2. speakers
  3. 156166-139282

Child Damage Mitigation

Last week the wife and I brought a new baby home - our first - and it's been fun introducing her to the music we love. It dawned on me this morning that this child will be crawling before I know it and my lovely pair of Magnepan 3.7's might be sitting ducks. They're less agile than the cat, closer to the ground than the house plants, and more fragile than the couch. As I've calculated I've got approximately 6 months to find a way to prevent any child-induced damage so your input is greatly appreciated. What can I learn from the grand wisdom of AG about how to keep the kid away from the speakers? 
hapafoto
wolf_garcia
6,704 posts
 
My daughter had zero issues with my hifi rig as she wasn't crawling or later toddling around without an adult watching her as should be the case with any little kid...that's simply called parenting, and it's not that difficult.
audioman58's avatar
audioman58
4,168 posts
 
Correct the child ,if they do something wrong ,it’s not rocket science .
in mybaby boomer generation.
you are not taught any of this liberal BS 
about if it may hurt your feelings ,yes or no ,youjust have to be persistent if thst means raising your voice , or a talon the hand so be it get the message across.
i trained my kids,as well as cats and dogs none of them go behind the stereo ,all will sit on the couch and listen and enjoy the music .being consistent is the key ,
audiobill1
51 posts
 
Kids:
never wanted any
didn't have any

Regrets:
none
drkingfish
79 posts
 
Because of the times (this too shall pass, but not w/out a lot of damage) and the fact my driveway is 800' long I bought 50 large steel tire spikes. Those are welded double xs that leave a very sharp point upright no matter how you toss them.  In your case bird spikes on a strip would also work.  Just surround your equipment with either of these and after crawling through your security perimeter once, I don't think they will go there again.  Please be sure your local ER is in your insurance system.Best wishes to allMark
pictaker5
3 posts
 
Congrats!

Audio is fun. Baby's and toddlers are even more fun... that is unless you're spending your time blocking and tackling so they don't destroy your gear.

As soon as my first child started to pull herself up from crawling to standing, my Maggies became her go to spot, especially because they magically make sound and play "wheels on the bus." Child barriers never worked, they just bumped up on the equipment. Shocking the baby and squirting her with water never worked either.

My advice and this is what I did, get some sturdy speakers in there that will do the job for a few years. My go to was a pair of Vandersteen 2Ce Sigs that I had in storage. When your last baby turns 5 bring back the Maggies. In fact, maybe get even bigger Maggies, with more amplification, and a better source too, after all you had to sacrifice so much for 5 years.

Enjoy!
More to discover