kids free can actually be important since kids come in all sizes. One size is the know it all teen who can't wait for his/her parent to vacate the premises so they can crank their favorite noise full blast and drive amps and speakers well past their limits. Think Tom Cruise in "Risky Business". At least his choice of music was good!
Should we care if a piece of equipment comes from a pet-free, kid-free, smoke-free home?
I agree that I do not want a preamp or speaker coated with a film of smoke, but I am confused as to what a child or pet could do that would not be otherwise visible. You would see the cat scratches on the speaker grill, the dog chew marks on the rack, the iguana turds in the amplifier cooling vents. And what's a little dog hair among friends? As a 3 year old, I supposedly put my finger through my grandfather's new DIY speaker but I'm pretty sure he replaced the drivers so even that doesn't really matter. Most things will be visible and/or easily remedied. Maybe the price will even be a little lower because of the cosmetics. If it doesn't mess with function, not a big deal to me.
What concerns me more is does it come from a drunk-free, drug-free home. I think befuddled owners are far more worrisome than pets or children.
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We may have this all wrong. Perhaps someone has done an A/B SQ comparison with/without cigarette residue, with/without pet hair or dander, with/without sippy-cup drippings on the knobs and cabinet So many details to test! There may be another business opportunity here. I can see it now. Mpingo St. Bernard dander in .005 oz packets, $350 per packet…and 6 packets proven to lift the “veil” from your audio experience. Or perhaps .2oz bottles of Cuban cigar flavored mist to reveal detail and transparency at a new level. |
It actually does matter in some cases. A friend recently told me that his Audio Note M 8 linestage had developed a problem with turn-on—it would frequently blow a fuse when the switch was thrown. The problem turned out to be caused by a massive collection of cat hair inside the linestage chassis—the warm linestage was a favorite sleeping spot of the cat. When I wanted to sell my Acoustat 1+ 1 electrostatic speakers to a use equipment store, they would only buy it if I took off the outer sock so that I could confirm it was used in a smoke free environment. Smoke is attracted to the charged diaphragm and leaves a thick sticky deposit that degrades performance.
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So many variables. Almost bald cat upstairs, never in basement < long-haired cats sleeping on amps. One happy spliff < pack and a half of smokes a day for twenty years in the home. Et cetera. PS. I don’t smoke anything @normb You got the cat dander right. They are disgusting. I never eat cakes made by folks with cats. |
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