Fellas,

Firstly, thanks for your collective advice and words of wisdom on this forum. After reading several reviews, many forums, and countless posts here I finally pulled the trigger on a HSU VTF-3 MK3, a pair of M80s, a VP150, and an Emotiva LPA-1. I just set it all up last Friday and I've been cracking wood ever since.

Getting down to the heading of this thread, I have a somewhat amusing story pertaining to the WAF that I'm sure some of you will appreciate at my expense. Here goes...because, as per the W, we did not need new speakers, ("They're not broken Mr. Spendy Pants."), I had to negotiate to arrive at the desired AF. What did I give up you ask? Well, I hope you're sitting down because if your reaction is anything like that of a friend mine the ensuing laughter might deplete your O2.

In short, I gave up approximately one quarter of my left nut. I'm cooking dinner 5 nights a week (yes, that's a five) for the next 5 weeks (yes, that's another fiver) PLUS one breakfast per weekend. And as if that wasn't enough, I also had to throw in new patio furniture. Egad!!!

The only saving grace in all this, (besides cranking the glorious tunes while I burn the yams), is that I'm not responsible for ANY of the cooking related cleanup which, under the previous arrangements when she was head chef, was my domain. Needless to say, the BBQ will be running at maximum capacity (can you bbq eggs?). At the moment, I'm quite content with the arrangement, but that's just my opinion. Initially, that same laughing knob of a friend was gloating about how I badly I took the shaft until he came over and had a listen. Guess who’s scheming his own WAF plan now? Guess who asked me if I have any simple recipes? Ahhh yes, from time to time one must savour the sweet taste of irony.

Anyway, this journey to a freshly lightened package has me wondering if any of you had to undergo similar tactics to get some shiny new speakers through your front door.

Who dares to share???

Nice story. I think you got a good deal. 5 weeks of cookiking is nothing. I was the chief cook 365 days a year and she got dish duty. Considering how much I hated doing dishes, I think I got a good deal there anyway.

No WAF issues here. Perhaps more of a POX factor P** Off the Ex.

I think this home theater is the most I have ever spent on myself so I never really had to negotiate.

I had to concede to put plantation shutters in the entire house and they cost more than what I put in the theater room... 1080P projector, screen, A/V Rack, Denon 3808, Epic 80:600, etc. I still feel like it was a great deal.

I just had to finish building the entertainment center for the first ones, then nothing thereafter. She even bought the center and encouraged me to get the new sub.

Cooking dinner ain't that bad. Check out http://www.allrecipes.com for some good stuff. Also some scary stuff, but you can't have it all.

As for the grill, I recommend fruits and vegetables. That way, you're doing all the cooking on the grill. Haven't tried eggs yet, but the grilled cheese sandwiches yesterday worked out a treat.

you're tha man.

The whole reason that we are getting this new trend of soundbars, in-wall speakers, in-ceiling speakers, incredibly thin speakers and tiny cubes speakers that fit in the palm of your hand is because most people aren't trying hard enough with WAF. Some guys are probably looking at getting speakers right now and show the wife a picture of these beautiful tower speakers and subwoofer and the wife just says, "NO WAY is that going to go with the decor...the tower is almost as tall as I am and the sub is the size of an end table and looks like a box...you expect to put these where in the room?" and that is the end of the subject. Then the guy ends up with one of the above mentioned in the first line, each of which is a big or possibly huge compromise in sound quality.

You guys aren't trying hard enough! I had to fight hard to get every piece of equipment in my home theater and I am very glad that I did. I didn't take it to the point where I was worried about a divorce or anything even close to that, but it sure wasn't easy with most of the gear that I purchased. This is great story honkongphooey. Think of all the great time that you can enjoy with your Axioms and all you have to do is cook for a month. That isn't so bad. All of you guys out there looking at getting some nice new speakers, make sure that you don't give in and get a speaker that compromises sound quality just for WAF. Put up a good fight.

- Nick

Or just order them and when they arrive, tell her how much it would cost to return the entire set, including the courier's worst nightmare, the EP600.

I didn't do that myself, but I'm not above it if I have to.

Real men know how to get the sound equipment they want!

It's why the good Lord gave us two. To barter for audio equipment.

Talk about an invaluable think tank...look at all the strategies we have here...annual chef duty, exotic plantation shutters (btw I've heard of actual plantations in Thailand selling for less, shutters included), begging for forgiveness vs requesting permission, and of course, trading portions of body parts...so many pieces of audio equipment...so many ways of achieving WAF...it truly is a beautiful thing.

However, it appears there is indeed a Sensei among us in kcarlile...how did you get your wife to literally "buy in", oh wise one?

Mine has a $300 toaster so she'd better not object when I sit her down with my Axiom/Denon wish list for The Talk

You definitely can boil or poach eggs on a barbecue with the correct pot.. a cast iron fry pan would let you fry eggs too.

(I've fried and poached eggs in a fry pan over an open fire, so on a BBQ would be easy

once you have the fry pan, you can do omelette's, pancakes, bacon... mmmmm

My wife was pretty easy to convince on the whole 'I need new speakers thing', I just compared the freshly bought VP100 and QS8 to my old Bose 201's and she said I had to get better front speakers

Now the for me to get my new sub, I have had to repaint the Kitchen walls and cabinets. I will soon be building a couple new cabinets to be installed for more storage space in the kitchen, then new counter tops.

Real men know how to get the sound equipment they want! [/quote]
I noticed your tag says "devotee" - should it say "divorcee"?

It should read Freeman!!

I managed to support my ex and two kids AND pay off all our debts including a house and somehow I never did enough for her. Funny though, she never complained about my spending habits. Wonder why...

You know, reading over this thread, you would think that I was the perfect candidate for dual PB13s. Ditch the extra couch and put one on each side of the room. That would be worth many, many manpoints and would generate mancave envy across the continent. Hmm... (hey, there's no man cave envy smiley)

I see threads like this and realize how lucky I am.

My wife loves home theater. Doesn't care how big or what the speakers look like, she just wants it to sound good. She pushed me into both my M80's and my QS8's. She threatens to divorce me when I tease her that I'm selling the Axiom's for a nice Bose setup.

I finally (finally!) got around to buying an HDTV two days ago. What were my wife's first words? "It's about time!" Followed by, "Do whatever it takes to get the NFL in HD this fall." Woot.

You had me up until that last line.

haha