Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Upgrade Justification to the Spouse?

I'm really likeing the allowance idea, however, then my problem becomes that again I have a lot of hobbies, none of which are cheap, and her hobbies aren't nearly as costly... It would seem odd that I got a *much* larger allowance than she did... Maybe that would make be divorced like Fred...

Oh, but wait.... I could try to justify it as being for the whole FAMILY, not just me!

Yeah, yeah.... That's the ticket!

I've also found that timing is important when trying to discuss doing the upgrade or new purchase. In fact, finding the right time to discuss it is almost as important as the argument for why you need the new item. Make sure that your wife is in a good mood so that you are most likely to get a positive response. This could be after an evening of taking her out to her favorite restaurant and movie of her choice. When trying to convince my wife that I needed to upgrade my Bose Acoustimass speakers to Axioms I had to wait about two months waiting for the right time to bring it up. I spent quite a bit of time thinking of exactly how I was going to convince her why the upgrade is needed when the old speakers work just fine (if anyone has heard these Bose speakers they will know that the speakers do not work just fine).

- Nick

The way one should approach this is via incremental bitching. Start by pulling out everything and re-wiring muttering to yourself about "this no good system....." But don't make it obvious. You're just in the seeding stage. Do a few more "re-wiring, re-amping, re-SPL'ing, re-something'ing" with little more emphasis on "geesh, if only I had XYZ system" But again, subtlety is what you're after.

Before you know it, she will take pity and allow you to upgrade

As my friend once said as he was eye'ing a new laptop (with is wife next to him)..."man, if I had that, I'd get some sh!t done! yeah, I'd get some sh!t done!"

It is better to ask for forgiveness than permission.

BAH - ultimatums man ultimatums - the only way to go - ask my 3 ex wives......

After many years of dealing with this issue, I believe I have found the answer or at least the ability to soften the blow when the time comes to upgrade.

Whether it be Christmas, birthdays, Father's day etc. when asked what you want, indicate you really don't need anything but cash in a card would suffice, (no gift certificates). I know some think there is not a lot of imagination to this but if you make it clear why, then it shouldn't be a problem. This way when you go to make the purchase, you can say this is what you did with the money and it's what you really wanted anyway.

Yeah, I've done good ol' money saving for birthdays, Christmases, fathers' day, etc. In fact, that is how I got my nice drum set was consuming a few years of present-receiving holidays...

This is also how my wife and I handle things. Any overtime pay we have between each other also get devided in half. It helps boost the allowace when you need to make a bigger purchase.

Another advocate of that plan here - though it works in reverse as well... For my wife's birthday this year, I wanted to get her something nice and was considering a nice set of diamond earrings, something she's wanted for a long time. However, when I really started thinking about going out and spending this kind of coin on something that she couldn't pick out before we were committed, I decided I'd much rather give her the money and let her decide what she wanted...

On the other hand, I didn't want to give her purely cash (much too Soprano-style to me), I bought her something small that was more of a personal gift, and then gave her a card and a wad of cash to go blow on anything she wanted...

Because it's cash and "untraceable," (i.e. no credit card statement that I read and say "What'd you spend $500 on at the GAP?") for her, she enjoys it a lot more... worked for me, and my birthday is coming up soon... I intend to ask for the same type of gift in return.

Your mileage may vary, good luck.

Dude, just explain the fact that you need HDMI switching on your receiver in order to run a blu ray into it. Explain the differential cost of the new one and what you will get for selling your current one.

Honestly I would prep it and wait 2 more months until the pre xmas sales start to happen.

I personally have done enough spending on home improvements, family holidays and diamond earrings, leather coat for my wife that when a couple speakers roll in she doesnt care.

Then again, my wife likes the HT gear, she just doesnt care to know the technology behind it. If she can watch "The Sound of Music" or any other current releases in 5.1 on the 61" set ....its all good.