Wife Says Sounds Better From Kitchen, etc.

[Philbo King]

Probably like many of you, I've long been amused by silly comments like, "even my wife said my new speakers sounded better from the kitchen"! So I was surprised to find how much better my new speakers do seem to sound to me now...from different rooms of the house. No I don't have measurements to back this up, and yes clearly I'm opening myself up for ridicule. So be it. But I swear it's true.

My previous speakers were Vandersteen 2's. I always loved them, had them for a long time. But they definitely did NOT have anything close to linear off-axis sound. The sound was not uniform if you were much outside the "sweet spot". But my new speakers, Salk BePure2's, sound so much closer to the "sweet spot" sound even if I leave the listening room and go elsewhere in the house, even upstairs.

Has anyone other than fabled kitchen-bound audiophile wives experienced this phenomenon?

Bring on the ridicule.

I do this a lot when mixing music. I turn it down and go outside. If I can still hear every instrument and vocal clearly, I know I'm on my way to a good mix.

 

[Fregly]

I disagree. It's blatantly misogynistic.

Rather strong take on it. Maybe some mild condescension, I suppose. The error is the reviewer cliche, "even my friend, who isn't into gear....."

 

[fpitas]

Rather strong take on it. Maybe some mild condescension, I suppose. The error is the reviewer cliche, "even my friend, who isn't into gear....."

I take it as, the wife is in the kitchen where she belongs, fixing my dinner, while I relax in front of the stereo.

 

[Rednaxela]

In that case I’d agree.

Personally I take it quite different though. As in it’s essentially mocking the audiophile himself. The wife in the saying happens to be the trusted loved one who is somewhere else doing something else and generally doesn’t care much for his hobby/obsession/latest purchase. Presenting her as the ultimate proof for the validity of a certain upgrade or tweak has something ironic that makes it, at least for me, funny. Also note that she doesn’t have to be in the kitchen. The quite common other side of the room variant is just as effective IMO.

 

[fpitas]

In that case I’d agree.

Personally I take it quite different though. As in it’s essentially mocking the audiophile himself. The wife in the saying happens to be the trusted loved one who is somewhere else doing something else and generally doesn’t care much for his hobby/obsession/latest purchase. Presenting her as the ultimate proof for the validity of a certain upgrade or tweak has something ironic that makes it, at least for me, funny. Also note that she doesn’t have to be in the kitchen. The quite common other side of the room variant just as effective IMO.

We do a lot of that here, for sure. Most on other forums seem to take themselves verrryyy seriously.

 

[MattHooper]

I take it as, the wife is in the kitchen where she belongs, fixing my dinner, while I relax in front of the stereo.

LOL. I wondered if someone would go there.

 

[audiofooled]

There's a downside to it. My wife likes listening to her favorite music on my system, therefore spends less time in the kitchen.

 

[JSmith]

It's called placating... just like how mothers placate children. "Watch me somersault", "did you see?", "yes dear, fantastic"... never looked.


JSmith