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Guest suddenly takes it upon herself to move my speakers

Has this ever happened to anyone here?

You have your speakers positioned just as you like them, and then a guest takes it upon themselves to suddenly move your speakers?

Obviously I’m not going to get any sympathy from anyone in the non Audio world, so I thought I’d post my frustrating experience here.

I also imagine that many of your speakers can’t simply be slid out of position due to spikes or carpeting or sheer weight. Probably a good number of you, who like me have speakers on hardwood floors, have some marks in place to be able to return speakers to their exact position. (Which I didn’t)

But a recent female first time guest was sitting on the floor positioned between the speakers as we listened and for some reason decided that they should be pointed directly at her. Now some people might think “how obnoxious,” and others might think, ‘hey, a woman who wants the toe in angle optimzed for her seating position! She’s a keeper! Let her handle whatever she wants!”

And while I did like the enthusiasm, there was a supertweeter precariously balanced atop each speaker fireing rearward that could have easily toppled off and broken. (And no, there are no kids in the house).

I still haven’t found the exact sweet spot I had them in. For a long time I felt like a bit of an audio slacker since I never installed the factory spikes or rounded cones TAD provides for the CR1’s. Until a few months ago I read on another forum that many CR1 owners choose to just keep the stands on the floor, or haven’t found a benefit to using the spikes/cones on hardwood.

Obviously I’ll use the incident to try and eventually find an even more optimal positioning than they were in, but it still irks me that someone would just assume it’s okay to move a sophisticated audio setup that they truly know nothing about.

emailists
emailists OP
923 posts
 
@dworkman Glad I could entertain you.  That was the purpose, sharing an experience that only audio enthusiasts could appreciate.  I've since taken some time to experiment with new speaker placements, and I've marked the positions.

To answer a few questions, yes she was attractive and yes I was in the room when the "crime" occurred.  However I was on my phone adding to the playlist, so I didn't realize the first speaker was being moved until it was too late.  She was so quick that by the time I said "don't" she was already onto the second.  Like a car crash, it all happened so rapidly it was all a blur.  I'm hoping no permanent PTSD occurred, but I've increased my therapy sessions to two per week, just in case.  My therapist isn't an audiophile, so I'm currently looking for a new one, hopefully that embraces tubes in at least part of his system so he can help keep my anxiety in check through the current noisy 6SN7 issue I'm having.

There's more to the story that involves an infrared sauna, but perhaps it's best not to post that part.
dworkman
12 posts
 
@emailists I appreciate your sense of humor and your ability to laugh at yourself. I suffer from audiophilia nervosa as much as anyone here, but it is good to be able to laugh at yourself from time to time. My turntable is currently in pieces (again) for yer another upgrade and my wife now just rolls her eyes at me. It’s all about pleasure and fun in the end and we shouldn’t forget that! 

P.S. I’m glad to hear she’s attractive. Hopefully this incident leads to something positive on that front at least!
zardozmike
193 posts
 
This is really a most entertaining post, when I look for a little light reading and some laughs it can't get much better than this one. 
mewsickbuff
234 posts
 
@emailists I understand. I am also a female audiophile. Those who have said, non-audiophiles have no clue how much audio equipment costs or the precision it takes to set a system up are on track. I can only imagine the pain (and anger) felt by those who have had equipment "adjusted" "moved" or "damaged." I, too, find it rude that anyone would come into someone else's home and feel "comfortable" enough to move anything or place drinks (or any possibly damaging object) on something other than coasters on a table. The only problems I've ever had was with my (then 3 year old) granddaughter gently pushing in the woofers on my speakers to feel the give and take, and my husband sitting his lunch on top of them before heading out the door for work. I simply placed the grills back on the speakers when the grand babies came and a supervising adult was present in the living room any time the girls were there playing. I also had (several) discussions with my husband about resale value dropping through the floor should my speakers be damaged. Perhaps in the future you should inform guests when they walk through your door that your stereo system is off limits because you've already set it up to perform at its peak. And if there should be any problems you'd greatly appreciate it if they would speak with you about it and not try to rectify it. Or you could buy a big poster board, paint on it in big, bold letters, "DON'T TOUCH" and draw a skull and crossbones above or below those words. Then hang it or stand it between your speakers. (yes, I know that would effect the sound stage, but it would only be temporary :) Sigh, we live, we learn.
wolf_garcia
6,695 posts
 
Is the disturbance of gear (or DOG) sort of epidemic I was unaware of? I raised a child, have friends...blah blah...but seemingly these people display some sort of extra virtuous comportment as over many decades there's been only one minor incident...my son's friend knocked over a smallish tower speaker during a crowded gathering...no harm done, and I refuse to be a jerk about such things.
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