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How do you kid-proof bookshelf speakers? - Page 2

post #31 of 53
6/27/12 at 2:48pm
I sold my kids to pay for my speakers
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post #32 of 53
6/27/12 at 5:04pm
One foolproof solution: shock collar!
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post #33 of 53
6/27/12 at 8:26pm
As you can see in my avatar, I have my rear surround speakers on some Plateau V-30's which are filled with lead shot and the speakers are blu-tacked to the stands. The speakers do sit in the middle of the room and miraculously I haven't had an incident yet...knock on wood (preferably south american rosewood!). The stands are pretty sturdy and it would take a good bit of force to knock them over; this approach along with discipline has worked very well with my three boys. All of them know my theater room is hollow ground and they treat it as such. Unfortunately the same can't be said for their knuckle-head friends and cousins. That seems to be the un-controllable variable with my set up. A keypad with a code to unlock the door to the room sounds more enticing now that I'm reading everyone else's post!
Edited by bigpimpin - 6/28/12 at 7:16am
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post #34 of 53
6/28/12 at 5:31am
Kids can be trained like puppies. You tell them "no" and you keep reminding the little-one (s)! They'll understand soon enough or else.....................eek.gif

I have two kids and both know the where the "No Tresspassing or No Touching" signs are located at!!

Not once did my children when they were young to even be curious to poke at my towers tweeters or get very close to the restricted area that they were not allowed to go by.
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post #35 of 53
6/28/12 at 6:04am
Be careful with your kids around your speakers. One of mine had to go to the hospital after his brother bumped into the speaker stand and knocked the bookshelf speaker onto his head. Just a bad cut was the result but I secured to the wall after that.

You can use a picture mounting kit for this. Cheap, easy, and the hole made in the speaker is quite small. About like pushing a tack in the wood.
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post #36 of 53
6/29/12 at 10:41pm
I need a pair for jbl l820...
Thanks
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post #37 of 53
6/30/12 at 2:37am
There's a reason that Pelican cases have a lifetime guarantee aginst anything except "shark bite, bear attack and children under five."

Get them high and out of the way and hope they lose interest before they can climb.

I currently have a 3.5 year old and a 9 month old. I specially bought a centre speaker that I wasn't attached to, even though I glued the grill in, the eldest got to it within seconds and the dust cups have been cactus for years now.

I went for large towers, 65 pounds, and looked at any number of ways of fixing it to something but didn't get around to it, I figured the heavier the more difficult to push over. The grills have suffered as blackborads, but they haven't worked out how to take them off yet. The youngest most recently loves pulling out cables from the only one that has easy access. Even at 7 months he would crawl up to them, make himself upright, look around with a cheeky grin then start trying to get at them for a good chew. My family and friends are very amused that the kids treat my pride and joy so recklessly.

Have left all the AV gear exposed, the lighter stuff gets pushed a bit, but no great damage. I don't have the heart to rouse on them.
Edited by nijimon - 6/30/12 at 3:43am
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post #38 of 53
6/30/12 at 6:38am
And my wife asked " why are you putting a lock on the theater?"
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post #39 of 53
6/30/12 at 1:34pm
Thread Starter 
What's the minimum height people think they should be mounted?

I may do a combo of everything, and perhaps even a kid gate that's secured to the wall that goes around all the equipment when not in use.
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post #40 of 53
6/30/12 at 1:37pm
kid proof your speakers by: hang the speakers up high. smile.gif
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post #41 of 53
6/30/12 at 7:21pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jano18 View Post

I have a 3 year old son & a 1 year old daughter. Before our son was born I had towers speakers in our HT. One day my son knocked one of the towers over & it smacked the floor which scared the hell out of him & myself. Fortunately he was not hurt & the speaker was not damaged. After that day I used furniture straps to secure the towers & center channel to the wall. This was a safe solution but it just made it more fun for my son to shake them. I had my center channel on "L" brackets anchored to the wall below my display, but he would still remove the grill & poke at the woofers. My current HT which is in my Great Room is almost completely child proof. All of my gear is in a Sanus AV Rack in a closet with a child proof lock on the bi-fold door. My Pioneer PRO-141FD is wall mounted, although he can still touch it strict consistent discipline from my wife & myself have eliminated little fingers from touching the screen. All of my speakers are wall mounted: Definitive Technology Mythos 10's for my LCR (center channel mounted above the display) with Klipsch Reference RS-42 II's for side surrounds & RS-41 II's for my rear surrounds. My JL Audio F113 subwoofer is in the right front corner of my room with a black towel wrapped around the gloss black finish. Although still exposed, both of my children don't seem to have much interest in it. I ran all of the wiring in the walls, basement & attic. In my opinion this setup has a very high WAF, child proof, clean, modern & professional look. I had the audio system professionally calibrated & my Kuro ISF calibrated by Jeff Meier from Accucal. Good luck!

Quote:
Originally Posted by beezar View Post


Care to share pics?

Sorry for the delay, I have been busy with work & my family. Here are some quick pics I took with my iPhone.

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700
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post #42 of 53
6/30/12 at 8:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by nijimon View Post

Get them high and out of the way and hope they lose interest.

"Here son, lets have another hash brownie and listen to some Pink Floyd"
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post #43 of 53
6/30/12 at 9:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by beezar View Post

What's the minimum height people think they should be mounted?
I may do a combo of everything, and perhaps even a kid gate that's secured to the wall that goes around all the equipment when not in use.

Just tested the reach of the 3½ year old. She can get to any part of my 46" towers. She did loose interest in the dust caps of my centre channel about 6 months ago, but I suspect she would reaquaint herself with the fascination if she managed to find some fresh cones. And the little one loves to scratch at the rubber surrounds.

Good luck with the kiddie gate. I considered a door with a stainless steel mesh to allow for airflow (remote seemed to work fine), but my wife always has much to say about aesthetics. I had some custom machined mounts made for my rears, but she refused to let me hang them on the wall.
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post #44 of 53
7/1/12 at 5:00am
448
Kids will be kids, no matter what age. For my shared HT/Living room I went the less expensive speaker, kid gate, disciplined route and metal grills on the Pioneer speakers was an added bonus.

450
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post #45 of 53
7/1/12 at 5:12am
Our little guy is almost nine months old, and is drawn to my Onkyo receiver and other components like a moth to a flame. I think he's fascinated by the pretty colored lights. The AV rack they're on right now is completely open, but we're having a custom door put on the front of it to close off the components. I have Paradigm Monitor 9 speakers for fronts, and they're pretty well secured with carpet spikes. The Hsu sub is too big for him to really do anything with. I just replaced my Paradigm ADP rears with in ceiling speakers. Hopefully this minimizes any risks for the most part.

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Edited by Invader3 - 7/1/12 at 5:19am
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post #46 of 53
7/2/12 at 10:21am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Matts View Post

This is why men have bat caves, to keep to the wife and kids out. And it why some men have bullet proof doors and locks better than what Brinks would use. biggrin.gif
In all seriousness though, I would look at a combination of reinforcing the stand (sand in the stands) and then making sure the speaker is well secured to the stand and then investing in some very strong adhesive that you can stick to the bottom of the stand. Then you attach a cable from the stand's base to a bolt in the floor and the adhesive ties the cable to the stand. This keeps the speaker from being pushed or knocked over. The only caveat here is that the you would have to drill nto the floor and attach a cable to a bolt. But this would be the best method in so far as it would not compromise the sound. In fact it would likely help the sound. By adding sand the stand it would make the stand more inert and create less resonance.

Ha ha ha, This is why my uncle had his own 'man-room' (as he liked to call it) It lasted a good few years before his wife turned it into a guest bedroom. Now he can't have nice things....
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post #47 of 53
7/2/12 at 5:06pm
The real question is how do you speaker-proof kids? And the answer is through isolated conditioning via constant exposure to intense infrasonic frequencies.
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post #48 of 53
7/3/12 at 8:08pm
dont know if this is very effective but, you know that scene where all the kids in the mine get whipped in temple of doom? make your kids watch that and say "this is what happens to children who misbehave" biggrin.gif
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post #49 of 53
7/3/12 at 10:36pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by swarm87 View Post

dont know if this is very effective but, you know that scene where all the kids in the mine get whipped in temple of doom? make your kids watch that and say "this is what happens to children who misbehave" biggrin.gif


Love it. Could not find some video but here is a video with some screen shots of those scenes.

Too funny.

.
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post #50 of 53
9/5/12 at 8:19pm
I have a pair of Vienna Acoustics Mozart Grands and also a pair of girls (5 and 3). Here are a few things I have done
a) Keep the speakers somewhat out of the way even if it means suboptimal placement. I purchased some Herbies Loudspeaker Gliders that allow me to move the speakers around when the kids are gone. When the children are around serious listening is out of question anyways.
b) Beat it into their head that speakers are not supposed to be touched. I can now safely say that my 5 year old jumps on the sofa next to the speaker and knows how to handle the remote for the TV next to the speaker but does not touch the speaker. Its a boring piece of furniture anyways.
c) Have some speaker covers stitched to prevent pizza sauce stained hands from touching the speakers.

I suppose it does help that the Mozarts are heavy speakers and come with the outrigger. As of now they are much heavier than my children and also very stable. Unless they go running right at the speakers, there is unikely to be any major damage (fingers crossed).

I would love bookshelf speakers but if i went that way, I would look at wayfair or overstock for solid wood accent tables that weigh a bit. Here is one that I have actually thought of,
http://www.wayfair.com/Wayborn-Jones-Plant-Stand-25-9004-WYB1501.html?refid=TP49-WYB1501
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post #51 of 53
10/25/12 at 3:15am
Hang them,
the speakers not the kids eek.gif

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post #52 of 53
10/25/12 at 6:25pm
By the time kids get to the age they can get around a gate or you dont need it anymore they should be just fine to know not to destroy stuff. As another poster said from there till the point they become teens and try to push the system you are safe. Anyhow when they get to be teens it should not be a big problem either, when I was a teen I full well understood anything I broke I would replace in as good or better condition, simply let them know how much they cost and let them decide the risk.

When my kids were really young they just liked to poke at the speakers as long as you have a grill that does not seem to be a problem, they might try to put toys in the vents.
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post #53 of 53
10/25/12 at 7:24pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Matts View Post

This is why men have bat caves, to keep to the wife and kids out. And it why some men have bullet proof doors and locks better than what Brinks would use. biggrin.gif
In all seriousness though, I would look at a combination of reinforcing the stand (sand in the stands) and then making sure the speaker is well secured to the stand and then investing in some very strong adhesive that you can stick to the bottom of the stand. Then you attach a cable from the stand's base to a bolt in the floor and the adhesive ties the cable to the stand. This keeps the speaker from being pushed or knocked over. The only caveat here is that the you would have to drill nto the floor and attach a cable to a bolt. But this would be the best method in so far as it would not compromise the sound. In fact it would likely help the sound. By adding sand the stand it would make the stand more inert and create less resonance.

If you are drilling into the floor anyway, why not just screw the stand directly to the floor?
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