childproofing rear speakers

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.

No disagreement about the cost of the stands/shot (did I mention the OCD?). The stand were $200, and about the same for the shot. But I got a smoking deal on these speakers ($600 vs $1200) so I was still ahead of the game, but that's not really my point.

I don't wish to sound defensive. . .Kenny's alternative is a good one, but it was recommended primarily as rebuttal on the 'demerits' of my method, so I'll offer some additional comments.

I have a separate Meridian digital theater and a separate BAT/Magneplanar 2-channel setup, both with floor standers, so I'm not an evangelist for monitors. I went this route because I already had the CDMs on hand and wanted to make use of them in the family room, where I didn't want to put a $5k speaker in harm's way.

Are floor standers less prone to getting toppled than stand mounteds? I'll enthusiastically agree, which is why I did what I did. But now, my mass loaded and bolted down setup has such a low and heavy center of gravity, they are significantly more stable than my Meridian DSP5000s (which are pretty heavy due to built-in DACs and 225 watts of amplification). And the CDM1-NTs are a fine sounding speaker regardless of box size, and worthy of a solid foundation.

I'm pretty sure that vending machines are not stand mounted, so the comparison is equally apt with any speaker. . .if enough force is applied, I'm sure you could pull that Wilson Audio MAXX, Dali Megaline, or PBN Montana WAS onto yourself and experience a literal moment of killer sound !

"You'll end up with better sound" from floor based speakers is a pretty bold statement and would certainly invite a debate of what constitutes better sound. . .is it frequency response? imaging? PRAT? soundstaging? timbral accuracy? in-room response/interaction? Clearly, every speaker is a mix/compromise of these and more. Box size (or complete lack thereof such as with 'stats and planars) is not the final arbiter of better sound. All three of my systems sound pretty different (and terrific)!

At any rate, since DBw1 already has monitors, my post was meant to respond directly to his question "Anyone with experience in this area?" Again, I don't mean to sound defensive (truly), but wanted to suggest that there's not "one true way."

These are some good ideas so far. Thanks to all. I have tried floorstanding rears in the past, and didn't like them b/c the it seemed like the sound was just going into the back of the couch (which it was). I like the idea of mounting to the rear wall, which is only a couple feet behind where they are now. Less optimal positioning, but who cares in the name of safety.

BTW, I too have a great dane! Don't worry KT, she will calm down in a year or so as all danes do. Mine used to knock the sliding glass door off the track in his laps around the house. In those days, I only had the two speakers, and they were kept right at the wall b/c of him (ick).

Are there ways to mount to the back wall that do not involve screwing into the speakers? Also, there is a radiator in one corner. How high above a radiator do you think a speaker ought to be mounted? -Dave