The wife has spoken!!! (1 Viewer)

[Andy Sz]

Rory,
Thanks for the info.....I am intrigued by the HTD Middies. Does anyone know where I might find a review on them?

 

[Hal_J]

andy (and others), i have posted several wise-a$$ replies, and this one is meant to be serious. if you and your wife bring home bose, or some htib, or wireup a 7.1 system using baby-monitor-intercom speakers, and you like it, thats good. im happy for you.

there are two ways to approach home theater, and life in general. you can be happy with what youve got, and or you can be pining for what you didnt get.

i choose to enjoy what i have, and be vigilant for good luck for future upgrades.

and sometimes you have to take a step back in order to begin moving forward. i now recommend buying whatever your wife wants. no matter what. but engage her and involve her in the purchasing decision. share all the reviews and data you can get. but tell her three things.

1. it's a joint process researching equipment, but you will yield to her.
2. that you will respect her decision.
3. that you love her.

and do this - ask her opinion on stuff. i made some mistakes early on. i used to come blasting into the house *telling* my g-friend what was the best. this was unproductive. so instead i started blasting into the house *asking* what she thought about things. i wanted her to be an equal in the process. i wanted us to do this together. i wanted us to both like the equipment. thus i had to be patient, and i had to be willing to focus on her thoughts about home theater. that involved shutting my big mouth and listening to her.

it worked. home theater is somehting that brings us together, not drive us apart. and in doing it this way, we are both way more willing to make compromises. nobody 'won' and nobody 'lost.'

its worth the effort. and it sounds like this is exactly what you are doing. good job. keep us posted, it's fun to get a glimpse of other people's process like this!

 

[Rory Buszka]

The Middies are all-new, and for that reason they haven't had much of a chance to be reviewed. But Home Theater Direct has a tremendous reputation of providing very high-quality speakers for a small price because they manufacture the speakers and sell directly through their website (hence the name Home Theater Direct.) And, seeing that the Middies are rated down to 100 Hz, they may actually be the mini-speaker with the best midrange.

Also, see if Crutchfield will let you try the SubSonic Platinum in your house for a while. If you decide the two 6.5" woofers don't beat you up with bass to the extent that you'd like, tou can return it and look into the Sunfire True Subwoofer Junior. But the Carver Sunfire true subwoofers are very expensive, I understand.

 

[Jeffrey Forner]

Thanks for the info.....I am intrigued by the HTD Middies. Does anyone know where I might find a review on them?

It's funny you should bring up the middies. I have not had an opportunity to listen to them myself, so I can't tell you how they sound.
However, I can tell you from experience that Home Theater Direct is an outstanding company that makes some very nice speakers. In fact, when I upgraded to a set of HTD Level III speakers a couple years, they replaced a set of Bose Acoustimass 10 speakers that I had purchased. (Now you know why I care so much about this!) Best of all, I spent roughly half as much money on these and they sounded twice as good. The fact that the Middies cost about the same amount bodes well for them, in my opinion. Best of all, you can order them and try them out for 30 days risk-free. If you don't like the way they sound. If you are a first-time customer, you can return them at no cost. I highly suggest you give them a shot.
Show them to your wife and see what she thinks.

 

[Bob_Babcock]

I am one of the lucky ones as well my wife loves our system as well, no sub yet but the HTD III due well on their own, she loves the cherry wood finish it "matches" our other stuff. Our only problems we can’t decide want to get with our tax return new future, a RPHDTV, our sub woofer.

 

[Rory Buszka]

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bump-a-lump-a-ding-dong

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[Eric_L]

"I would get a new wife or a new hobby"

Bad answer, keep the hobby, keep the wife, just be a man for once.

It is a fact that most divorces are over money. Most money problems are over demasculated boys who can't earn their wife's respect.

I think it is time for many of you to 'be the man'. There comes a time when you just gotta puff up and say, "Woman, this is how it is going to be'. She may not like it, but she will respect you.

Too many of us just roll over like whooped pansies. There is no respecting that.

Dont let her argue. If she does, just be quiet and say it again. "Woman, this is how it is going to be."

No compromise, no discussion. Just do it.

My wife has decorated the ENTIRE house as she pleases. It looks great. I placed speakers and a retractable screen in one room and she had the balls to refer to the room as 'a complete loss'.

I made clear that she has decorated the whole house without any complaints from me. My choice to add these things does not qualify the room as a complete loss. I do not need to excuse myself for living in my own home.

Since then she has come up with some useful suggestions on placement and wireing. Once she knew that I was goig to be rigid on this, she decided to work with instead of against me.

Now, use this approach consistiently and you will be happy. Respect your wife's wishes, but when she gets out of line, be firm. Never yell, Never whine. Just calmly say 'Woman, this is how it is going to be'.

If she goes overboard, just watch her with amusement, then repeat the line again. (ok, maybe soften it just a little - but you know what I mean)

If she won't respect your wishes, then she won't respect you. Make sure you also respect her and you will have a happy marriage.

Three keys to a successful marriage:

1) A daily compliment
2) Respect
3) stop having sex with strangers

 

[Steve Zimmerman]

I have three pieces of advice:
(1) Keep perspective. Every couple has areas in which they agree and disagree. Sure, HT is an important hobby of mine--but it's only a hobby and there are other more important areas in which my wife and I totally agree.
(2) Be patient. If you love audio/video, you can afford to be patient about it. There would be nothing wrong in the grand scheme of things to spend less money now on a small system and frugally save your money with the understanding that you will be able to have "your own" HT room when you move into a bigger home. If it really is a priority, then make it one by curbing your other hobbies and saving up for a larger home in which you can have your own space.
(3) Use creativity. My wife's biggest concerns where (a) the size of the CS-Ultra and (b) the amount of money my HT stuff was going to cost. But instead of fighting those points, I found creative ways to satisfy us both. I saved enough to buy two TVs and she got to spend her half on what she wanted and I got my 55" TV. Instead of one CS Ultra that would have been plainly visible in our family room, I ended up getting *two* HSU VTF-3s because they could be hidden behind an overstuff chair. Finally, since I have my own services business, I found that I can barter with dealers (my services in excange for their gear) so I was able to completely dissolve the "but it costs too much" argument.
--Steve

 

[Andy Sz]

Eric,
I'm not a man?????? Actually, the fact that I insist on her agreement is the sign of a TRUE man. What kind of man TELLS his wife how it's going to be? Same one that clubbed her over the head when they met like some caveman? Same one that goes out with the boys every night and leaves her home with the kids?

Frankly, I would NEVER tell my wife "This is how it WILL be". You talk about respect. How about respecting the opinions of the woman you marry? She has a mind and she's allowed to use it.

I don't want to get into some relationship analysis here. This is a HT forum. Let's keep it to that, eh?

 

[Eric_L]

Hehehe;


''...clubbed her over the head when they met like some caveman'' That's funny!

Why is it that when a man asserts himself to his spouse he always ends up with a neanderthal reference? At least here you can't point out my uni-brow! (well, I guess NOW you can! doh!)

Never intended to call you, or anyone here, a non-man. 'Be the man' is the more current version of 'wear the pants'.

There is nothing wrong with asserting yourself - to anyone. Just choose carefully the things you value and assert yourself only with respect. If your partner respects you then you will find it rewarding. If your partner does not respect you, then you will either earn her respect or lose her - win/win in that situation.

In my situation my wife respected my decision and lended her support once she saw that it was important to me.

Back to the original theme of this post...

"Am I fighting a hopeless battle"...

Yes, you are. With small speakers you need the 6th channel. Period. You need to decide if this is worth asserting yourself on or giving up on and going shopping for a dress you look good in. (only kidding)

 

[Andy Sz]

Well, we returned the JBL scs150 last night and "bought" the Bose AM6-III. I set it up and popped in LOTR. The wife immediately remarked that the highs seemed much crisper than the JBL's. I immediately remarked that the mids and lows were nearly non-existent. Therefore, the Bose are going back and my search continues.

On my list to do heavy research on:
HTD Middies
HTD Level II- although they may be too big for her liking
Paradigm Atoms/Micros
Energy Take 5.x

any others you recommend ???????

i'm thinking maybe i can get a decent set of bookshelfs for the front with a good center and then get something on the small side for the rears. ultimately, i'd (we'd) love rears close to the size of the bose cubes as they fit in well with the room.

 

[Cagri]

Andy, you may check out the wharfedale modus cube or micro. They are almost same size with bose cubes, but much cheaper and much more musical. Modus cubes retail for around $50 in England, I think you can find them in the US as well.http://www.wharfedale.co.uk/vivendi.htm

 

[Brett DiMichele]

Hey Rory,
Thanks for posting my Bose Acoustimass review from
Audio Review.Com
Honestly, anyone that would wire an Acoustimass system
up to a 3 thousand dollar reciever is nuts but that's
just my opinion

 

[Brett DiMichele]

Hey Andy,
I know I posted some snide remarks in this thread concerning
who controls the household..
Of course I was kidding around and the smilies denoted
my joking mannerism I hope..
Have you considered M&K ?
Check this out.... (And no I have not heard this system
but M&K is a well known and well respected name in home
and pro audio, I doubt this system would be a let down.)
Link Removed
Link Removed
Honestly this is probably the only system you will find that
is damn near bose sized that will actually perform. They
have a real tweeter in those cubies.

 

[Steve WC]

Andy,
The new Sound and Vision reviews 4 really nice systems.
Also you might check out this Dahlquist system:
http://www.audioshop.on.ca/dallypacks.htm
on sale for about $450us.

 

[Rory Buszka]

Yeah, get rid of those Bose. That Acoustimass module they ship with them now goes a bit deeper, but it is still sluggish. But at least it's better than the kind that shipped with the older Acoustimasses. It still suffers from handling too much midrange and it is still poorly-made. Their cubes are still crap.

If you crank up the bass and LFE controls on the Acoustimass module it distorts horribly on big bass. You can hear it because bumps start to sound like whoof and sputter.

Good thing you went with the 6's to demonstrate the Bose lack of quality. The cubes probably wouldn't have been able to fill your room anyway.

When you get the Middies, keep in mind that the Middies still need that little Pinnacle woofer to sound decent. You may find that you stick with them, though, on account of their small size and faithful reproduction of the midrange. HTD middies are also a lot cheaper than the other options you mentioned. If you could get away with pairing the Middies with the Level Two's subwoofer, you should be on your way in no time at all, but your wife would think the Pinnacle SubSonic is cute and want to stick with that.

 

[BobSle]

Why not check out the Mirage Omnisats? They're really cool looking and are getting great reviews. I just bought the floorstanders (250's) because they sounded great and had a high WAF (at least in my case). She just loved the look of the Omnisats as well.
Also, check out the 'Pocket Martin Logans' thread on AVS Forum if you want to read about what some audiophiles think about them.
Do a search on Yahoo for 'Mirage Omnisat' and you'll find links to professional reviews.

BTW, I laughed my behind off reading your thread!! WAF is a touchy subject!!

 

[Eric_L]

Have you thought about getting a 'down' firing sub and disguising it as a coffee table?

 

[Andy Sz]

The mirage omnisats are little out of the budget. And there's NO WAY i'm replacing her ethan allen coffee table!

right now, i'm leaning towards the htd middies. i've been trading e-mails with chris over at htd. he gave me the middie sub dimensions (14x 11x 15(HxWxD)). that should rate high on the WAF so i may give them a try.

if i do audition the middies, i'll give you a "non-audiophile" mini-review.