probably be a little more careful about how things are worded. I am fortunate that my wife enjoys my hobby and is probably a bigger music fan than I. She's also more aware of things like "diminishing returns".
Looking back over this thread makes me realise there is a fine line between addictions and obsessing over ones hobby, and lets face it, it's no secret that most addictions can be hard on relationships.