I'm Audio Screwed!!!

[BottomFeeder]

Ach! My wife & I know little about home decorating & we've pretty much had the same furniture for many, many years. Well, we asked a couple of home decorating titans (friends) to work with our house, beginning w/our living room, where my system lives...(yeah)

Long story short, the living room looks terrific, but my speakers are pretty much blocked by a couch just a few feet away. The place looks great, but audio wise, I'm totally screwed. There's no place to sit and listen without the speakers being blocked.

I've tried to make it work somehow - had an audio ace friend take a look at the living room - and he pronounced me "done!" and told me that I might as well box up my system and buy Blose!

Arg! I'm bummed! I just had my system all tuned in and sounding sooo sweet! I'm probably going to keep my electronics, sell my speakers and, when a daughter moves out (in a few months) put my system & some smaller speakers in her room.

Ah well, I think it'll work out for the best. I'll get a real man cave where I can set up a nice system and listen at nice volume w/o bothering anyone. So while I'm bummed to be parting w/my Acoustics, I think I might live...eventually.

Whining over. At least for now...:(

[joeparaski]

A man cave is where its at....for now....you're screwed.

JOe

[SKsolutions]

HGTV is killing men one system at a time.

[nooshinjohn]

I say fight back... hire a couple bar buddies to come over and "steal" all the furniture, leaving behind just one chair and your audio system in place:D

[Sherardp]

What would it cost to add-on a dedicated room? I would seek other options, perhaps DIY if that's possible.

[Keiko]

You're welcome to come hang out at my place bro to get your listen on. :)

[renowilliams]

I'm pretty much in the same boat as you. When my daughter heads off to college next year, I will be making my man cave. She informed us last week that she wants to spend another year in high school to take some extra credits. I told her mother that this is totally unacceptable. You wanna bet who'll lose on this one. Thats right, good ole dad....lol

[danger boy]

Brent, that's a tough position to be in. as i know how much you love your system. I'm sure your room looks great though. It's a compromise... and I hope that some other room works in your favor.

Maybe in the mean time you can use a decent pair of headphones. Headphones today sound so much better than they did way back when I was a youngin'. ;)

[wingnut4772]

I love interior design (or decorating ) and I ALWAYS work around my system. Reclaim your space or make one just for you.

[Keiko]

Headphones today sound so much better than they did way back when I was a youngin'. ;)

Ah yes, I remember them days Al. Two dixie cups and a piece of kite string. Cutting edge technology back in the day. :p

[scottnbnj]

stop what you're doing right now and go buy dedicated sets of furniture sliders for the sofa and listening chair. peace will be restored within seconds.

)

[BottomFeeder]

Hey, thanks everyone for commiserating with me. Unlike most, you folks understand how much enjoyment being able to really listen to music can bring. I love some of your suggestions...:)

It's pretty obvious now that moving in when a daughter moves out is my best option. I'm in no hurry - in fact I love keeping my daughters around as long as possible - but it's inevitable that they'll move out and one is giving it serious consideration right now.

Putting a system in what will become something of a multi-purpose room (spare bedroom, office &, most importantly, listening room) is really the best situation for us. Whenever I listened to music in our living room, I was always afraid that I was playing it too loud, preventing my family from enjoying whatever they were doing because I was enjoying what I was doing. That just aint right. Putting a system in a room means our living room looks its best, no one gets blasted out and I can hole up on occasion and really enjoy listening.

I'd appreciate anyone's recommendation of "small room" speakers. In my first post, I erroneously called my speakers "Acoustics" & they're actually "Aerial Acoustics Model Six." They're simply terrific but I can't see putting them into a small bedroom sized room. Right now I'm thinking about some Totem Arros as I've heard nothing but stellar things about them, but I'm open to whatever...

[ranjosh]

stop what you're doing right now and go buy dedicated sets of furniture sliders for the sofa and listening chair. peace will be restored within seconds.

)

yeah better to have a new furniture sliders, more unique..


_________________
Programmable thermostat

[shack]

I feel sorry for all you guys that have to take the WAF into consideration before you do anything. Seems like the the guys that bring it up always talk about compromising...but the wives are never the ones giving up anything. My wife can do whatever she want in most of the rooms of our house...I don't care. The den where my rigs are is the way I want it. I don't have to ask for her approval or opinion. (and don't) She is welcome to use and enjoy it...but not change it or complain about it.

[nguyendot]

That's one of the rules I laid down in my house. Decorate around my speakers, but do not interfere.

[SolidSqual]

Leave your wife. My girl would never do that to me. Yours doesn't love you for you. ;) Unless she's committed to you building a dedicated listening room in your backyard accessible only by a tunnel with an entrance disguised as a refrigerator in your existing home kitchen, I wouldn't stay.

[renowilliams]

There is definatley has to be some comprimise in a marriage. My wife never complains about what I spend on audio gear. I would like to get more gear and expand my set up but in the current room its in, that isn't possible. So we both agree to wait till our daughter moves out.She understands that I'm interested in audio, but doesn't understand why we need more gear than what we currently have. She is starting to see what the search for better sound gives us in terms of home entertainment. One of her girlfriends loves to come here and watch movies with her....lol

[W WALDECKER]

Hey Bottom Feeder,I moved into my new house 13 months ago and my little sister and my adult daughter whom i both love dearly had all kinds of plans as to how to arrange the furniture in my 15' x 30' livingroom. I on the other hand had other ideas and set the parameters of this space based on my two channel rig with the furnishings arranged around it. I suggest that you set up your rig in this space for optimum performance first and then arrange the furnishings to work around it.good luck....WCW III

[SolidSqual]

Man Cave. Subterranean. Floating-Floor. Kegerator.

[dcmeigs]

I rarely cry, but I shed a tear on this one. That's pure tragedy.

Headphones are your route to salvation. Get a pair of these headphones. They are 300 ohm impedance so you will also need to buid yourself one of these in the headphone amp configuration. You will be back in business and your lovely wife and sofa will be happy too.

[mantis]

Bro ,
all is not lost. There are plenty of things we can do to get you a audiophile experience without having speakers sit on the floor. Onwall speakers by Paradigm and Definitive Technology will get you where you wanna be. With a nice Inwall or small sub in room , together we will make magic.

Post or send me some pic's of your room and I will help you get the right gear. We can even relocate all the gear in another room or closet , get a RF remote and call it a day bro. In ceiling also work extremely well.

Dan

[cnh]

That's a generous offer from Dan (Mantis). I'd take him up on it.

As for me...since I do all the electronics stuff in the house, I pretty much call the shots in the both the HT area and in my office. Well, and the bedroom, if truth be told. My wife thinks I'm batty and that audio and HT are a waste of my time? And I don't agree with her. My demeanor is pretty much in line with a kind Ghostbusters theme song rewrite...If you can't get set it up, and you can't get it right....who you gonna call....your HUSBAND!

So that pretty much brings the debate to a close. Not that I don't hear it when it comes to 'some' purchases I may have to forgo to keep the family harmony. But I can't complain.

You'll be OK BFeeder! Dan ought to know how to solve this one, it's what he does!

cnh

[mmadden28]

My wife had finally heard the light, so she now trusts my judgement when it comes to setting up audio wherever it may be. I keep her decorating interests in mind though, its the least I can do. But that doesn't stop her from asking me how much it cost.
I'll sacrifice the sound for a month or two when the Christmas tree comes out, but after that...

[tonyb]

I hear ya,I too kind of got screwed along the same lines.
Never got an ear on that particular model,but the ears do remember the 10t and even better,20t's.Outstanding.

[BottomFeeder]

Wow, haven't been here in a long time & so haven't read a lot of these (mostly ;)) helpful opinions and observations. Really, I truly appreciate your concern and your (Dan) offer to help! True audio bro's!

However, I'm back in bidness! I've been putting together a system in our bedroom and, while it's still pretty compromised by furniture, still sounds pretty dang good.

I am not one of those - yet - who is fortunate enough to have an extra room where I can set my stuff up like I wish. However, a daughter will be moving out soon and then! Oh baby! Mine! Mine! MINE!!!

Thanks again, everyone.

[NotaSuv]

I feel sorry for all you guys that have to take the WAF into consideration before you do anything. Seems like the the guys that bring it up always talk about compromising...but the wives are never the ones giving up anything. My wife can do whatever she want in most of the rooms of our house...I don't care. The den where my rigs are is the way I want it. I don't have to ask for her approval or opinion. (and don't) She is welcome to use and enjoy it...but not change it or complain about it.

2X in this house too. Lani has her rooms and can do whatever she wants but the living room is mine, hell the speakers in rotation now are taller than she is.

[NotaSuv]

Bro ,
all is not lost. There are plenty of things we can do to get you a audiophile experience without having speakers sit on the floor. Onwall speakers by Paradigm and Definitive Technology will get you where you wanna be. With a nice Inwall or small sub in room , together we will make magic.

Post or send me some pic's of your room and I will help you get the right gear. We can even relocate all the gear in another room or closet , get a RF remote and call it a day bro. In ceiling also work extremely well.

Dan

Audio marriage advisor "WAF audio expert".............a whole new niche for you Dan ;)

[rayslifecycle]

My wife is very satisfied with my big speakers as they rock her world

[Knucklehead]

My wonderful wife gave me a wall for the TV and my crap.....everything else is hers.;)