In 2004 I wrote a thread about my upgrading a modest home theater system in my living room. This is what I wrote:
The domestic tranquility of my home was shattered once again. I wonder if you heard the acrimony. If you didn’t, allow me to tell you about myself and my wife.
We have been married, many, many, many years. Most of them have been comfortable and pleasant. However, there is one issue that seems to create disharmony for weeks at a time. It concerns the expanding universe of our home theater system.
Before home theater, we watched TV on a set that approached 20.” We then bought a larger 32” size set. When I brought it home, my wife said that, “it ruined” the look of our living room. This initial discomfort soon passed and we both enjoyed looking at a larger screen.
A few years later, I replaced the 32” TV with a huge 50” Hitachi. I moved it in while my wife was at work. The moment she entered our living room she went ballistic! I honestly believe that people in our neighboring state could hear her cries of despair.
But as happens most often with the passage of time, my wife began to thrill with the movie-like images we were able to view in “our own home.”
A little later, I took the big plunge and began to build a home theater. I bought an AV receiver, five speakers and a subwoofer and then connected everything with about 10,000 or so cables and wires.
Needless to say, my wife almost had a heart attack. She screamed how I was making our living room into either a TV studio or a sport’s bar. This tirade lasted for many, many, many weeks.
But, as had happened in the past, the wonderful rich images and sound of games, movies and music passing through our home theater equipment soothed my wife’s angst. Thus, for the next few years we thoroughly enjoyed our home theater system.
Since then, I have upgraded and upgraded and upgraded and upgraded.
Since no visible changes with regard to size and location were evident, our peaceful home front was devoid of screaming, crying or utter silence.
That is until this past week. Earlier this month I got the itch again. I began to replace one device after another in the attempt to further make our system an utterly elegant entertainment center. The last item on my list has created an earthquake of unimaginable dimensions. I bought a new subwoofer. It replaced my modestly-sized subwoofer. This is a really large subwoofer.
It was delivered while my wife was visiting a neighbor. When she came home, she failed to go into the entertainment room. Late this afternoon she did. This is why I asked in the beginning of this post if you heard her.
When she walked into our living room and saw the subwoofer, she turned white and in a brittle voice asked, “What is that black refrigerator doing in our living room sticking up behind the chair?” Now honestly, it doesn’t look like a refrigerator . . . maybe a wine cooler but certainly not a refrigerator.
I fully expect that my wife will question me about this for many moons to come. That is, until that time in the future when she will find that music and movies are simply not enjoyable unless every wall in our house vibrates with the resonance of a truly fine subwoofer.
Now, back to the present. What I wrote about happened many years ago. During the time from then to now, my wife has gotten used to seeing and hearing our fine video and listening system. She no longer sees a large HDTV or a huge refrigerator—like box rising up from behind a chair. And yes, I have continued to replace devices. Only, each new one I have gotten looks very much like the one it replaced.
So, all is tranquil.
One final note: my wife hasn’t a clue how to turn on or off any of the equipment. So, I have no worry about having to retune anything these days.
Regards to all.
