What are the Vandy's going to do the cats? ;) |
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My friend had Vandy 3a and a pair of Paradigm subs. There were no problems...until one day he came home to find one of the speakers and both subs "clawed." Though the cat was probably not aware of what was going on, it is now buried behind his house. He said it was an old cat anyway and the speakers had many years to go.
Rob |
My cat, Renfield by name, NEVER went near my Maggies. When Renfield was gone a few years and I replaced him with a pair of littermates, THEY never went near 'em, either.
One of the sofas was the worse for wear, however, and the big orange one liked tearing up the trees in the back yard. I made the orange one a scratch post, which was HIS. I could never get his sister to stop picking on a small but nice area rug.
Do not declaw, under any circumstances. It's mean. Cats should have some space of there own....a raised platform with a view outside is nice. Regularly scheduled playtime is almost mandatory, too. My wife used to sing to 'em which they enjoyed. |
Two cats, three dogs, one pair of Vandersteen 1C's. Thirteen years of peaceful co-existence. Never a problem, and the Vandy fabric looks as good as it did the day I brought the speakers home in 1998. And my pets are all healthy, happy, and loving the music. |
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My cats have coexisted nicely with speakers, one of them going on 19 years now with only one incident. One day while listening to music she just up and decided to jump on top of my speaker. She gave me that look like she knew it was not the right thing to do but did it anyway. I calmly got up, went over and picked her up off the speaker, then gave her a pretty good lecture. For further emphasis I put the water bottle on top of the speaker.
No need to declaw or even change speakers. Cats don't inherently find speakers attractive and they can easily have their attention diverted to other toys that will aid in trimming their nails or giving them some feline pleasure. |
1) Most cats would rather scratch a sissal scratching post and one near enough the speakers will get used preferentially.
2) Most cats will avoid things that get them sprayed with a water bottle (while they're actually in the process of doing something undesirable).
3) Grill cloth doesn't cost a lot of money to replace if somehow that fails.
I had 6-7 years of overlap between having my cat (and my sister's cat when she moved in) and speakers with grills without issue. |
Introduce your cat to scratching posts. Place scratching posts in multiple areas of your home. This should greatly decrease the chances that your cat will use your speakers.
Declawing a cat is absolutely taboo, cruel and unacceptable. |
Loving a pet is nothing to laugh at and companionship from an animal is far more intelligent than a expensive stereo. You just cant predict this, my cat has claws and zero desire to claw anything. Dont declaw unless last resort, its cruel but better than death. |
Anyone concerned with the well being of an animal is NOT the one that needs professional help. If spending more on speakers is necessary in trying to be responsible, will the poor please get out of the way of the rich. I commend Robshrode. |
There is no definitive answer.
I've had one grill cloth clawed "one time" in the past 21 years (total of 8 cats/3 still with us).
Many of our cats being feral rescues (one was both feral and bi-polar).
This said, they damaged a leather sofa (both arms ripped to shreds), one leg on an old Monterey dining table was used as a scratching post (one out of four isn't bad), various rugs, carpet, bedding (during the last stages of their lives), a few paintings (worth more than the stereo) and one sprayed the coffee maker while it was in the process of brewing (the bi-polar one:-).
All in all they have been very well behaved, IMO, when compared to all the things I've screwed up over the past 56 years.
As your speaker socks are replaceable I'd start him/her out with the Vandies. |
I have three cats and a year ago moved my Vandy's into the living room where they can now get to them. I feared the worst but the most that they have done is laid down on the top of the speakers where the fabric makes a soft place to sleep. None of the cats are declawed. I did nothing to discourage them. After all the bad press I had read for cats and Vandys I was pleasantly surprised. YRMV. Good luck! |
Let me get this straight... You are thinking about changing speakers because you want a cat? Have you thought about seeking professional help? |
...I would recommend that you either make sure the cat is declawed Not every cat is going to use the speakers as a scratching post and before you do something extreme as this, maybe do some prevention such as covering the speakers ( think slip cover ) when the speakers arent in use/your not home. |
I own both a cat and a set of vandys but I do not let the cat in the listening room for your exact concerns. I have seen a number of vandersteen speakers on audiogon for sale that are treated as scratching posts...I would recommend that you either make sure the cat is declawed or you keep them in separate rooms. Im not sure how much Richard charges for new socks....maybe this is something worth looking into? |
