A stereo in the living room..not if my wifetime

So I bought an OPPO 105.
Hooked it up to my stereo in the dedicated music room.
Have the 83SE and thought I could put it in the living room
Strictly for video use.
Then got to thinking...
Why not get a second amp, speakers and set up a second system in the living room.
After mustering up all my courage...I brought the idea up to the wife.
Now I can't complain about my wife, she is amazing. Always supportive of me.
I am truly blessed.
But she does not want a stereo in the living room.
The speakers I proposed are Usher S520's. Only 7" wide x 10"high.
They would have to be on stands on each side of the TV stand, which would easily hold and conceal the amp and the OPPO.
Somehow, I have to convince her this is a great idea and would enrich our lives beyond description.
Glen

 

Do you even use the living room?

We have a formal living room and adjoining dining room - neither of which has ever been used for 'entertaining' guests or family.

If your situation is like mine, maybe you broach the subject by suggesting a modest and inconspicuous stereo system could be a way of drawing people into the space.

 

Sounds like a plan... try convincing with the aid of flowers or whatever little things that make her happy

 

I guess I'm lucky too. Mine doesn't mind what I do in the family room, though I have heard a few grumbles about the 100+ pound subwoofer.

I've got a friend who's wife doesn't want a sound system in their family room and won't even "let" him get a TV larger than 45". Poor bastard.

To the OP. You need to play one of her favorite movies or shows to let her hear the benefit of the setup. C'mon, brace yourself and sit through a showing of Twilight.

 

I don't understand why some think that speakers in the living room make it ugly. I think paint color of a wall, choice of rug, etc is far more invasive and an eyesore than speakers.

 

Well, you're not a female, are you.

 

My living room is built around my main 2-channel system. It is the focal point of the room. We only listen to music in there. The TV is in the den and that system is its focal point.

 

We have a formal living room with a small tv set up in a corner. Years ago I convinced my wife to let me put some speakers in the room as long as they weren't too intrusive. I had an Oppo dvd player there already. So I got a cheap receiver and went with a pair of Gallo Micros and an MPS 150 subwoofer. The sub went behind the tv cabinet and the speakers straddled the tv; very inconspicuous.
It made watching movies much more enjoyable and the stereo sounded fine for it's purpose. The problem was, no one ever watched tv in there. And worse, after I listened to a few songs to assess the sound, it was never used again for music. Sat there for a few years untouched. Now I wonder if the Oppo still works.

 

My wife doesn't care. Our house is something we live in, not a showpiece.
Not that I have huge speakers or gear cluttering up the room, it's kind of tucked back into a corner.
Our living room has a fireplace and no TV which is perfect for listening and reading in cold weather.

The family room has the HT setup for the small amount of time we actually watch TV.
I just put a small system in the basement with TV for the time we're using the elliptical.

Of course, she has her own hobbies that she does which takes up a lot more room than all of my gear combined.
It all works out in the end though.

 

When I had a living room no living was done in it. It was there for all of the socializing that never happened. It did have the most pristine furniture, however.

 

Sliiiiiick!

 

Same here, which led to me morphing our formal living room into the (my) dedicated media room. My wife was very supportive of going down this path, as we hadn't finished off the decorating nor furniture purchases for the formal living room by this time, the DVD revolution was upon us (turn of the century), and we're not the formal entertaining types.

To the OP's post, trying to get other rooms "engaged", like the den/informal living room/etc, never materialized for me in my house. It's not that my wife had any strong objections, it was just lack of need. Nobody else in the house cares beyond a TV, cable box, and perhaps a DVD / Blu-Ray player; definitely not another sound system in the house. A year or two after I had my media room, I purchased a pair of MMGs for the informal living room and used older equipment to drive them, but not only did no one else use it, but I hardly spent any time in there either. The MMGs were sold.

Doug

 

Perhaps your wife would be more amenable to the idea if she were involved in the process of selecting gear -
my wife is a designer -
so after I showed her tables like the Michell Gyrodec, and speakers with sleek designs like some B & W's,
our living room is now 'our' listening room as well.
And she was involved in the process.

You may not get exactly the spec of something you want - but you can build a kick-a** system around parts that are
aesthetically pleasing.

 

I love reading threads dripping with sexism. So original.

 

It seems the female is dictating what goes in the living room without regard for the male's interests, so who's the sexist?

My wife loves our HT setup in the greatroom, so when we bought it I made sure the front speakers were good enough for my for 2-channel needs. So it does double-duty. Everyone needs to be a little flexible and I agree with the poster above that the house is not a showroom for others, it's for the people who live there.

 

Count the number of rooms divide by 2 then put what you want in those rooms.

 

My wife was skeptical about the hifi in the living room thing.

Now that I won that battle she loves it.. quality jazz or pop while we relax with books. It helped that I went with an unobtrusive amp (NAD D3020) and attractive speakers with cherry wood veneer. Her main concern was actually making sure the speakers were attractive.

 

Me too! After my wife got tired of the stereo taking over the family room, which is where most time is spent....she suggested that I empty the living room and put all of the hifi gear in and turn it into a listening room! We moved our dining room table into the kitchen eating area and the other 'living room' stuff into the former dining room that is now an office. Woohoo! Love that woman

I just finished having dedicated lines put in recently and last week hooked up a ten foot copper grounding pole to the dedicated circuit (I had bought that about a dozen years ago, so it was nice to finally use it). I have old heavy curtains at one end, creating the 'dead end' and bookshelves that have books, records and CDs at the other end, creating the 'live end'. I can sit on the couch and play records and even lean over and clean some records on my Loricraft and not bother the family one bit .

The best part is that I added a new couch that is a sofa bed, as my main listening seat and that way if a friend comes over to listen to some records and enjoy some beverages, he can crash on the fold out if he has had too much 'music' to drive!

 

Ridiculous. Living Rooms are built for Stereo's!

 

Thanks for the responses.
I hope this thread isn't taken as sexist....not my intention.
I love my dedicated music room.
We use our living room a lot so thought a second system would get some use.
I am not going to give up!!!!!!
Glen

 

There was nothing sexist in either your original post nor any of the replies, so its all good.

 

I am encroaching inch by inch ......recently placed a jukebox cd player under the movie player/T.V. amplifier .....mmm seems to be acceptable .......maybe try one of my out of use turntables .....again!
Last time it was......."That belongs in the other room!......have we not been through this a thousand times.....!!........ok maybe not a turntable!
Just placed my spare mini disk player into the living room system ............no kickback , yet!

 

Start with Klipschorns, and then the speakers you really want will seem invisible.

 

Reply of the day Gary !!!
We both live in the GTA.
My garage is full at the moment.
Can I crash on your couch?
Glen