To be pissed that my living room is turning into the starship enterprise

[geordieminx]

Ok, bear with me, I'm not quite sure where I am going with this but I need to get it off my chest.

Dp has always had a "thing" for technology/gadgets. He bought a 42 plasma 3 years ago when they were just out, without telling me but hey twas his money, we could afford it blah blah blah.

Over the pas few months things have gone a bit further...

£350+ for a blu ray dvd player imported from the states, which ds who's 1 loves to play with a press the buttons on - much to his horror.

An amplifier that must be 7inches tall over a foot wide, the same deep and ugly as hell.

A subwoofer which is 1 foot square (bigger than nappy box)

4 ridiculous egg shaped speakers that are huge too.

Now the problem isnt the cost of these things, I'm a bit miffed that they were bought without us discussing it but hey ho. Its the fact that they have taken over the living room, there is cables and wires and boxes and speakers everywhere. The equipment doesnt fit on the tv stand properly so its all squashed up looking shit, and the bastardy speakers have been mounted on the door frames!!

The other problem is that is getting frustrated with it as it doesnt appear to be working out as he planned (size etc) so is starting to rush putting it all up/together (isn actually all connected yet) I came downstairs this morning and the copper wire that runs from one of the door mounted speakers is fucking SELLOTAPED to the wall!!!

So I told him it looked crap (even though he knows - its so unlike him to do something shoddy like this) and he gets all rattty and deffensive and storms off to work.

So, assuming you are still awake... Sorry.

I am pissed because: There is all this ridiclous equipment addourning our living room, which ds takes delight in "playing" with, it looks ugly, it hasnt been thought out properly,and is starting to make the place look like some sort of starship. (oh and has cost £1000+ not inc tv)

Just needed to get that off my chest.. thanks for listening - apologies for the boredom

[geordieminx]

LL -I bet you could sort tis out and make it look nicer.

I dont think he has really thought it all out properly and is now a bit stumped as to how its all going to fit... and of course its all my fault

[mumonthenet]

god, I know exactly how you feel, my living room is nearly the same, though not sellotape on the walls. Yet.

Plus heaps of dvd's and videos....and I bet it takes him ten years to throw the videos away.

and then there's the bedroom which looks like a gym...excerise walking machine, sit-up table thingy, gigantic excercise ball, ankle weights, and smelly running shoes... etc.....etc..

And they do get sooooo offended when you tell them you're not impressed.

[shouldbeworking]

My dh's thing is computers. Every cupboard I open including the airing cupboard is full of pc bits. When ever we get a new better bit for pc we are not allowed to get rid of the old bit. At this moment I have five redundant pcs in my conservatory together with a huge monitor and various boxes of bits and pieces that will no longer fit in any cupboards. He never does anything with these spare bits, in fact there are so many of them all over the house that if he needs something he has no idea where to start looking for it so goes out and buys another bit!!! Yet if I dare to throw anything away you can guarantee that the day after the bin men have been he will be looking for the precise thing I have chucked!!!!!

[chopchopbusybusy]

I can completely relate to this!

I once spent a less than riveting three hours in a specialist speaker shop waiting for DH to listen to the various options. Many of which were the cost of a small new car. The bloke in the shop was a bit taken aback that I had no interest in what they sounded like - I was only there to vet their style and colour .

I don't think you can reasonably do much now about the equipment - but I hope he's reconsidering the sellotape on the wall!

[shouldbeworking]

Oh Yes before pcs it was hifi with dh. I've spent many hours listening to various different set ups which all sound the same to me !!!

[petunia]

Oh, I feel your pain! My DH's into computers (he's a computer programmer as well) and hi-fi. So we have computer bits everywhere and our 2nd bedroom is "his room/office", (which means that DDs 1&2 are squashed up in a small 3rd bedroom). We've also been through the latest hi-fi/TV surround sound stuff as well (and had all the stuff that didn't do well- remember betamax, videodiscs and mini disc players anyone?!)

I think I've finally managed to get the living room how I want it, while still accommodating the enormous TV, all the speakers etc. DH keeps looking at plasma TVs, (although he says he hasn't seen one with a good enough picture and is happy with the one we've got), but I suspect he's going to come back from shopping one day saying, "Guess what I've bought!"

[ChukkyPig]

Tell him all the trailing wires and balancing equipment are highly dangerous for the baby. Electrocution, strangulation, topppling.

If that fails arm the baby with ribena and sticky jam rolls and unleash on the equipment (In emergencies it is fine to feed baby this food).

If that fails I'm afraid you will have to go with plan C which is to find a cunning solution and wire hiding method and sort it all out yourself, which is what I ended up doing.

And I have absolutely put my foot down about a home cinema system because a. trailing wires and baby and b. I never let him watch fims anyway and we don't really need surround sound for murder she wrote and columbo!

I feel your pain!!

[sdjones2]

Ladies ladies.

All such threats of jam, ribena, trip hazards, etc., will fall on deaf ears.

A mutual solution might be a wireless home cinema system. Talk of egg-shaped speakers Geordie suggests a KEF system. Have a look here and brace yourself whathifi.com/home-cinema/archive/2007/11/28/news-kef-hatches-brand-new-eggs.aspx

My solution was to knock down and rebuild our garage, burying the wires in the walls. Home cinema, complete with beer fridge. Still not sure how I got away with it . . .

[BexieID]

That would be our living room if we had the money!

And I really thought you'd be saying that DP had turned it into the bridge of the Enterprise. Says me with 2 Star Trek uniforms .

[geordieminx]

kef? Thats what we've got. I think? I did suggest wireless but the still require power leads apparently. Pish.

[sdjones2]

Ah - anorak moment of the day. If you have the cash (ahem) a power cable is easy to chase into the wall, plaster or paper over and thus hide.

I know I will get flamed for this by lurking men, but lots and lots of ROMCOMs, Casualty and Holby anything will see to it that this phase, obsession soon ends .

Seriously, with the kit you already have and the monies spent, burying cables in walls and/or behind skirting/arcitrave is straightforward and not expensive against the comparative cost of kit. Likewise proper Hi-Fi furniture is not expensive necessarily.

Selotape for fixing cables

See now why I still cannot understand how I managed to persuade my wife of all this. Fair's fair though - hook line and sinker

[sdjones2]

Ah - anorak moment of the day. If you have the cash (ahem) a power cable is easy to chase into the wall, plaster or paper over and thus hide.

I know I will get flamed for this by lurking men, but lots and lots of ROMCOMs, Casualty and Holby anything will see to it that this phase, obsession soon ends .

Seriously, with the kit you already have and the monies spent, burying cables in walls and/or behind skirting/arcitrave is straightforward and not expensive against the comparative cost of kit. Likewise proper Hi-Fi furniture is not expensive necessarily.

Selotape for fixing cables

See now why I still cannot understand how I managed to persuade my wife of all this. Fair's fair though - hook line and sinker

[shouldbeworking]

Not only do I have all the pc/hifi bits we also have piles and piles of related magazines which we have to buy and read before making a purchase but are not allowed to throw away afterwards....even though some are now so old that the information in them is obsolete

[chopchopbusybusy]

shouldbeworking, yes DH buys these too. What hifi, what home cinema, what the f...

[ChukkyPig]

I too undure the magazine problem. Why any man needs 8 hobbies, which he then needs magazines and expensive equipment for, to then pile up into a big pile and never use is beyond me.

Still if it keeps him happy!

[ChukkyPig]

endure!!

[sdjones2]

PMSL - I love being a bloke sometimes

Sister arranging a loft extension has just won the battle and disposed of 12 years of Top Gear magazine. Really disappointed in BiL to have given in so easily

While feeling Holier than Thow (What HiFi stopped when kit bought, but I did cold turkey) my wife has just pointed out I keep my commuting bike in the dining room (the old Y chromasome remains strong )

Gives you something to discuss in the middle of the day though (instead of working) doesn't it.

[geordieminx]

Well we now have a huge car shaped ball pit and 300 balls in the living room... havent told dp yet

[sdjones2]

Get Thunderball DVD for tonight's viewing then, and DH might not notice

[sdjones2]

or Rollerball

[geordieminx]

Apparently the sellotape is a temporary measure - he just wanted to test them last night -watching 30 days of nights..

SD - do you know any decent places to get tv stands.. preferably with doors..lockable?

[sdjones2]

Annorak back on, and on a hot sunny day too!

Cheapest option, hovver by the Mag Racks in Tesco next time you are there, and look in the back half of What HiFi to start.

A lot of racks are open shelf type, but glass and chrome. Do you want furniture, shelving, wood, glass, etc. Lots of illustrations and contacts in the back of the mag. Mind you I wonder if DH already has a stack of these stashed somewhere.

Cost of rack for Hi Fi kit maybe £400-500. I gritted my teeth and took to persuading my wife at that point, and found one eventually for £375, which did the job. Supporting a £2500 TV, and £750 amp and DVD player, it was a propotionate cost.

My children have been trained to stay off the HiFi. Even my 2 year olf DS, responded very well to a percussive "A A" when venturing near it. Keep grilles on speakers to stop little fingers. DD once turned up the volume having a fiddle - she never did it again (and her ears stopped bleeding eventually).

Then hit the web, and check out your local Euronics centre - my local one is HIGHLY competative.

Ooh - trade the rack for properly mounted speakers and hidden cables then everyone is happy.

[mumonthenet]

sdj you are funny.

so your dw agreed to let you rebuild the garage and move all your junk equipment plus beer fridge in there? Brilliant. So would I.

I would agree to a second mortage if my dh suggested building himself a soundproof den/gym.

and he could just pop back into our lives every now and then to load the dishwasher or something else useful.

[fircone]

Sympathy, sympathy. Our sitting room looks like that of a Third Division footballer, complete with big leather sofa for looking at the widescreen tv and a million associated cables. And we too have the sub-woofer thing and big wooden things bolted round the walls.

Even worse, dh just has to buy stuff when it comes out at a premium price, then has to upgrade/replace five minutes later because something new has appeared on the market.

I am getting mad just thinking about it. Especially when I'd be happy with a transistor radio and a portable telly.