From: zaphod@ctrg.rri.uwo.ca (Lance R. Bailey)
Newsgroups: rec.audio.high-end
Subject: Re: Women and Hi Fi
Date: 15 Sep 92 13:53:34 GMT
Reply-To: zaphod@ctrg.rri.uwo.ca
Distribution: na
Organization: University of Western Ontario
	Mon, 14 Sep 92 09: 56:42 -0400
Originator: tjk@csd4.csd.uwm.edu

In article <1992Sep14.072519.15627@news.weeg.uiowa.edu>  
smills@news.weeg.uiowa.edu (MuffinHead) writes:

>   It's because usually it isn't girls who ask for a stereo for xmas or
>bug their parents for a tape deck for their car. Most girls are happy with
>some little box that plays their pre-recorded tapes while boys make a point 
>to notice the difference between a a real 3-way system and a pair of Triaxles
>setting on a rear deck.
>   Please note that I'm not saying that ALL females are technologically
>deprived, it's just the case with most. An ex-girlfriend couldn't hear a
>problem when her $129.99 special was distorting. My current girlfriend
>has Sony, Onkyo, and Awai components and Infinity's. World of difference.
>   Also, boys growing up tend to putz around with things and open tape
>decks to see how they work more than girls do.

You are stating two reasons here, one is technical ignorance, and the other
is ability to hear. sorry, but my experience is that women, in general, can 
hear better than men -- they just don't care.  I am attaching an excerpt from 
Positive FeedBack's next-to-most recent  issue in which i address this errr, 
issue.

--
Lance R. Bailey  System/Network Manager         Robarts Research Institute
     NeXT/email: zaphod@ctrg.rri.uwo.ca    box: Clinical Trials Resources Group
            fax: +1 519 663 3789                P.O. Box 5015, 100 Perth Dr.
            vox: +1 519 663 3787 x4108          London, Canada N6A 5K8


AURAL BOREALIS
--------------

[...]

The other benefit you may just get out of going to live music is a better
appreciation for your audio system by ...  the wife.

We have all noticed that high-end seems to be a territory of the male
animal.  I've been talking to men and women, married and unmarried about
this for a number of years.  It all began when a fellow audiophile Robin
pointed out why he had 30,000 dollars in stereo equipment in a one bedroom
apartment.

    "When I get married, I'll have no problem in convincing my wife that we
    need a house, and I'll already have the system by then.  However, if I
    get a house first, I'll have a heck of a time convincing her that we
    truly need a 30,000 dollar stereo."

The effect of wives (and yes, this effect is seen to be constrained to
female spouses only) on stereo purchases is so strong that a term has been
created to describe it.  The WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor) is a real concern
to dealers and audiophiles.  As my dealer Bil so "elegantly" put it to one
of his sales trainees, "Watch out for wives, they'll turn on you in a
minute".

Some examples:  Krell is low WAF, any planer speaker (even my beloved CLS)
is low WAF.  Meitner equipment, in it's small mahogany boxes, is high WAF as
are Castle speakers.  Surround sound seems to be a slightly higher WAF
although that one escapes me completely (usually women are much more
sensible than that.)  And as SD found out, 1 inch Ampex tape recorders, at
least in the bed, are VERY low WAF.

A lot of the WAF effect came to a head for me at least when I helped some
friends of mine shop for a stereo system for their new house.  Nothing
special they said, around a thousand dollars and a multi-disk CD player.  A
few evenings later and some clear comments on male versus female viewpoints
were again reinforced.

    1)  Women have better ears and can listen better.  This may be due to
        the fact that more women than men have some form of musical training
        in their childhood, but the fact holds that it is easier teach a
        woman how to listen to music, really listen, than it is to teach a
        man.

    2)  Women just don't care if it "sounds better" (whatever that means!)
        As stated above, they can better hear critically than a man can hear
        critically, but they just do not care if it sounds better.  They can
        tell, but there is no interest after that.

    3)  Women really and truly do not want ugly gear in the house.  Suzzanne
        put it like this "I do not want my living room looking like your lab
        at work."  sigh.  This comment was made towards an NAD receiver
        which personally I thought looked pretty darn groovy.  But I like
        that British retro look made infamous by QUAD.  (Explaining the
        Quad 44 and the Quad ELS in the living room.)

    4)  Women want to live in their houses.  Go figure.  I'll walk around a
        speaker if it happens to sound better in the middle of the room, but
        the first suggestion as to where I would put their new system was
        met with less than favourable responses.

By now you may well be asking yourself "why all the fuss about women and
stereos?"  Well, I for one am disturbed by the lack of interest by women in
our favourite money sink.  At the December meeting I think I counted 3 women
in the crowd.  At least part of this is due to attitudes similar to those of
a neanderthal I know who usually states that "the reason women don't like
high end equipment is that they cannot lift the equipment."  Yeah, right.
No wonder they do not feel welcome.  Perhaps if we introduced it as a way of
better appreciating music, and not better appreciating electronics we would
have more interest by women.  Not that the appreciation of electronics is
all important to the true audiophile, but that is a common misconception
which must be corrected.

Finally, although it may be true that this "audio stuff" might well be the
last male bastion (along with male pattern baldness and daily shaving) but
is that a good thing?
Newsgroups: rec.audio.high-end