Kids, gotta love em! Congratulations!
In regard to speakers... What I did was get heavy stands (filled with sand) with small monitor speakers & attached to them with an ample amount of blue tack. That worked well.
In regard to children... My oldest child was the problem. He is 32 now & well behaved, but he wasn't growing up. Naturally curious & always looking for fun. At one point, he took ALL of my albums out of their cases & played with them on the living room floor. That was expensive but was solved by sorting out the bad ones & putting the rest of them up out of his reach. He was my listening buddy (& still loves music to this day). I bought a new power amp when he was about 6 & "we" hooked it up. Listened to it for about 10 seconds & it became unstable to the point of smoke not only coming from the amp itself but from the speaker drivers as well. After I scrambled to unplug everything, he looked at me & said in a calm voice "we won't be listening for a while". It was funny really. FWIW audio isn't the only thing you need to be concerned about... This same child took a box of "oxy pads" to my brand new cars finish to clean it.
Now about cats and girls... My daughter (a year younger than him) loved cats so we got her one. That beautiful little animal got behind my rig & literally chewed all the interconnect wires off at the rca connectors. In regard to audio, she wasn't much of a problem herself until she got older. My straight A daughter had a party at the house (go figure) & one of her friends tipped over one of my speakers on to my turntable. Damaged both. It was naturally my fault though because the speaker was to close to the walkway.
Have fun! |
Shut the door 😅. Congratulations on your new daughter. Life will have turned a big corner by now. I did not have any
problems with my 2 girls. However I didn’t have Maggies either.
All the best
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Congrats on the new kiddo! I have 2 under 3 and I promise, you can teach them more than you think. Be patient and start teaching them young, they will get it.
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Back in the day when Maggies came out the tri panel ones the dealer warp his knuckles on them and said that they we bullet proof. Has that changed? |
When my wife decided she wanted a cat, I bought a couple plastic lenses designed to be used on a 4 ft. fluorescent light fixture. They are translucent and pretty thin, maybe 1/32 inch, strong but very flexible. When I'm not listening, I bend them around the front of my speakers and secure them with a bungee cord a half foot up from the floor. They are easily removed for listening and fully protect the grills from the cat when the system is off. Aesthetically pleasing? Well, no. Effective? 100%.
Otherwise, try the "velcro babysitter"...a square of velcro a couple square feet. One side mounted about half way up the wall of your choice, the other sheet with a hole cut into it large enough to go over the baby's head and secured around the baby's torso. When you're not in the room, you just velcro the tot to the wall.
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separate locked listening room.
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I would buy some dog/child gates/fences on Amazon.
They have a nice selection. I don't know how your room is laid out, but Amazon sells some nice folding fences that allow you to place them where needed and are easily moved when not wanted.
I use them for my dogs, and my system is safe from their little paws.
Bob |
Moopman, you just can’t help yourself, can’t you? |
I bet even back in the olden days, the President’s parents couldn’t keep little Donnie away from anything he wanted to touch. Just a hunch....
In any case, accidents happen so best to be safe. Some hifi gear is more childproof than others. |
Right. What I'm saying. They had a healthier look at life 50, 60, 100 years ago. |
Some people have healthier look at life and priorities than others. That is all that there is.
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When I was growing up there were places you did not go. Physically could not go there. Then a little older there were things you did not touch. Consequences were immediate and severe. Growing up this way a child learns.
Nowadays we have this cockamamie theory the adult learns from the child. Its reached such heights of preposterousness a guy cannot even protect his speakers from a baby, and people are seriously advising changing a system just so the kid can avoid for as long as possible learning there are things you do not mess with.
I fear for our future. Really I do. |
This is the moment you can justify the change of equipment.
Right now you may be concerned about your speakers, but that is a cheap concern. You can buy another pair. As someone mentioned earlier, after a year or so your daughter will be much faster and still not well-controlled. It will last for a few years.
The problem is not her damaging your speakers, but speakers damaging her. Get something she is unlikely to tip over. Bottom-heavy, large base if possible. For that reason, It may be wise to avoid anything with stands. Of course, as another one said earlier, some gentle teaching from the beginning will help but there is no way she will not run into your speakers over time. Make them safe for her.
You have two speakers, but only one daughter. Think of how to protect her. Screw the speakers.
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You guys are mean. A nice stuff sack is the way to go. Draw string around the neck. Better ventilation than a hamster ball. |
Shock collar...that's cruel! I suggest an electric fence. |
Congratulations.
You and your wife have quite a story to share with your child-being born during this uncertain time.
Just rig up some of those plastic baby room partitions around them. Easy to setup and remove. |
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jon_5912
"I've had them crank it up to 11, panic, and run."
Me too, unforgettable experience.
Amp survived, speakers survived, but I almost didn't.
I love my Creek Destiny 1 amp but next time I'm getting something with a heavier volume dial and maybe overload protection. All 100 watts through my speakers at once is not something I want to experience again! |
How about those electric fences for dogs? I’m kidding!
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My wife and I reared two rug rats during a time when we had Magnepan IIAs then Acoustat 2+2s. We never had any problems. I suppose we were just lucky. However my wife's awful bulimic house cat did once regurgitate into the innards of a Lexicon DC-1 surround sound decoder. Repairs were $450.00 plus shipping.
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I built a light wood frame around my speakers and covered it with some cloth mesh from a fabric store. It kept the monkeys from doing any damage while they were tiny. When they get a little bigger you've got to watch for them messing with the volume. I've had them crank it up to 11, panic, and run. If possible, put electronics on a high shelf. |
Funny that title of thread is "Child Damage Mitigation" rather than "Speaker Damage Mitigation" : ) |
Congrats!
I've got two toddlers. If there's a way to move your audio system into a different room, I suggest you do. There's no controlling little ones when they're just starting to move around--they are just too young to understand right/wrong/discipline.
Short of that, the idea of installing a gate in front of the entire audio system seems reasonable, but know that there will be bouts of upset as you contend with the toddler reality of wanting everything in sight that they cannot have. |
Good advice so far. Short sharp shock is what’s required.
Let’s face it kids and audio don’t mix well - until they get used to it using it properly. My teenage daughter is excellent at taking care of CDs, DVDs and using tech. But along the way, especially with my younger old son (and visitors) there have been numerous minor tech disasters.
One of the reasons I love my Tannoys is because they feature a near solid grille, which my son thankfully hasn’t yet realised can be removed. If I didn't have them I might go for some wall secured ATC SCM40s with their metal grilles.
I am always grateful not to be the owner of speakers featuring costly metal done tweeters. I couldn’t cope with pressure of knowing it’s a matter of when not if.
Hence valve amps also a big no no at the moment.
On the other hand let’s not forget damaged hi-fi can always be fixed or replaced, but children are irreplaceable.
That’s what I keep telling myself.
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Shock collars and mats huh.... penitentiary grade barbed wire? |
We had a shock mat for the cat. It's pretty harmless and the power supply doesn't seem to impact the sound quality. |
“But seriously they arent very fast until after 1.”
This one made me smile 😀
It’s mostly true, until the one day you leave them, go upstairs, and return to find them 3/4 of way up the stairs teetering on disaster! Good memories!
Reluctantly, I’m gonna have to agree with the storing advice and going to stand mounts with heavy, sand filled stands for about 7-10 years or however long it takes you to get all your eventual little ones to about age 7 (10 if they are rambunctious, rebellious, and don’t listen well). 😂 |
It really is amazing what a child can learn from parents when gentle teaching is given. |
Dont mess around ,get a shock collar and cure that child for life...
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Store the Maggie’s and get monitors with heavy stands for a next few years. Congrats on the little girl! |
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If you aren't willing to build a moat around your audio equipment, I'm not sure you are in the right forum .... ;-)
Congrats on the new baby, hope you didn't steal her.....
(I'm here all week folks!! )
Sorry my friend, no advice I know of. My cats are the closest and they are very well behaved.
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Baby gate all the way across the front of the speakers . I made mine out of PVC and called it baby city. Although that was more of a baby jail.
But seriously they arent very fast until after 1. |
