I did it...

[dpristin]

Hi everybody!

After drooling for more than a year and terrorizing David F. with my questions / concerns I finally did it. James was extremely understanding and even quickly agreed to call me at work in order to avoid questions from my wife like: “What speakers?”, “How much did you say?!...” etc… I’ll deal with her later… Really hope she'll have that jaw-dropping experience so vividly described here by so many Ascend-owners.
Just wanted to ask advise from the people who’s been in this situation (had to wait for speakers to arrive) before – did you use any kind of medication, psychoanalyst, anything? I’ve never had any setup even remotely approaching hi-fi level even though music is my lifelong obsession, but, you know, there is always something more important to spend your money on (or so my wife says ). But after I scored Marantz SR8400 last week on ubid I couldn’t resist any longer so 340 mains + 340 center + 170 surrounds are finally on my horizon! Can’t wait!! Valium might help…

With trembling hands,
Dmitry.

[BradJudy]

Since I highly recommend getting a RadioShack SPL meter for calibration, you can always entertain yourself by measuring the volume of everything around you. Although your wife might not take well to you pointing an SPL meter at her while she's talking.

[bikeman]

Hi everybody!

After drooling for more than a year and terrorizing David F. with my questions / concerns I finally did it. James was extremely understanding and even quickly agreed to call me at work in order to avoid questions from my wife like: “What speakers?”, “How much did you say?!...” etc… I’ll deal with her later… Really hope she'll have that jaw-dropping experience so vividly described here by so many Ascend-owners.
Valium might help…
With trembling hands,
Dmitry.

I took a bit of a different approach to the same dilema. I brought in the the 340M's with stands first and once they were part of the landscape, I brought in the340C. I already have a sub and surrounds so when I upgrade those later this year, it won't be quite so dramatic. The other thing that helped a bunch was that my wife is really into music. Once she heard the 340's, I knew I was home free as far as keeping them. I don't know if Valium will do any good but might I suggest flowers and dinner right before the brown truck arrives?

Best of luck on the home front. Accoustically, you just hit a home run.

David

[dpristin]

Hmm, flowers and a dinner might help... For a while... and the speakers could be disguised as her birthday present which is in a week... Well I’m exaggerating the problem a bit of course ; we have music playing in the background 24x7. I’m an amateur musician, my daughter takes piano lessons, my wife knows to play piano and my 2.5 year old son’s favorite DVD is the collection of Queen’s videos (and I’m not talking about a collection of Elizabeth II speeches ). So I think they’ll appreciate the change which should increase my survival chances…

[Cliff_L]

You may want to set them up while she's out of the house, and then when she comes back, put in **her** favorite CD, movie, etc...and then sit back while she learns to love to listen to music/watch movies all over again.

[Eddie Horton]

Welcome to the family. Be sure to let us know what happens and feel free to ask any and all questions you may have.

[dpristin]

Thanks, it's good to be here.
But if I keep silence for too long you know where to call and who to blame...

[dpristin]

I have no idea how they do it but I received my tracking number today. It's not even funny...

[curtis]

Good luck and have fun!

I like Cliff's idea.

[dpristin]

Come on, you (we?...) need to introduce some dissonance here. It just doesn’t feel right – message board is nice, sales people are nice, have no slightest inclination for pushing (and are profoundly understanding – did I mention this already?), the merchandise is shipped ahead of time… I’m already pinching myself… Are you sure medication is not the way to go?..