Toddlers and Small Children

[fatchowmein]

These questions are for all those moms and dads out there running Rti's or LSi speakers.

1. How do you protect your floor speakers and subs from curious fingers?

2. There's alot of debate on this forum about floor vs bookshelf front speakers but in terms of speaker protection, do you parents buy bookshelf speakers and mount them on the wall behind the TV?

3. I love big floor speakers but I don't want a RTi12 or LSi25 falling on a small child. Those parents with floor speakers, what type of experiences have you all had?

4. Where are you all hiding the subs?


I'm very interested in this topic. We plan on having children in the near future and I'm hoping these questions will garner alot of stories and experiences from parents. :D

Thx,
~Fats

[EricT43]

I have my first coming in May :) So I can't answer your quesions directly, but I am thinking that a floorstanding speaker is probably safer than a bookshelf speaker on a stand.

Not sure how I'm gonna protect my gear from the little rascal. I'm interested in the replies too!

[schwarcw]

Buy disposable speakers! The kids may or may not get to them. If you get floor standing just be sure the speakers can't fall over. Use nylon wire ties to secure the speakers to the wall. Use a hook screw going into a stud in the wall. Protecting the speakers themselves from little finger . . . not much you can do. They will eventually get the covers off. You could try securing the cloth covers to the speaker with a screw or use some velcro. Or wait until they grow up and start to use your equipment to entertain their friends

[F1nut]

Put an electric fence around your gear. The kid gets near it and ZAP! Once will probably do the trick, at least until they get older and figure out how to turn off the juice.

[Dennis Gardner]

Protect your speakers with a gauntlet of glowing tube amps.

Instant speaker protection...........

[fatchowmein]

I have my first coming in May :) So I can't answer your quesions directly, but I am thinking that a floorstanding speaker is probably safer than a bookshelf speaker on a stand.

Not sure how I'm gonna protect my gear from the little rascal. I'm interested in the replies too!

Oh, I didn't specify. When I mentioned bookshelfs, I was thinking about attaching the front speakers to the wall out of reach. However, acoustically, I'm thinking this will make for poor imaging. Maybe not? Speaker stands are definitely out of the question.

Congrats on the new tyke. My BD is on 5/19.

Cheers!

[fatchowmein]

Protect your speakers with a gauntlet of glowing tube amps.

Instant speaker protection...........

LOL! That'll be like drawing a moth to a bug zapper.

[Frank Z]

You and your wife are the best deterent. I'm not talking about beatings, just teach them right from wrong from the start. Applies to more than just speaker climbing too.;)

[EricT43]

You mean discipline? Dang, I was hoping for an easy solution!

[fatchowmein]

You mean discipline? Dang, I was hoping for an easy solution!

Easy = forcefield

[janmike]

Never had a problem in our house. Teach them early what they can touch. It amazes me that so many people think children and speakers do not mix. Our son is 7 and was taught early about what and what not to touch. Hell, if you can teach a pet where not to crap, which I do not own, surely you can teach your own child to stay away from certain items. I guess it depends on who is in control. Use a little psychology on that under developed mind. Once developed, it's too late.

[phipiper10]

You won't be able to prevent them from touching them and getting into the wires or anything else for that matter.

I have a 3 year old and he touched the cloth grilles on the RT800is with grubby fingers but it wasn't too big a deal. He never really got to into the speakers -there really isn't too much to play with on a speaker.

Once he was old enough to walk my 300 disc CD player became a different story. He would hand open the (mechanized) front door and pull out cds. GASP!!!!!!!! I'd catch him from across the room tell him "no" and once he knew he was caught he'd pulll out as many as possible throw them on the floor and then run. It was really funny looking back only because the CD player still works.

All the discipline won't prevent them from touching and exploring ...it's NATURAL. Do your best to teach them it's not for them.

I have an 8 month old now so about to go through it all again. Good grief why did we do it. ; )

Enjoy the kids and get in all the listening you can now listening time and volume are about to decrease immensely.

Rich

[fatchowmein]

Enjoy the kids and get in all the listening you can now listening time and volume are about to decrease immensely.

Rich

Yeah, I watched my brother go from GNR and NIN to Barney, Dora the Explorer, and Wiggles. His speakers are all wall mounted, out of reach. :D

[louhamilton]

I have a set of RTi4's wall mounted out of reach for that exact purpose. I know my two boys (4 & 2) and they would be pulling on wires, pushing things over on each other, putting toys in the ports, etc.

I have not had any issues with imaging. As a matter of fact, I installed them upside down in order to get better imaging.

See this post for pictures: http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=37932

-Lou

[tdogroeder]

My 4 yr old son doesn't touch my speakers at least I don't think the does. I have talked to him about it. Now he does know how to use the dvd player and turn on & off the tv and receiver, but he doesn't know how to turn the tv to tv/video or the receiver to dvd when he wants to watch a dvd. I guess I should show him how to use the reveiver and tv together to watch a dvd. My son is pretty good at not touching my audio gear other than to use it for movies.

[speakergeek]

Never had a problem in our house. Teach them early what they can touch. It amazes me that so many people think children and speakers do not mix. Our son is 7 and was taught early about what and what not to touch. Hell, if you can teach a pet where not to crap, which I do not own, surely you can teach your own child to stay away from certain items. I guess it depends on who is in control. Use a little psychology on that under developed mind. Once developed, it's too late.

Yep. I have 4 kids. They DON'T touch the speakers. The youngest is a boy (3yrs old).

[labrat]

I have two children (now 4 and 6), and had only minimal issues with speakers. The biggest deal was when I got my RT800's and my oldest stuck a finger in the tweeter. Bulged in, popped out when the finger was removed - no harm done other than Dad getting a few more grey hairs. The lesson learned was to teach them what not to do and LEAVE THE GRILLS ON. Since then haven't had any problems.

Scott

[heiney9]

Invisible fence and the associated shock collar. This will train them and after a month or so the kid will be paranoid to go near anything remotely electrical for the rest of their lives :D :) .

It's difficult to have nice things when you have kids. They are just to damn inqusitive. Proper discipline is the best method, but doesn't always give 100% results, but it can be effective. Just take all nec. precautions and make things as safe as possible.

H9

[unc2701]

on the tipping issue- My cat used to jump on top of the speakers and they'd wiggle like they were about to fall, so I took out the carpet spikes, found bolts threaded the same, bolted a piece of plywood to the bottom to give them a bigger footprint, then put the spikes on the plywood.

[audiobliss]

^^ Sounds like an interesting solution.

[McLoki]

click on the quote in my signature to see what our solution was. We were in the same boat you were. Either go with a heavy floorstanding or small bookshelf.

I ended up going with the bookshelf mounted (along with the tv) out of reach. You could use Btech BT-77 stands to mount bookshelves to the wall out of reach. I know it will not sound ideal, but once the kids hit about 4 or 5 floorstanders should be a pretty safe choice. (my son is now 4.5 my daughter 6) - we just purchased the LSi15's for the front stage replacing the LSi7's.

Stands were out of the question for us, and floorstanders, while more stable, are heavy as hell and could really hurt it small child if it fell on them.

Only other word of advice - NEVER take the fronts covers off your speakers. If your child ever knows they come off - they wont rest until they investigate how to do it themselves and what is under there.

Best of luck,

Michael

[lanion]

My speakers are currently on sturdy endtables with vibrapods. I just does this because my lsi9s look lame on speaker stands, but it is about the most sturdy arrangment possible.

[seo]

I have two toddlers both 2 3/4. I had SDA-CRS's on stands, but I sold them here on the FM because I was running out of space and I was afraid of then getting knocked off of their stands onto one of the girls. Believe me, two toddlers of the same age can wreak havoc. Even well behaved ones!

Anyway, using a set of monitor 30 bookshelves in the meantime (of course, already thinking of upgrading to some energy C-3's or Epos or Wharfedale ;) ).

I plan on getting another set of CRS in the future when the kids are older and possibly add a room onto the house.

[SKsolutions]

Maybe a ring of mousetraps?

[dpowell]

I had my first experience with children and my equipment when my brother's kid grabbed the cd tray of my Denon 3800 and pushed and pulled on it. Fortunately I was nearby to quickly detach the hand from the tray so no damage done but when I found out we had our first child on the way, I realized that the equipment was better located out of reach. I got the wife's permission to move it to a closet in the room and re-wire everything (i.e. good excuse for a project). You can click the link on my sig to see the results. I still haven't figured out what to do about limiting access to the mains and center since I have to imagine that there will some kid to speaker contact while we work with him on what not to touch. I was considering a fireplace spark arrester for each. I can't stomach the thought of putting screws into my my RT3000's.

[cfrizz]

WOW!!! Outstanding system & setup!:)

I had my first experience with children and my equipment when my brother's kid grabbed the cd tray of my Denon 3800 and pushed and pulled on it. Fortunately I was nearby to quickly detach the hand from the tray so no damage done but when I found out we had our first child on the way, I realized that the equipment was better located out of reach. I got the wife's permission to move it to a closet in the room and re-wire everything (i.e. good excuse for a project). You can click the link on my sig to see the results. I still haven't figured out what to do about limiting access to the mains and center since I have to imagine that there will some kid to speaker contact while we work with him on what not to touch. I was considering a fireplace spark arrester for each. I can't stomach the thought of putting screws into my my RT3000's.

[2+2]

Mine cant crawl yet so safe for now....not sure what the heck to do when the little guy finds his legs....

[markopolo]

Mine are 14 and 17 now so I've been there done that. Kids will explore but as parents it's your job to teach them where exporing is ok and where it's not ok. Too many parents are afraid to discipline their children. By that I don't mean smacking them...there are better ways. But YOU are in control. As someone said earlier, you can teach them that going near your equipment is not ok. Consistency is the key. Having said that, some kids will be more defiant than others and will be more difficult to control. I'm not sure if it's because of me or if I was just lucky to have good kids but I never had a problem with my kids and my equipment. I was FIRM with them. Now OTHER peoples kids on the other hand.....
Damn....just realized that I'm a perfect parent. (Of course isn't that what EVERY parent thinks)

[Stew]

We have 4 children from 10 months to 7 years old. My SDA 2b's were out of the way for a while with the first two but with a little more parenting experience, I set them up properly in our basement - which is also used as their play area. Here's what works for our children:

10 month old - Redirect and don't make a big deal out of it. She'll lose interest and move onto something else.

2 yr old - Tell him "No, don't touch. Those are not yours, they're daddies." Be firm but don't make too big a deal.

4 and 7 yr old - I asked them to help me redirect the little ones and to move boxes or their big plastic slide in front of the speakers when they're playing down there and I'm not home. Giving them a little responsibility goes a long way.

Your mileage may vary. I accept that their is a possibility of damage although they've been really good about it so far. Fortunately, most parts are still available through Polk or aftermarket.

Good Luck,
Stew

[dpowell]

WOW!!! Outstanding system & setup!:)

Thanks! It sure was a lot of fun to setup.