Monitors are falling


I am soliciting advice ... opinions even ... on what to do with my rig. My stand mounted B&W CDM-1SEs were almost the victim of a knock down over the weekend ... by my wife of all people. This started the 'this is a living room not a media room' diatribe. Insult to injury is the fact that our first child is on the way. I beg you for suggestions ... ideas tto make the CDMs more stable or a really nice floor stander that I can get into in the $1,000 - $1,500 used range. All opinions are welcome and appreciated.
3728slingshot
Dekay: They ain't the cute dimples of a baby. Its a shame because they're a pair of those Rogers speakers - classics. But whenever I go over there, see them (the speakers)then him and his kids, nuff said.
Get a good stand like Atlantis Reference (4 pillar), very heavy even unfilled, then fill them with silica sand and or shot. Use the spikes. Then go to your hardware store and buy stick tack, same stuff as Audio sells but for about $2. One package usually does it. Put a small ball of the stuff on each corner of the stand then place the speaker on top and gently push down. Short of bolding it down to the floor this would be your best defense.
These are all excellent answers. I am handicapped and the second day that I had my new Dynaudio 1.3 SE's in Bird's eye maple, I backed up and knocked one off of the stand. It fell on top of the sub and only gouged a piece out of the rear fascia and dented the bottom. No speaker damage. But I was sick. How am I ever going to manage this. Well, now that I have seriously sunk the spikes into the hardwood floor and set sorbothane dots on the top of the Target HR/60 stands which are filled with sand, I have bumped them a couple of more times with no more falling. This is a real issue especially when you need your speakers to sit 3 or 4 feet away from the walls. But now even an earthquake has not toppled them.
But please note, if I thought that my little children were going to knock down my speakers, I would be much more worried about my child than any stupid speaker. I mean, isn't that the right mind of this. I would bolt them with a loading strap if I had to. ( the speakers ) And please beware of filling you speaker stands with lead if you have little children. Lead exposure is very dangerous to children. Dale
I know you may find this post perhaps a little too idealistic, but here's my two cents. Ignore at will. I had three kids in four years, all the while maintaining a pretty serious audio rig. They were taught from day one to stay away from my stuff, that was Daddy's and they were not to touch it under any circumstances. Similarly, we never removed all the knick knacks and other stuff the wife likes to keep around, we were vigilant in raising them to respect people's things. Easier said than done, I know. My kids are now 7.5, 9, 10.5 and so far, there has been no damage to anything, including themselves. Why go this route? Well, if you take yer kids to friend's houses, it's hard to expect your friends to childproof their place cuz you wanna pass a few hours there together. Long-winded diatribe on parenting I guess, but, it may be worth considering since yer first is on the way now. Congrats, kids are terrific! Jeff
Personally I think Jeffloistarca above has the best idea, but failing that...

For floorstanders look at the Triangle Antals that I think you can get for $1500 new. They're not too big, and if they meet your aesthetic tastes I'd bet they make a huge improvement in your system.

Another thought if you want to stick with monitors, go hear the Soliloquy 5.0s. I was able to do A/B comparisons with the B&Ws(which are obviously also very good speakers) and I thought they blew the CDM1se away. The other part is that the 5.0s are made to screw into their matching stands, and the stands themselves are ridiculously heavy in their own right and can be filled with sand, which would make these really tough to knock over. I think you can get the 5.0s with stands for around $1300 new. You can see them on www.solspeak.com if you want to check them out.

I agree with the guy above who said this might be the perfect opportunity to upgrade. Hey, if you're stuck with lemons why not make lemonade? Give these speakers a listen and you'll be glad your wife hip checked your monitors.

Tim