Need to baby proof my speakers...

[thefish]

So I have a baby on its way and I need to baby proof my system. My current speaker setup includes a pair of Optimus LX-7 bookshelf's on stands for the front mains, an Optimus CS-5 center, a pair of Optimus LX-5 surrounds on stands, and an Energy ES-8 subwoofer. The 5 channels are all Linaeum tweeter based speakers and I enjoy the sound, but I worry the stands are not all that stable. The receiver I use is a Denon AVR-2310CI, and its paired to a wall mounted 65" Toshiba HDTV. What is the best way to baby proof this system while still keeping good sound quality?

I have been thinking about removing the surrounds (or perhaps ceiling mounting them) and wall mounting the mains. Would it be better to mount the LX-7 speakers to the wall, or would it be better to get smaller speakers (something like used Mirage Omnisat's, or B&W LM-1's)? How do Omnisat's or B&W LM-1's compare to larger speakers in a 11' x 20' room? I also have a pair of the original Infinity Modulus speakers but they have blown woofers (about $80 to get fixed locally), do they work well wall mounted?. In either case replacing the mains will hurt the center channel match and loosing the surrounds would not be great. Maybe a sound bar be the way to go? I use this system about 70% for home theater 30% for music (country, and classic rock). What are your thoughts?

 

[rojo]

Wall mounting your speakers will probably change their sound unfavorably. And replacing them with satellites is a step backward. The best solution is active parenting.

I've got a 4-year-old daughter. Given half a chance and a moment behind a turned back, she'd tear up an anvil. She's wild sometimes and loves to run in circles for no reason, only stopping to karate chop something or to set up an obstacle to jump over. But she leaves my speakers, television, and other electronics alone (although she does enjoy loading discs into the Blu-Ray player). Whenever we're in my TV room, if she plays too close to my stuff, I tell her to move away from it, and she does. Every once in a while I have to remind her to keep her booger fingers off my television screen, but I no longer think twice about leaving her in here to watch a movie by herself. Honestly, I'm less concerned about her accidentally bumping against my speakers than I am about her leaping off my home theater seats and landing poorly. Of course it wasn't always like that. When she first started walking I had to be consistent keeping her away from my stuff. But it wasn't long before she started self-correcting and putting on the brakes in the front half of the room.

If you want to be obsessive about it, you could get some hollow stands you can fill with sand or buckshot, and you can Velcro your speakers to the stands if you wish; but it is cheaper and safer to encourage your new child to be responsible around dangerous and fragile stuff.

 

[WaynePflughaupt]

In lieu of or even in addition to “active parenting,” I’d wall-mount the surrounds and (as rojo suggested) get some really heavy stands for the fronts, and then bolt the speakers to them.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[jcparks]

I would have to agree with Rojo. While it may be easier to "baby proof" at the end of a few years baby proofing wont mean anything as it is almost impossible to "toddler proof". However in setting boundaries and enforcing rules early on you will be establishing yourself as the parent which will make your parenting life a lot easier later on. Think of it as making your child "house proof" rather then your house "child proof". I have two "house proof" children, and an extremely un "child proof" house. As a result I can take my kids almost anywhere and don't have to worry about them destroying, or disrespecting other peoples stuff, however I hate when friends bring kids that they have no control over, as my wife and I usually end up baby sitting more then enjoying ourselves.
There is never an easy way out with kids.

 

[KenM10759]

I had a pair of Hafler 200 bookshelf speakers all the time my 3 kids were growing up. Actually I got them when my oldest son was 2. I just gave them to a niece about 6 months ago, in perfect condition. They survived by first being hung from the ceiling for a few years, though by the time my youngest came around in 1991 they were back on stands.

The grills always stayed on. No curious looking round objects and an uninteresting box, combined with vigilance, seemed to preserve the speakers. I didn't have any subwoofer until they were all adults, but if I did it would be one of the SVS subs with the perforated steel grill like I have now.

Keep in perspective that the old Radio Shack Optimus speakers are not exactly "heirloom quality" items that need to be protected like a Ming vase. If they were mine and "something bad happened", I'd be like "oh well, guess it's upgrade time."

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

You can't teach pre-toddler (especially boys) much at all. Yes, you could teach 4-5 year old not to play with daddy's toys, but for 1-2 year olds - good luck

This solution - which may or may not work for you is settle for 3.1 for now and put a gate around your system like this one : https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003VNKLIY/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

So far - so good - I consider my system to be baby proofed (for now). one or two years later - who knows, but I hope that I will able to do at least some training.

 

[rojo]

I had a pair of Hafler 200 bookshelf speakers all the time my 3 kids were growing up. Actually I got them when my oldest son was 2. I just gave them to a niece about 6 months ago, in perfect condition. They survived by first being hung from the ceiling for a few years, though by the time my youngest came around in 1991 they were back on stands.

The grills always stayed on. No curious looking round objects and an uninteresting box, combined with vigilance, seemed to preserve the speakers. I didn't have any subwoofer until they were all adults, but if I did it would be one of the SVS subs with the perforated steel grill like I have now.

Keep in perspective that the old Radio Shack Optimus speakers are not exactly "heirloom quality" items that need to be protected like a Ming vase. If they were mine and "something bad happened", I'd be like "oh well, guess it's upgrade time."

If I had to guess, I'd say he's more concerned about a precariously perched speaker landing on the baby's head than the longevity of the speakers themselves.

 

[thefish]

Thanks for all the replies everyone. I do plan to use active parenting, but I also want to secure the system as a sort of insurance policy. I was not thinking about the speakers getting damaged, but Rojo is right, I don't want to risk the little one (even if that means giving up good sound). I like the idea of wall mounting the surrounds, but the wall is 4 or 5 feet behind the sitting position, would this be OK? The gate idea is good, but I don't think my wife would approve of that much, she would rather there were no speakers at all.

 

[rojo]

Thanks for all the replies everyone. I do plan to use active parenting, but I also want to secure the system as a sort of insurance policy. I don't really mind the speakers getting damaged (upgrade excuse), but Rojo is right, I really don't want them to fall on the little one. I like the idea of wall mounting the surrounds, but the wall is 4 or 5 feet behind the sitting position, would this be OK?

Sounds like a great plan to me. Just get a pair of clamping wall mount brackets that tilt and swivel -- something like these.