I have been thinking about upgrading my hifi system and maybe that will be my last upgrade. I then got to thinking about my grandchildren, like when they are visiting, so I’m very nervous about my facility and what they might come up with. One of the problems is, of course, that our apartment is not that big, so it easily gets crowded.
After all, you spend a lot of money on upgrades, so what precautions do people take? Personally, I put dust covers on my speakers and keep an extra eye on my grandchildren. I fear the worst, but so far so good.
Cover your speaker cones with grills if you have them, switch off the kit (but get used to buttons being pressed and knobs turned), cover at least the arm on your TT. If it’s springy, cover the platter too!
Depends on the kids. Some are terrors. Some instinctively know some things are off limits.
I have two kids aged 7 and 9 and from birth never took any precautions with the hifi in the open plan living room they spent most time in. Not a ding, scratch or bump.
I have other friends who have an unending stream of pencils through cones, broken stulus, dings on speaker edges.
No two kids are the same. But standmounts does seem like inviting tragic accidents.
Recently my 3 year old grandson took out all the drivers on my 30 year old Linn Keilidh’s after slipping his minders (his dad and his grandma) whilst I was cooking lunch.
They only lost him for a moment, but that is all it takes🤷🏻♂️
Stylus guards, where there isn’t an arm clip as my Aro or Schröder an elastic band to secure the arm enough so it won’t go flying easily and the covers are on when he’s about. So far it’s worked with just a reinforcing look but I did have to chuck his football outside one morning.
Children are welcome in our home, they are the real treasures in my life. I worry about their well being, I don’t worry about my naim kit - I even leave it connected to the mains during thunder storms.
The other thing is that these days kids seem to learn about remote controls before they can walk, and want to see what they can do with them, so keeping on a high surface is advisable.
An alternative approach is a small cage for the children Really only joking, my kids and grandkids have all been fine . At the end of the day money can put your kit back on track, kids are priceless.
Teaching them to respect your hifi can be done ,iv had one mishap where my grandson decided to destroy my sbl grills .luckily the driver’s ok
My wife replaced them at 200 pound from tomtom audio ,we started placing those collapsible cardboard bedroom storage boxes over them for a while ,she was much more strict with them about my gear and they did learn so nothing since
Idid have a large old collapsible fire guard around equipment early onfor a while lol
I agree. Never had problems with my granddaughter or various nephews and nieces, but I don’t do vinyl, so probably more robust. We were more worried about little ones falling in our pond.
This was my setup when the grand-twins were starting to move around. They are now 5, and the fire guard is gone as is the boxes covering HiFi unit, but I keep the speaker boxes on. It takes all but 2 minutes to put them on, and they stack inside each other.
My grand-daughter I could almost be OK with, but the the other day a yoyo was being swung around near the speakers. My grandson is great, and not as lively as some boys, but still likes to run around, and to be honest it’s better to let them run free, then I can relax not worrying about the speakers
When our 6 year old twin grandchildren were toddlers I put up a divider similar to Yeti’s up around the equipment. Also kept the speaker cloth covers on the NBLs. They both love music and usually dance when they are visiting now. The green lights can be very tempting to little ones so be aware!
Ah, the thread which exists on every hifi forum in existence and with the identical range of answers.
When my offspring was crawling they quickly understood that the stand mounts were “No, no, no”. They tried a couple of times with a cheeky glance back but if they made so much as half a movement further they found their legs in mid air and their body propelled backwards. Never an issue after that. As soon as they were old enough we walked through what was what and by 6/7 they were fine putting a CD on the CDX2 with a puck firmly fixed in place and the by then floor standers were also fine.
Grandchild number one is now five and we went through with similar routines. They need reminding that handstands are not for the living room and a quiet word every now and then is required but it’s fine. Grandchild number two is cruising and grabbing but I’m on the floor with them so they never get near the speakers or system and when they’re here every Friday the streamer and DAC are off so they have yet to realise that Chord DACs and their V-Tech stylings are not actually aimed at them.
This of course is “famous last words” territory as today the hifi had been reduced to one column of Hutter with Naim boxes and 6 cables being removed. This leaves one 300B valve amp; the streamer and the DAC all right next to a sofa. Will a child make a mistake? Tomorrow we host 14 and, frankly, my bet is on the adults. If I had to narrow it down then it will be my mother complaining there is nowhere for her red wine and placing it on a transformer. Personally with kids around the living space is cluttered enough. I would never add fireguards or secure things to walls (although I might consider securing my mother after tomorrow ).
Ultimately it’s down to what type of grandparent you are. Are they a nice enough intrusion provided they go home soon enough? Are they okay when they come and ask you stuff occasionally whilst you’re sat comfortably chatting with adults so long as they go away and play with something or someone else or are they the centre of your attention whilst present? Without wishing in any way to victim blame, I’ve tended to find that the more hands on you are then the less issues you have.
My 2nd child grabbed the tonearm on my B&O tt that I had at the time and gave it a good wrenching. We did put a little barrier up for a while. When kids are REALLY young (under 2 and probably under 3) it’s hard of course to simply reason with them; these new to them interesting objects are attractive.
And as @mikehughescq writes, ham hands are not exclusive to young children. A somewhat-alcohol-fueled adult may decide that they can turn over the record . . . after all they had records 40 years ago . . .
The short answer for me is that these are material goods and those are people; if you own expensive material goods AND you want people in your home, accept that the intersection of the 2 is not always smooth.
(We have the same issues with one friend and our GOOD kitchen knives (he’s not allowed to touch them) and certain furniture that he’s not allowed to sit in because he leans back in chairs like a school child. When I take a knife out of his hand or send him to a different chair . . . he knows why. He knows his limitations.)
If anyone has fragile expensive kit, then it may only take a second for inquisitive little fingers to cause many £hundreds or more of damage, so no matter how good and how well trained the young people might be, precaution is wise, especially when considering less frequent /less familiar young visitirs.
Really only joking, my kids and grandkids have all been fine 
. At the end of the day money can put your kit back on track, kids are priceless.
).