Why aren't Women Obsessed with HiFi?

No disrespect to her, but I imagine that if I asked my wife to spell 'dac' she'd put the letter k on the end. That's how much she knows or cares about hi-fi. The TV is her realm in the evenings, the hi-fi mine. Every couple of months she'll ask to hear some music and really appreciates the Naim sound. I'm more than happy to indulge her. She'll eventually fall asleep in the listening chair, same as she does on the couch in front of the TV.

My wife and I listen to music together almost every evening. She uses the HiFi a great deal when I'm out for both radio and recorded music and she certainly enjoys the system; and she gets to judge the value of any upgrade too. Would she spend any decent money on a HiFi if she was on her own? I think within reason yes as she would miss the quality now.

The crucial difference is that she is not bothered about the 'how' only in the outcome. As a sweeping generalisation I think that is more typically a female trait that I'd apply to other things too. She uses a nice camera very effectively by learning the basics and concentrating on the image not the tech. I would say that obsessionality over objects is more typically a male trait. Perhaps obsessions in general!

I don't know whether she'd buy much new music if I was not around but she enjoys live music more than me and would probably go to more if I was not such a boring fart.

Not caring about the tech and only the music. Seems healthy to me!

Bruce

PS Joe-never start a post 'no disrespect, but..'. Ask Novak Djokovic how this tends to go!

I think Bruce summarised it quite neatly - it's not the 'how' that matters, but the sound quality at the end. And one more factor - ease of use! 

Now that I've programmed all our gear so that it can be operated with identical streamer remotes, my wife finds all those black boxes less intimidating. She told me she just wants the stuff to work, without having to remember which bloody input something is on

And by the by - she has a great ear for choosing good sounding interconnects and power cables

Kevin Richardson posted:

Have any of you ended relationships due to incompatible preferences in SQ presentations?

Oh Kevin, I'm sorry. Are you trying to tell us something?!

C.

My former other half was obsessed with hi-fi - how ugly it was, how much space it took up, how much it cost ,why there were so many boxes, etc.

My ex was not obsessed with hifi but she liked to listen to good music. And I still have to thank her for pushing me to buy the Veririty Audio Sarrastro instead of the Parcifal. Later upgrades she became less supportive......

Because they have handbags to fill that role...

It's a hangover from the 'hunter gatherer' gene...'Have you seen my bone collection?' 

G

Just had a brainwave... Women are INTO hi-fi! They really are, but it's smarter than we've imagined.

They quietly let us do it, occasionally pretending to complain about another box or some cables. But it's simply part of a game.

But ultimately they know it's either that (and they have as at home, under their control) or we go out with mates drinking. So in their cunning understanding of  a male nature, our partners have manipulated us into this hobby.

We've been elaborately trapped!

Happy Easter guys!

My wife loves music, and she will occasionally say how good the system sounds but she has no interest in hifi or in the quallity of playback as long as it goes loud.  Which is fine because we enjoy concerts together and music nights anyway and I can obsess over the equipment by myself

Helen listens to our various systems more than I do. We think of our HiFi broadly like we think of our music. We like what we like and we own what like within the limits of what we can afford. Past that we're too busy listening to music, sometimes together, to be overly concerned about the trivialities of what is playing it. We go to shops and do auditions together because we like doing things together and we like music.  I have been in relationships and witnessed relationships where the time devoted to fiddling with equipment, listening to music and the money involved was contentious. But that wasn't about the Hi-Fi or the music. People say it is, but it isn't.  Pragmatically if impractically, one should spend as much money and time as possible in getting the system right as soon as possible. Because you will fiddle about with it and talk about it less if it works seamlessly and invisibility.  Then it's just about the music. And if someone objects to music it's not really about music - is it?

Pam and I both love music and we listen together most of the time. Although she only takes a passing interest in the technicalities of it all she has a keener ear than me and fully appreciates any upgrade or fine adjustments that I we make. 

There is scientific investigative potential here. But it needs a female to do the investigation without any male influence - especially with the male not implying any recourse of not being able to be scientific without thinking about sex.

Kevin-W posted:

My former other half was obsessed with hi-fi - how ugly it was, how much space it took up, how much it cost ,why there were so many boxes, etc.

I am not using a wall shelf and have not bought any Fraim to ensure continued domestic harmony