Being a sensitive young man who still holds on to the possibility of gentle and loving togetherness, I'm a little appalled at the use on these forums of phrases such as 'the wife factor' and acronyms like 'SWMBO'.
As an antedote to this, I'd like to invite all partners of Linn owners to join our forum and tell us some stories. What annoys you most about living with an audiophile? What could Linn do to ease the pain?
Don't be shy.
Regarding speaker's she say's. "You can buy anything you like, just as long as they are white"
I haven't taking advantage of this offer - yet...
Does Komri's come i white ??? :-)
We both work full time and have kept our bank accounts separate. My wife spends her money on what she wants and I spend what I want with mine.
Additionally, she appreciates that I get a lot of enjoyment from music, either seen live or well reproduced at home.
There are limits though. I went from Keilidhs to Espeks, and on first seeing them, she said "...they are big aren't they and they're not pretty". She has also seen Akurates without the grilles on and she thinks that they're downright ugly. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder I suppose, but even so, in the interests of marital harmony, I don't think I shall be getting either the Akurates or Klimax/Artikulates!
A bit of understanding and compromise where appropriate.
My wife has been great in supporting me build my system. She has usually been by my side when in listening dems and has a good ear. She has never dictated that appearance comes before sound quality.
I now have a dedicted listening room and needed to change speakers as my Keilidhs were booming. My local Linn retailer came to the rescue with a pair of Akurate 212's and my wife's first comment was "they don't look very good considering the price". After 30 minutes she was talking about how we were going to finance the purchase. You can't get better than that.
Orpheus
I am glad to say that I am in a similar position to Orpheus. My SO will complain about how far the speakers are out into the room - until she hears how much worse they sound closer to the wall and then she'll agree they should be out there. And this is with the ATC SCM100ASLs - not the most attractive speaker ever made as it is a big box on a metal stand. Luckily I broke her in on the black Isobariks I owned when she met me so she is used to big boxes on stands. They now reside in the front of my home theater where they will stay as long as they function - I have a hard time imagining a much better home theater speaker.
She always complains when I want to do some A/Bs (those 20 second bits of music get to her) but she definitely appreciates the improvement and generally ends up asking "So how are you going to finance this upgrade?"
I found it amusing as well, especially after all the Linn hype about the "Georgeous" Artikulat speakers that her first comment upon seeing the 350As was "What are those ugly things?" So if there is a WAF the Artikulats certainly didn't make the cut.
My wife thinks Hi fi is for playing records and cds,the same way money is for spending!!?(Status doesn't come in to it),but then she's a psychologist.....but don't worry guys she says you're all treatable,but it'll cost you a lot more than any poxy Linn system(aktiv)
I can buy anything I can afford but I'm not allowed to sell her Sara's
What annoys you most about living with an audiophile? What could Linn do to ease the pain?
First, the SHE is living with a music lover, not an audiophile 
What could Linn do to ease the pain?
1/ Reducing prices so the HE can upgrade without long discussions in the kitchen 
2/ Continue with long term support of old equipment, also performance upgrades of existing equipment, so the HE can use that is the argumentation when buying the new equipment (i.e. the entry fee is high but you also get long term dedication and support)
3/ good, unique design (Klimax boxes)
My SO didn't quite get it until I sat her down and explained the Tune Dem. Then I made her listen to some of her favorite music for the first time through a Linn system and all of a sudden it clicked... she started hearing detail in the music that she hadn't heard before. She was still unconvinced until she got used to listening to the Linn system and now she notices wherever she goes how terrible everyone else sounds!
The one time she put her foot down was when I kitted out the Living room with a 5.1 setup. She insisted that I was only allowed to buy Komponents (or a similar non-Linn speaker) purely down to aesthetics to this day, this is a battle I wish I'd won!
As far as Linn easing the pain... Let me buy them direct and pick them up from the factory 15 miles away. This way you could cut out the middle-man (I don't need a dealer to teach me the tune-dem again!) and let me buy more on my limted funds!
As far as Linn easing the pain... Let me buy them direct and pick them up from the factory 15 miles away. This way you could cut out the middle-man (I don't need a dealer to teach me the tune-dem again!) and let me buy more on my limted funds!
Lucky guy!!!!