childproofing rear speakers

I'm assuming there's no back wall these are near? If so you can find the stud in the walls, you can mount them. Even if you can't find the stud - I imagine these aren't more than 40lbs or so?

I've seen ceiling mounts, but they're not attractive.

Kids will harm more than you think. They pull off grills, claw at the grills, push in dust caps on drivers...Imagine anything a 20 pound cat can do to your speakers!

Ikea has the right idea: Their anti-topple device is a simple strap screwed to the back of a unit and screwed to the wall. If no back wall, you will have issues. I would never leave speakers on stands around kids 8 months to 2 years old.

Which do you cry more about, the damaged speaker or the kids who got nailed by the falling speaker? Darn kids...

I have three little ones all within 22 mos. of eachother, so I speak from experience on this topic. Have a pair of B&W CDM-1NTs in our family room as mains. . .here's what I did.

I bought a a pair of very heavy steel four-column stands and filled each with 100 lbs. of lead shot--net weight is now 135 lbs each (not including speakers). That pretty much takes care of the "topple" factor. Plus, it gave me the excuse to go a little OCD on mass loading.

Next, I carefully drilled into the bottoms of the speakers and installed threaded inserts. Yes, I know that this will "kill" the resale value, but I don't plan on parting with these terrific monitors. I also drilled a hole completely through the top plate of the stand--now I can insert a allen head bolt up through this hole in the top plate and into the threaded insert in the bottom of the speaker. So it's not going anwhere. And the speaker is firmly coupled to the stand (I used some Blu-Tack to protect finish of speaker and for constrained layer damping. . .uh oh, more OCD behavior. . time for meds).

Next, I bought some extra long zip ties and secured the grilles by going all the way around the perimeter of the speaker/grille at the top and bottom. . .so that took care of that. Ugly? Yes. Effective? Yes. Temporary? Yes. I made sure the smooth surface of the zip tie was up against the cabinet walls, as I didn't want to chance that those little 'teeth' on the ties would mar the finish. . .plus, I read somewhere the little teeth will tame room resonance but you have to be sure to have an odd number of them exposed. . .or maybe I just dreamed that part.

Finally, I enjoyed my speakers and waited until my kids grew up enough to no longer show an interest in them and would also listen to our gentle admonitions. Zip ties are now gone and kids are way cool about respecting the gear. Plus, they LOVE music which is the outcome I'd hoped for.

Kjweisner and Dbw1,

I have a similar, though different issue of the same sort. I have a great Dane, who indiscriminatly runs about the house some times, and frequently runs into things. She has even damaged walls in her little sprints.

While Kjweisner's ideas are OK, no disrespect Kj, but I think anything on stands CAN fall, and children only get larger. They might not topple it NOW but can soon. Check the AMA for the articles of adults toppling vending machines and dying if you doubt me. I personally have gone to floor standers for rears and recomend it to everyone. I use the same or one down in a products line and am much less worried about them falling over.

Sure, it might seem extreme, but the stands and lead shot Kj is suggesting will cost you as much as the upgrade to larger floor based speakers, and you'll end up with better sound.

My 0.02.

KT