advertisement


Stuff you can't have for aesthetic reasons

R

RankingRoger

pfm Member
I have to pre-broke any new equipment with SWMBO if it is going anywhere apart from my office.

This has led to some major restrictions - no Shahinian, no Meridian DSP 7000/7200, no B & W 802s etc. Piano black finish coffins (Meridian DSP 5500s and Focal Aria 926) are fine. Electronics have been easier as I can hid boxes that do not have aesthetic approval ...

So what restrictions have you had?

And what is my next piano black finish coffin upgrade?
 
No Quad ESLs - but actually the room is too small as well as being cluttered - they wouldn`t have been workable anyway.
 
None, really. Mrs H wasn't keen on the looks of 'that lightbulb thing' as she referred to the valve amp I used to have, but it was my decision to biff it. I guess she'd not be keen on ESLs or similar, but I've never seriously considered buying them.
 
Im surprised at the 7000/7200 ban considering that 5500's are acceptable .. I had a pair for over 20 yrs and they arent exactly pretty...pretty monolithic
I suppose a set of vivid Giyas is totally out, but how about a set of meridian dsp6000s?

10689644_489694867877786_1545394341911069275_n.jpg
 
No real restrictions from the other half but I have some self imposed aesthetic no-nos. McIntosh and Burmester being prime examples - I just hate the over done styling. The D'Agostino stuff also.

On the flip side, I think the Giyas above are stunning. Form and function.
 
Generally speaking I couldn't care less what gear looks like... it's all down to the sound. However "Lotus" above has reminded me just how much I dislike the styling of McIntosh and D'Agostino gear.. yuck!
 
I have my own restrictions.. anything my two year old can destroy is out but my wife with the touch of an elephant is just as likely to destroy it is well! I spend at least one of my days off a week fixing things shes broke
 
My wife is very tolerant, and puts up with speaker cable runs, and a hifi rack she considers intrusive, together with equipment placing (speakers away from walls, rack not pushed back into an alcove) that do eat into the usable space in the room. So it's only fair that I do what I can to take her preferences into account. Given that my speakers flank a bay window, that means no big panels, so Maggies are out. As is most room treatment (no bass traps or stuff hung on walls). We accommodate each other, so it's not an issue, and I appreciate that it bothers her more than it bothers me, but that she doesn't complain.
 
My wife was almost in tears when the EAR890 left the system, and the Martin Logans are technically hers anyway, otherwise she's remarkably tolerant, though I can't cope with a lot of stuff aesthetically, so she's not pushed very far - I'm a minimalist, and our main interface with the system is 'The Knob' which is our preamp which only has the one knob.
However, she hates wires, any wires, no matter how bling. She has now accepted they are necessary, after a demonstration that removing even one wire from the system results in no sound at all, but I think she was almost tempted by the compromise. We can't hide the damn things either as we have solid stone walls and the floor is slate on soil.
 
I don't like light coloured wood speakers. Or anything that smacks of modern sixties design, such as the LP12. Or anything in or on sideboards. Anything steam punk - e.g. mana or valves, is ok.
 
I have the front room for music and the wife doesn't give a monkeys what it looks like - in fact when we first met she loved my Acoustic signature turntable, although as a piece of kinetic sculpture rather than a turntable as she has very little interest in music.

Aesthetically, I like to keep my stereo very simple. I hate wires on show and I've gone right off having black boxes on display.
 
My OH did not really like the TDL Studio 1's in black ash - as was trendy at the the time. But their arrival pre-dated her arrival so they stayed despite 2 house moves. On the other hand she likes the Gales (401A's, Chrome ended jobs)! There can't be too many wives who would accept them. They are in the office/cave but she did say they would be tolerated in the more formal sitting room - but there is no system in there as we rarely use that room at the moment. She rarely notices any changes to electronics boxes.
 
Back in the day I had an Ariston RD40 with the DC PSU. it was christened by the then partner as "The deep fat fryer". As a result, no matter how much a similar design might cost, I am forever stuck with the image of a deep fat fryer,
 
My advice FWIW to anyone who finds their OH’s aesthetic strictures burdensome: agree to give up the offending piece of kit, but replace it with something just as bad, and keep on doing so until the OH can’t be bothered to complain any more.


(P.S. I would never do this myself, of course – I’m much too nice.)
 
Anything gloss black (fingerprints, swirls and marks) or with a bright blue (or any super bright) LED that can't be turned off.
That's for me though, my better half could not care less.
 
my restrictions are self imposed and based on pretending to know something about good design.
I'm largely stuffed when it comes to HiFi.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.


advertisement


Back
Top