Welcome Everyone!

[LordoftheRingsEE]

...And the girls are full. ... of great tips too.

[kfr01]

Originally Posted by CFz

Hi Julian,
Thanks for welcome. I hope the Grand Veenas do work in my room. Since I'm planning on getting a used pair, it should be an incredible value.

Unfortunately things have hit a snag...I no longer have my wife's blessings at the moment. The deal was if I sold my current audio equipment and did not dip into our checkings/savings, she would be alright with the speakers. Well, she probably didn't think I would be able to pull it off but I have. I sold some of my home theater setup which consisted of Definitive Technology towers. I also sold some vintage receivers that I collected over the years in addition to some newer integrated receivers.

Now I have amassed the funds for the Grand Veenas, and now my wife thinks I'm crazy to spend 3-4k on a pair of speakers. I have not violated our agreement to not dip into the savings mind you, but she cannot fathom spending that kind of money on speakers and is daring me to do so

True there could be better timing, we just bought a house that needs some work. But, I never would have sold any of my current setup if I didn't think I could get something better! I see now that this was a misconception from the beginning to make me sell my speakers and, with the money, invest them into new floors or furniture instead of buying Veenas. Oh the joys of marriage

I'm still working on her, but it doesn't look promising. I think I may need to buy a puppy on the same day the Grand Veenas arrive.

If I get lucky enough to my wife's blessings for the Veenas, for the time being it will be used with a vintage Luxman R-1120 receiver which has been restored. It's a very warm, sweet, almost tube sounding solid state. The source would be the Sony PS1 or Audio GD Reference One DAC.

One day if funds permit, I would like to try the Veenas with the Leben CS600 or a Shindo preamp/amp combo.

In the meantime, I'll peruse the forums for tips on how to handle and work around the WAF.

Welcome. If I may say so, you made the classic mistake of involving her too deeply in the buying process. Consulting on aesthetics is OK, but price should be danced around like a professional tap-artist. If talk of price cannot be avoided, talk only in terms of the incremental cost relative to things that have been sold. You will be tempted to tell her of all the money you made with the latest sale; resist this temptation. Remember, nothing is about absolute numbers, only marginal differences. Imagine if you had just said "Honey, look what I was able to upgrade to for less than $500!" No problemo. Instead, you allowed her to consider the other things that your $4k could have been used on in your household.

Remember, there will ALWAYS be a vacation that should be saved for, or a room that needs remodeling, or -something- else that your wife values above your audio journey. One might think that involvement equals her getting excited about and endorsing the expenditure. Wrong. She probably will not understand why purchase X is worth Y thousand when her friends have a perfectly cute Bose system!

I jest somewhat here -- please don't get into trouble with your gal due to my advice. If open and honest conversations are a must, then you might need to start with used equipment for a few years ... until your relationship reaches that time-honored point where each of you just buy stuff without asking permission from the other. :-)

[chessman]

CFz, welcome aboard. I think Reference 3A makes some great speakers.

[CFz]

Thanks Chessman/Karl,
One day soon I hope to own a pair. I'm still fighting the good fight with the wife, but it seems like a losing battle at this point. She is daring me to buy them, telling me to "do whatever my conscience tells me is the right thing to do...". Well, my conscience is telling me to GO FOR IT!

Men truly are from Mars and women from...another galaxy.
I read somewhere that Einstein first tried to understand the female mind, became frustrated, and moved onto something a little easier to comprehend like quantum physics.

[kfr01]

Originally Posted by CFz

... She is daring me to buy them, telling me to "do whatever my conscience tells me is the right thing to do..."...

Yeah, you should buy them. It'll be fine. You just married her and gave her a house. You'll rarely have more credit with her than you have right now.

[jdandy]

Originally Posted by CFz

Thanks Chessman/Karl,
One day soon I hope to own a pair. I'm still fighting the good fight with the wife, but it seems like a losing battle at this point. She is daring me to buy them, telling me to "do whatever my conscience tells me is the right thing to do...". Well, my conscience is telling me to GO FOR IT!

Men truly are from Mars and women from...another galaxy.
I read somewhere that Einstein first tried to understand the female mind, became frustrated, and moved onto something a little easier to comprehend like quantum physics.

CFz.......Women are from Guilt. Men are from Pleasure. The two rarely see eye to eye with the exception of the occassional 20 minute interludes. Get what you want. If you wait for the blessing to come you'll look like Rip Van Winkle by the time it arrives.

[CFz]

Thanks for the comments Dan/Karl...I wonder, are either of you married?
And if so, do you recommend kevlar or dragon scales?

[kfr01]

Yup, very happily married.

Neither kevlar nor dragon scales are needed. Like I said, it'll be fine. Really! :-)

(edited to keep it light)

[Freestone]

Originally Posted by kfr01

Welcome. If I may say so, you made the classic mistake of involving her too deeply in the buying process. Consulting on aesthetics is OK, but price should be danced around like a professional tap-artist. If talk of price cannot be avoided, talk only in terms of the incremental cost relative to things that have been sold. You will be tempted to tell her of all the money you made with the latest sale; resist this temptation. Remember, nothing is about absolute numbers, only marginal differences. Imagine if you had just said "Honey, look what I was able to upgrade to for less than $500!" No problemo. Instead, you allowed her to consider the other things that your $4k could have been used on in your household.

Remember, there will ALWAYS be a vacation that should be saved for, or a room that needs remodeling, or -something- else that your wife values above your audio journey. One might think that involvement equals her getting excited about and endorsing the expenditure. Wrong. She probably will not understand why purchase X is worth Y thousand when her friends have a perfectly cute Bose system!

I jest somewhat here -- please don't get into trouble with your gal due to my advice. If open and honest conversations are a must, then you might need to start with used equipment for a few years ... until your relationship reaches that time-honored point where each of you just buy stuff without asking permission from the other. :-)

This made me laugh harder than anything else in the last month ---- thank you!!!

It is all so true. That "classic mistake.". We want a sounding board yet are seeding our own demise!!

Remember , when logic meets emotion logic loses every time.

[Masterlu]

Originally Posted by kfr01

Welcome. If I may say so, you made the classic mistake of involving her too deeply in the buying process. Consulting on aesthetics is OK, but price should be danced around like a professional tap-artist. If talk of price cannot be avoided, talk only in terms of the incremental cost relative to things that have been sold. You will be tempted to tell her of all the money you made with the latest sale; resist this temptation. Remember, nothing is about absolute numbers, only marginal differences. Imagine if you had just said "Honey, look what I was able to upgrade to for less than $500!" No problemo. Instead, you allowed her to consider the other things that your $4k could have been used on in your household.

Remember, there will ALWAYS be a vacation that should be saved for, or a room that needs remodeling, or -something- else that your wife values above your audio journey. One might think that involvement equals her getting excited about and endorsing the expenditure. Wrong. She probably will not understand why purchase X is worth Y thousand when her friends have a perfectly cute Bose system!

I jest somewhat here -- please don't get into trouble with your gal due to my advice. If open and honest conversations are a must, then you might need to start with used equipment for a few years ... until your relationship reaches that time-honored point where each of you just buy stuff without asking permission from the other. :-)