Dating an audiophile

[Rock789]

I'm curious, how many of you have dated an audiophile (or even married one)?

did you have differences in what you liked... (e.g. he likes warm speakers, she likes bright speakers)

is it common for audiophiles to be together, or is this a rare thing...

all my ex girlfriends are definitely NOT audiophiles... rofl

[PeruvianSkies]

Excellent question. I have actually never met a woman that is an audiophile. Never. I have met MANY that love music, but none that are into the whole equipment aspect of it. Fortunately my wife appreciates good music and good sound, so over time I have trained her to have a good ear for stuff and she enjoys it and has a understanding of it, but I wouldn't say she has a passion for it, just a basic understanding.

[GMichael]

Not an audiophile myself, but no. Never met a girl that much into it. Dated many that loved music. A few who always said, "turn it up. I like it louder." But never any who wanted the best sound they could get.
My wife is getting into the better sound quality we have now but, pays no attention to how it gets there. She did complain that the music from the computer was "not as good." But $100 worth on Altec Lancing speakers made her very happy.

[gjpham]

Oh man, I already got headaches with audiopals, I just can't imagine married to one hehehe, While sound prefers more to feelings and much diff in perspective; diff. thoughts, diff opinions are sometimes ran out of hand. I'm glad my wife still enjoy the sound from her own little TV in our bed room.

[compaqguy]

my girlfriend, thankfully, is an enthusiast.

[Dusty Chalk]

I got nuthin'. I have met a female audiophile before, but she was married.

[hydroman]

My Lovely Bride is happy with a CloseNplay[tm].

"I just want music. easy. Just turn it on." She had a 1972 receiver through truly dreadful speakers. Mono VCR. Nothing.

As i try to explain turning on the NAD amp separately, reconfigure the pre-amp, enter the GPS coordinates and align the gyropractor to a suitable gigafritz....

[topspeed]

Uh, I've never even met a female audiophile. Seriously, outside of ForeverAutumn and Westcott's wife, are there any other females on this board?!? I think electronics, like cars and watches, appeal to a certain gene that most men and very, very, very few women possess.

My wife could care less this stuff. In fact, until I replaced my Sony RM3000 with the infinitely more user friendly Harmony 880, she pretty much hated my rig. Couldn't do a thing with it and had to ask our eldest son (who was 5 or 6 at the time) how to turn it on! The most important thing to her is that it matches the furniture. I'd love to bring home a pair of Avant Garde Trio's just to see the look on her face :D.

[bobsticks]

I'd love to bring home a pair of Avant Garde Trio's just to see the look on her face :D.

I'd just love to bring the Avant Gardes home, period.

[bobsticks]

On a scouting trip for what are now my ML Babies, my ex stated, "You can't buy those, you need to be saving for a ring." I stood, mouth agape, staring past her lovely form at the wall behind her. The one with all the writing on it.

[Rock789]

On a scouting trip for what are now my ML Babies, my ex stated, "You can't buy those, you need to be saving for a ring." I stood, mouth agape, staring past her lovely form at the wall behind her. The one with all the writing on it.
outch!

now is this the reason she is now your ex? :rofl:

[L.J.]

My wife could care less this stuff. In fact, until I replaced my Sony RM3000 with the infinitely more user friendly Harmony 880, she pretty much hated my rig. Couldn't do a thing with it and had to ask our eldest son (who was 5 or 6 at the time) how to turn it on!

Hmmm :idea:

[Jimmy C]

I'm curious, how many of you have dated an audiophile (or even married one)?

did you have differences in what you liked... (e.g. he likes warm speakers, she likes bright speakers)

is it common for audiophiles to be together, or is this a rare thing...

all my ex girlfriends are definitely NOT audiophiles... rofl


...S.V.I. never inquired about this :*)

Just kidding, I actually enjoy his levity...

[bobsticks]

outch!

now is this the reason she is now your ex? :rofl:


A defining moment in the relationship, to be sure...

[Mr Peabody]

I used to dream of a woman to share my hobby with, NOW, you had to ruin it by suggesting she and I might not agree on type of equipment! I guess my wife is the next best thing, she cares less about what equipment I have or how it sounds and generally don't care what I do in that area.

[Rock789]

I used to dream of a woman to share my hobby with, NOW, you had to ruin it by suggesting she and I might not agree on type of equipment! I guess my wife is the next best thing, she cares less about what equipment I have or how it sounds and generally don't care what I do in that area.
sorry... ;)

[nightflier]

Well I can't say that my wife is any different than what everyone has described above, but I will say that her hearing is way better than mine. She can pick out subtle differences in equipment that I can only hear at much higher volumes. And she can also hear test-tones-frequencies much higher than I can. More often than not, she has told me what I should keep and what I should sell.

But there is still hope: when my daughter is born, she's going to get a thorough education in quality equipment, just for the enjoyment of seeing the day she educates a room full of typical male audiophiles on good quality sound. And if she also inherits my wife's bat-hearing gene, she's going to be one tough cookie.

Not to go too far off-topic, but everyone here is assuming male-female relationships. I have just discovered that a couple of neighbors down the street who are gay also know a thing or two about quality sound. One time I was over there when they were having a garage sale, and they were selling an EAR phono preamp. I must have been stereotyping, because I presumed they didn't know what they were selling and low-balled the price to the point of insult, apparently. Well after a good half-hour of histrionics and a thorough re-education in what constitutes even acceptable sound, they showed me their Manley, Ayre and VPI all-analog setup, not to mention a beautiful pair of Opera speakers, none of which I was allowed to touch or even breathe on it seemed. Let's just say, at the risk of stereotyping again, that they definitely knew their O/operas. And they are both equally knowledgeable, it seems. So for any of you that can't seem to find an audiophile girlfriend, there are other options....

[PeruvianSkies]

Well I can't say that my wife is any different than what everyone has described above, but I will say that her hearing is way better than mine. She can pick out subtle differences in equipment that I can only hear at much higher volumes. And she can also hear test-tones-frequencies much higher than I can. More often than not, she has told me what I should keep and what I should sell.

But there is still hope: when my daughter is born, she's going to get a thorough education in quality equipment, just for the enjoyment of seeing the day she educates a room full of typical male audiophiles on good quality sound. And if she also inherits my wife's bat-hearing gene, she's going to be one tough cookie.

Not to go too far off-topic, but everyone here is assuming male-female relationships. I have just discovered that a couple of neighbors down the street who are gay also know a thing or two about quality sound. One time I was over there when they were having a garage sale, and they were selling an EAR phono preamp. I must have been stereotyping, because I presumed they didn't know what they were selling and low-balled the price to the point of insult, apparently. Well after a good half-hour of histrionics and a thorough re-education in what constitutes even acceptable sound, they showed me their Manley, Ayre and VPI all-analog setup, not to mention a beautiful pair of Opera speakers, none of which I was allowed to touch or even breathe on it seemed. Let's just say, at the risk of stereotyping again, that they definitely knew their O/operas. And they are both equally knowledgeable, it seems. So for any of you that can't seem to find an audiophile girlfriend, there are other options....

I enjoyed reading your response and I had to laugh at the part about your wife's hearing...did you ever think that maybe she pretends to have better hearing just to help you get rid of stuff that "supposedly" isn't very good? J/K.

As far as the comment about gay couples I must say that in my past working at several record shops and music stores that I worked with several gay men and they all had rediculous music collections (like 10,000+ CD's, 40,000 vinyl, etc) and also decent stereo setups, plus they were very anal (bad choice of word?) about how they were arranged. Of course they were most particular about the quality of sound when it came to Cher albums.

[lewburgh]

Funny you should mention a ring Bobsticks. My girlfriend is expecting one of those soon and all I talk about are the new maggies I want to get and I just upgraded all my home theater speakers. Little does she know I have been saving for a ring as well. As far as being an audiphile she is far from that. I was wondering if there were any women in these forums. I guess not by the responses here.

[E-Stat]

I have just discovered that a couple of neighbors down the street who are gay also know a thing or two about quality sound.
I think you'll find that is generally the case with all matters relating to music. :)

rw

[Amused2]

Funny, I had the reverse reaction as my husband and I have been spending hours of late in our favorite high end end audio store, auditioning new components as we are upgrading our main 2-channel system currently, and I always wonder why I'm the only woman in the place! Okay, my husband gets off on the electronics and such more than I do, but if you define an audiophile as one who is passionate about sound quality and purity, etc., and always wanting to go that extra step to make it that much better, then I think I qualify as an audiophile for all the *right* reasons, including that I'm lucky enough to have a career that supports my habit. :) WHY SO FEW WOMEN???!!! -J

[PeruvianSkies]

Funny, I had the reverse reaction as my husband and I have been spending hours of late in our favorite high end end audio store, auditioning new components as we are upgrading our main 2-channel system currently, and I always wonder why I'm the only woman in the place! Okay, my husband gets off on the electronics and such more than I do, but if you define an audiophile as one who is passionate about sound quality and purity, etc., and always wanting to go that extra step to make it that much better, then I think I qualify as an audiophile for all the *right* reasons, including that I'm lucky enough to have a career that supports my habit. :) WHY SO FEW WOMEN???!!! -J

What career do you have?

[Rock789]

Funny, I had the reverse reaction as my husband and I have been spending hours of late in our favorite high end end audio store, auditioning new components as we are upgrading our main 2-channel system currently, and I always wonder why I'm the only woman in the place! Okay, my husband gets off on the electronics and such more than I do, but if you define an audiophile as one who is passionate about sound quality and purity, etc., and always wanting to go that extra step to make it that much better, then I think I qualify as an audiophile for all the *right* reasons, including that I'm lucky enough to have a career that supports my habit. :) WHY SO FEW WOMEN???!!! -J
have any single sisters or friends :rofl:

why so few women is exactly what I was wondering ;o)

[r.j.sanc26]

same here, my wife could careless as to the "brands" of the equipment but when it comes to rocking out to her favorite 80's hair band (at house shacking levels) she's all about the sound quality - "Wow, this sounds great, I can almost hear the AquaNet in their hair cracking!".

I guess I'm lucky that she doesn't know or really care to know more about this stuff - if she only knew what I've "actually" spent over the years on this hobby...hurts my mommy daddy button just thinking about it! - ignorance is bliss

[Rock&Roll Ninja]

On one side of the living room I have "the system" including PSB Platinums, SVS subwoofer, Pioneer & Sony electronics, blah blah blah.

On the other side of the living room my wife has her Dell computer with AltecLansing series100 speaker (the right one doesn't work) and a variety of MP3s in various states of encoding.

Guess which system she plays to distortion levels at all times .....

[Amused2]

Too funny - I am the QUEEN of justification, and my husband would NEVER have spent what we spent on the Wilson Sophias were it not for me - to me it is all about sound, and making it better and better, and then better. It's true that I don't get involved in cables & connectors so much, although that's not entirely true since I am again the proponent of upgrading cables currently, but I don't care to understand one from the other, just want the best. My MO is to continually identify the weak link, and then I attack, as only a woman can. :) And spend money? Oh yes, my husband has no clue what I spend on shoes, but I apply the same justification theories to my audio. :)

[PeruvianSkies]

Too funny - I am the QUEEN of justification, and my husband would NEVER have spent what we spent on the Wilson Sophias were it not for me - to me it is all about sound, and making it better and better, and then better. It's true that I don't get involved in cables & connectors so much, although that's not entirely true since I am again the proponent of upgrading cables currently, but I don't care to understand one from the other, just want the best. My MO is to continually identify the weak link, and then I attack, as only a woman can. :) And spend money? Oh yes, my husband has no clue what I spend on shoes, but I apply the same justification theories to my audio. :)


Those Sophia's are sweeeeeeeeet. Interestingly enough that a female name like "Sophia" you would think that more females would want to get involved and spend $12,000 on speakers too! lol. Sounds like we need more of your kind in this world!