Need smaller speakers (kids),... help

[reaper60]

As the title says, I just had kids (twin 10 mos olds!) and now that they are testing out crawling, standing, walking, climbing I am starting to worry. My system is currently Polk LSi25 fronts with and LSiC center and Monitor Audo Gold grfx surrounds. Running from an XMC-1 and powered by a Wyred 4 Sound 5 channel amp.

My issues stem from both my son and daughter seeing the subwoofer on the side of the polks and grabbing at it. The speakers are 110lbs each and if one ever goes over it stands to crush my child/children. Its been a while since Ive been on here and went searching through the current line up of emo speakers looking for bookshelfs or other smaller speakers.

I see some slim wall mount surround speakers in the catalogue, a pair of bookshelfs, and a couple other options. None jump off the page and scream ‘buy me!’. Im thinking perhaps selling my amp and speakers and going down to powered monitors would be a good decision, but there is only one option now (stealth 8) and I fear a set up with a bunch of Stealth 8’s would be rather ugly.

I read on the forums about a new line of powered monitors coming, but no real answers about them. I am open to considering other brands as well. Any suggestions? Budget is thin as extra spending money doesnt exist any more given the extreme cost of child care in my area here in Boston. I wouldnlike to keep it as close to an even swap of equipment as possible.

Some extra helpful info for consideration:

Livingroom size: 15x18 with doors on two adjoining walls and sofas on the other walls. I have an 84” television stand with built in fireplace that speakers would sit on if not wall mounted. 65” TV located directly above it. There are hardwood floors but we have a very plush 8x10 carpet in the center for the kids to play on. Room doesnt feel overly lively as set up now in regards to sound reflection.

[Boomzilla]

Before giving up on your current speakers, consider the following:

1. Go to a Super Wal-Mart or to Lowes / Home-Depot and buy some "Industrial strength self-adhesive Velcro." Put the hook side on your speaker stands and the felt side on the bottom of your speakers. This will secure the speakers to the stands sufficiently that you can lift the stands by picking up on the speakers. In other words, now the speakers WILL NOT come off the stands.

2, If your stands already have broad bases, then go to the automotive department and buy self-adhesive lead wheel weights. Stick the lead weights all over the bottom of the speaker stands. This will bottom-weight your stands and make them less tippy. If the stands still aren't sufficiently stable, then:

3. buy two pieces of plywood sufficiently broad that they can't be tipped over. Then remove your stand's spikes & use BOLTS to attach the stands to the plywood bases. If you want WAF, then the plywood can be painted or stained, and you can even use veneered plywood. If you want stability through carpets, then drill & tap the plywood from the bottom & install your stand's spikes on the plywood. Now the plywood is supported from the under-flooring by the spikes, and is sufficiently broad that nothing but a steam-roller could tip it.

Much cheaper than changing speakers!

Boom

[reaper60]

Good suggestions but:

My speakers are towers with built in powered subs that are tall and thin and very heavy.

Ihave a small space for a living room as it is and putting 2’ wide plywood bases underneath feels like a huge waste of space

New speakers are a fun new adventure.

[Boomzilla]

I think your third excuse is the significant one? LOL

But another option if you're wanting to keep your existing pair is to use some outriggers. If the speaker manufacturer doesn't offer any I'll bet they can tell you where to get some that fit.

[LuisV]

I had similar concerns when my kids were younger, they are 19 and 23 now, I used two small dog excersise play pens to "enclose" the speaker. It wasn't pretty but worked perfectly. Once the kids understood boundaries and what not to touch, the play pens were removed and donated to a local animal shelter. Needless to say, they were just removed last week... just kidding. ; ) You can probably make something similar, but I found them to work out rather well as it put a tall and wide enough barrier, so they can be curious, but not get hurt nor damage anything. It was basically a 2' x 2' cube.

[405x5]

Sept 20, 2018 8:59:12 GMT -5 Boomzilla said:

Before giving up on your current speakers, consider the following:

1. Go to a Super Wal-Mart or to Lowes / Home-Depot and buy some "Industrial strength self-adhesive Velcro." Put the hook side on your speaker stands and the felt side on the bottom of your speakers. This will secure the speakers to the stands sufficiently that you can lift the stands by picking up on the speakers. In other words, now the speakers WILL NOT come off the stands.

2, If your stands already have broad bases, then go to the automotive department and buy self-adhesive lead wheel weights. Stick the lead weights all over the bottom of the speaker stands. This will bottom-weight your stands and make them less tippy. If the stands still aren't sufficiently stable, then:

3. buy two pieces of plywood sufficiently broad that they can't be tipped over. Then remove your stand's spikes & use BOLTS to attach the stands to the plywood bases. If you want WAF, then the plywood can be painted or stained, and you can even use veneered plywood. If you want stability through carpets, then drill & tap the plywood from the bottom & install your stand's spikes on the plywood. Now the plywood is supported from the under-flooring by the spikes, and is sufficiently broad that nothing but a steam-roller could tip it.

Much cheaper than changing speakers!

Boom

This

[DYohn]

I raised a couple of kids surrounded by large, heavy loudspeaker systems and expensive electronics gear and never had a problem except for once in a while having to pull toys out of subwoofer ports.

[vcautokid]

I was thinking outriggers too. If you have spikes or feet that screw in the bottom of the speakers, setting up some shouldn't be too difficult. Even if you take some that exists already and just adapt the hardware.

[Bonzo]

Sept 23, 2018 17:28:54 GMT -5 vcautokid said:

I was thinking outriggers too. If you have spikes or feet that screw in the bottom of the speakers, setting up some shouldn't be too difficult. Even if you take some that exists already and just adapt the hardware.

+1. With spikes on carpeting or rubber feet on hardwood. Even tall skinny speakers like the OPs or mine won't tip unless a kid is being overly rambunctious, in which case they deserve a little pain. 😉