One of the perks of working at a family company like Audiogon is that we occasionally get to hear stories about our bosses doing silly things when they were kids. Over lunch one day, Steve Clay couldn’t remember which of his children twisted the pots off his receiver. The response? “It wasn’t me, Dad! We weren’t allowed to touch your equipment.”
But that doesn’t mean they didn’t. Kids love to explore and their natural curiosity is often a source of frustration for us. Audiogoner Grimace caught his toddler tapping the woofer of his Verity Fidelio Encores recently. He wonders, “Should I start applying for boarding schools now, or should I just save the money and duct tape her arms behind her back?”
Mattmiller
ROFL…this is my fear with my own grand daughter!
Tls49
Yes, I do remember the pitfalls of small children and hi-fi. Many years ago, son is now 38, came home from work, put a favorite album on, positioned the tonearm, gently released the cueing lever, and the tonearm slid across the album. What the ****? The stylus was gone. The only thing left was a short piece of it in the housing.
Mofimadness
I was really lucky. The first three words my two kids
learned were: NO…Daddy…Stereo.
I never had any problems, but had many customers of mine,
(when I still had my audio stores) with horror stories. I
could probably write a book…
Vegasears
Mofimadness: “I was really lucky. The first three words my two kids
learned were: NO…Daddy…Stereo.”
When my Son was young he learned those three words well. Like you I’ve never had an issue and he’s 24 years old.
Kjweisner
Pushed in tweeters, two broken cantilevers. Twin boys. Need I say more? But they’re growing up to be great boys that truly appreciate all kinds of music, and now understand the delicacy of dad’s gear. Just part of raising inquisitive boys in a house full of “interesting” things!
Jmcgrogan2
I always preferred duct tape myself. LOL!
Actually, my experiences with my three grown sons reflect those shared by Mofimadness and Vegasears. I have to pass most of the credit for that along to my wife though. She stayed home with them and did a good job raising/training them.
Sure, there were fried tweeters and broken cantilevers along the way…but I couldn’t really blame that on the boys now. ;^)
Theo
My method is when my little nieces and nephews come over is hide everything in the bedroom and lock the door and put fake cabinet doors on my cabinet. The room looks vacant but I get to vacuum where the speakers were. So far it is been OK but…
On a related note one dealer friend of mine tells a story of how a man and small boy entered the store and as he was greeting them the little boy made a beeline for the turntable and just plucked the cantilever off a cartridge before he could stop him. The amazing part is how that child spotted it as soon as he entered the room and walked at least 12 feet to grab it. If their eyes are that good, imagine how their ears must be. Kinda makes you jealous don’t it?
Elvis_cash
Boarding school or duct tape?
Neither. A good ass whippin’ works wonders.
Have your kids ruined any of your audio gear? Spilled juice, pulled screens off, put a PB&J sandwich in the CD tray? Share your all-in-good-fun nightmares below!
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