Please, DON'T TOUCH

Bombaywalla, I think the point is that this stuff represents a significant investment, and that children will naturally want to explore it because it looks cool. Should we just let them break something, then laugh it off? How does it build a relationship to see a $3000 oops coming and not do anything to avert it? If Portugall did nothing, and something broke, everyone would feel bad - the guests, hwo may not be able to afford to pay for something which they had no idea was so expensive, the owner, who might feel uncomfortable asking for compensation, and taking what could be a multi-$1000 loss.
I do understand your point, though. If a material posession is going to cause such strife, is it worth it? I would not want to own something that I think would reasonably expect to be broken, for exmple, I don't have expensive glasses. If someone served me a sandwich on the deck on a $500 Noritake plate, and it fell off the arm of the chair, and he wanted me to pay for the plate, I'd be really annoyed; not for owning such a plate, but for setting me up for disaster. By the same token, the owner of a very expensive system should take precautions when he sees an event in which it is likely that damage could occur. Parents should also control their children. just like crossing a street. The pedestrian should only cross when safe to do so. But if he screws up, the driver can't run him over

There are also a lot of opportunities for kids to fry or phyically injure themselves, depending on the type of gear you have. I'd recommend stashing it away.

Dude you must be too far away from knowikng kids.
6 y.o's usually understand speach correctly but first you should see if there any attention to your rig.

My wife and I now life in a child free zone. After several bummer incounters with various friend's kids, we now no longer welcome most of them at our home.

It is unfortunate, but most parents are used to their children and accept their behaviour. In a new enviornment, behaviour that is cool at home may be disruptive, destructive or even dangerous.

We have had a 6 year old start a tractor and an eleven year old drive a golf cart into a pond. Over the years, kids have destroyed art, stolen money, colthing, jewerly and collectables, broken heirlooms, hurt our pets and defaced our home and its furnishings.

Most of our friends understand and accept our rules. A majority even like haveing a place to visit without their kids.

You can take the risk, but I can tell you that it will destroy your friendship if a kid ruins your stuff.

I want to thank everyone for all of their insight! I am not in the financial position to absorb the cost of repair or replacement. I'm going to follow some of your advice and dismantle the system entirely for 1 week. That way, nothing gets damaged and I won't offend anyone. This will also allow me to clean IC's, the rack, etc. when I reassemble the system.

Thanks again!