Child and Wife Friendly Floorstanders

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Having recently aquired a child who is showing all the signs of growing up and wanting to start walking about soon I have been advised my the wife that my current speakers (Monitor Audio RS1) on stands (Soundstyle Z2) aren't very child friendly. I'm therefore after some advice on two fronts.

Firstly, the issue is that its almost inevitable that the speakers will eventually get knocked off their stands so I'm thinking that a set of floorstanders might be a safer option. Has anyone ever compared the child-proofness of stand-mounters vs. floorstanders? I guess both could be knocked over but a stand-mounter would surely be more likely to topple off.

Do you reckon floor-standers are a safe bet? My wife is suggesting wall-mounted but I don't think I can bring myself to consider that just yet!

Assuming floorstanders are the way to go then I need recommendations for something good, cheap(ish), small(ish) and appealing to the wife's eye. My initial thoughts are as follows but would like suggestions of anything in the sub-£500 bracket that might be worth a look. Size is probably most important as I need to find something as small as possible that can be positions very close to a wall.

Kef iQ5SE

Monitor Audio Bronze BR5

Mordaunt Short 914i

Mordaunt Short 904i (probably a better bet size-wise than the 914i)

Of the above I think the Kefs are probably the best looking which ultimately will probably decide it.

Any thoughts or advice?

The speakers will be used with my Squeezebox 3 / NAD C325BEE amp primarily.

 

[John Duncan]

Yes, been through all this, though currently have my way with standmounts, and no accidents for a while.

If you must get floorstanders, I really like the Tannoy Mercury F4, which is very discreet - only 20cm wide, which is about as narrow as they get, and is front ported so not so much of a problem close to walls.

If you can push the boat out, get some Totem Arros, which are gorgeous (though I have no idea how they sound - yet

)

 

[Anonymous]

KEF IQ5's are pretty light, could be run over without much hassle by even the littlest blighter. The Uni-Q tweeters also dent pretty easily, and can't be hoovered back into shape, so I would seriously advise against them. Apart from the fact that they also sound pretty poor to my ears.

The weight factor also applies to the Mordaunt Short speakers.

I have nothing to say about the BR5's, I've never seen or heard them so maybe someone else can chime in.

My own suggestion though: Epos M15.2 speakers, solid speakers with an excellent sound and what really might be nifty in your situation is the metal speaker covers. To top it off there are alot of deals to be had on the internet, because of the new i improved series.

 

[d_a_n1979]

I'd go for the M/A BR5's if i were you. Very good speakers for the £££ and will suit the NAD amp down to a tee

My friend had this proble, not his chicld but his nephew but loved having him round (my mates rich and owns his own company so never works haha...)

Anyways, he's got some M/A GS20's and he modified the spiked feet holders to connect to 4 screws that were attached to a heavy metal plate under his carpet so that if the speakers got knocked, they never fell! Clever so and so... They didnt sound any worse as well, we tried them on the spiked feet and then on the modification and there was no sound issues at all.

 

[Anonymous]

I would agree with d_a_n1979. The MA BR5 wouls suit what you are looking for, and then are pretty good speakers as well. I have not heard the Totem Arros, but the Totem Sttaf, another one to consider as well, but far more expensive than the BR5

 

[Anonymous]

i am bias as i have the br5 and am very pleased with them. Re the childproof side of things though and thats quite a different story. My baby daughter found it v easy to push them over backwards. I would go with "attatch them to the floor" idea or try using something to attatch them to the wall so they cant fall on your bundle of inquisitive joy as the speakers are not light.

 

[JoelSim]

I've always found an electric fence and razor wire does the trick. I'm going to have the same problem soon, the little fella is 9 months today. He'd better watch out or there's no 'in the night garden' or organic food from now on.

 

[Gerrardasnails]

That's the way forward Joel, explain that touch speakers means no Cbeebies and they get the message!

 

[drummerman]

Up to £500 Rega's R3 will outperform any of the mentioned speakers other than the Epos 12.2's which sound different rather than better. Its a small, slim and front ported floorstander, so is less fussy than others to placement and sounds exceptional for the money.

I doubt very much its child proof even if you lock them to the floor but then what is unless its out of reach.

 

[Anonymous]

If you have your speakers stuck to the stands with good blobs of blu-tack, the speakers shouldn't get knocked off the stands,more like the whole lot going over. I have a similar problem (well 2 of them actually) but so far I have only seen the stands and speakers being crashed into, or shunted over (usually the result of full Thomas the Tank Engine impact crash) - no real calamities yet. I'm currently rectifying the problem by behaviour control but am considering the doomsday scenario of going wall-mounted. My gut feel is that if your standmounters are going to go over, there's a good chance floor standers will go the same way.

I've never seen wife-friendly speakers.

 

[John Duncan]

[quote user="Gary T"]I've never seen wife-friendly speakers.[/quote]

Or hi-fi generally. Or guitars. Or computers. Or, in my case, me.

 

[Anonymous]

I thought bookshelves were a better option. At least a child cannot put a hole thru the speaker cone with something sharp on it. Floorstanders would be at more risk that way.

 

[d_a_n1979]

How about washing the childs hands in araldite?

Or is that just cruel.... lol

My girlfriends got 2 neices and believe me, when theyre round, the listening room door in my house is locked, bolted, nailed, no more nail'd and welded shut!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Anonymous]

Floorstanders just did not work with my family.
Food on them, pushed over, speaker cone pushed in... Nightmare!

I now have a nice pair of B&W's mounted to my wall.
Sound is not quite as good but all things considered it is the best option (for me) for the next 5 years.

 

[Anonymous]

[quote user="d_a_n1979"]How about washing the childs hands in araldite?

Or is that just cruel.... lol

My girlfriends got 2 neices and believe me, when theyre round, the listening room door in my house is locked, bolted, nailed, no more nail'd and welded shut!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!![/quote]

The no more nailed bit made me laugh...great delivery!!! ha ha ha LOL!

 

[John Duncan]

I find rubbing them on your jumper and sticking them to the wall works:

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for all the useful info. Agree on what seems to be the general concencus that floorstanders won't be that much more child-proof than my current stand-mounters.

Does anyone have any recommendations for good wall-mountable speakers and effective ways of mounting them that don't involve the cheapo brackets that are widely available.

I currently have some Q-Acoustics 1010s in a second room which come with dedicated wall mounts and work quite well. A bigger/ better (for this read posher/ more expensive and newer) alternative would be of interest.

My current speakers don't have a dedicated wall mount available and I guess most wouldn't.

Would I be mad to wall mount my RS1s?

 

[letsavit]

I have similar problems and am interested in brackets and waht there like, so will watch your replies with interest...

 

[John Duncan]

PMC definitely do a wall bracket for their DB1 at about £70. There were a couple of others, I'll see if I can remember what they were - the AVI Neutron might be one............

 

[Anonymous]

James,
I am going to demo the PMC Wafer's or PMC DB1i (which have their own dedicated wall mount brackets so should be OK with this). I have heard the DB1's before and they have a good sound for the size (i.e. smaller = wife friendly'ish). I''ve been told that the Wafer's use the same drive units, but they seem to cost a little more.

Let me know if you get any other ideas as I'm in the same situation as you.

 

[JoelSim]

My ProAc Tablettes are going on wall brackets in the kitchen (due to there being no floor space that'll work). I'll let you know how these sound in about a week when they're finally up and running.

 

[JoelSim]

Don't be fooled, one's a little monkey (and it's not the one on the right).