Mrs. H did permit my
rather large Altecs in the living room of our house in MA (
House 3.2, as it was lovingly monikered).
My wife, as I have often pointed out on multiple fora,
is a saint.
When we designed
House 4.0 for our retirement to NH (
Live Free or Die!), we both preferred a purpose-built hifi nook. The up side is that I had more room for junk, and out of the mainstream of the house. The down side is -- well, the same thing. The place is a mess,
albeit a cheerful one!
I
generally kept the LR in
House 3.2 fairly tidy, since it was right off of the main entrance hall (not that we used it for much other than the hifi).
Generally.
(N.B. I had
no control over
the cat's peregrinations
)