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Toddler-friendly good quality setup?

albireo

pfm Member
With my Dynaudio Focus 110A active standmounts I had reached something like personal audio nirvana. I enjoyed most of what I heard and missed very little. Sure you can do better but I was essentially enjoying the music and that's what mattered to me.

Having become the father of a boy who has recently taken a keen interest in poking around things, the whole setup has been relegated to storage. I simply cannot have the following around anymore

-shiny tweeter domes within toddler's arms reach
-metal stands that can be shaken
-loads of cables and plugs
-my Benchmark DAC or anything with metal switches, shiny leds etc

What am I left with? Can any of the current crop of corded Bluetooth speakers get me close to what I'd hear from my own setup? Perhaps a pair of Sonos speakers acting as L and R - but which model? I've been told the Teenage-Engineering OD-11 is good

https://teenage.engineering/products/od-11

however dropping 1k$ without auditioning seems a bit risky.

At a lower price point there's the Marshall Stanmore

https://www.marshallheadphones.com/de/en/stanmore-ii-bluetooth.html

And somewhere in between there's a 'Music' range by Dynaudio

https://www.dynaudio.com/home-audio/music/music-7

Any other ideas? I'd be mostly listening to a library of own CDs ripped to FLAC. Still have my records but the Planar 3 is sadly also gone. No need for tidal,spotify, etc.
 
Put the grilles on the speakers, put the electronics in a cabinet with doors or out of reach, don't leave a toddler unattended ( should go without saying) and whenever he goes to touch anything you don't want him to touch say NO in a stern voice.

That's pretty much what I done with my two, now in their 20's.
It's only a very short period of time that things need to be 'guarded' but they learn very quickly, personally I'd be more concerned about open fires, stoves, ranges or anything they can knock their little heads on.
Above all enjoy your time with him, childhood really is a very short period.
 
Sounds like a job for those Devialet thingies. I heard them - not to my taste but would do.

A less expensive alternative - a pair of wireless KEF LS50s. Reduces the cable content and can happily sit on a sideboard. Sound pretty darn good too....
 
Big Tannoys. Can't be knocked over, the grilles offer good driver protection, they mostly work nicely close to the rear wall. My daughter is 8 now, but I never had to hide the hifi away when she was a toddler. I did buy a Technics SL7 turntable, though, but that's mostly because I wanted a record player she could easily use when she was old enough (she's been using it happily since she was 4, with no damage to records or player). It really didn't take much to teach her to be careful around anything, including the hifi. We never had cupboard locks, or stair guards, or any of that. We just talked to her and explained what she needed to avoid doing.
 
Can the speakers be wall mounted, out of reach as a temporary workaround?
 
I've got big Tannoys (with grilles on) that are way too large for my resident toddler to knock over.

The electronics are tucked away out of harm's reach in a cabinet.

I'm selling a Naim Muso for £550 if you decided to go down that sort of route.
 
Changed to standmounts, but left it all out as normal... They need to learn their boundaries..

I plan on trying to teach him but he's 1 year old..He just.. Goes and pokes and pulls on things. A strongly uttered 'NO' manages to puzzle him for a moment - he'll then attempt to do whatever mischievous thing he was doing once more, to assess whether the 'NO' was somehow associated to it.. At the third 'NO' he'll lose interest and go poke something else in the room :)

I need a glass of single malt.
 
It really didn't take much to teach her to be careful around anything, including the hifi. We never had cupboard locks, or stair guards, or any of that. We just talked to her and explained what she needed to avoid doing.
Snap. It was really very easy to train/explain my two around hifi. As soon as they could walk they understood. Never had a problem and i have the cutest memories of tiny fingers inserting a CD and pressing play - they would turn to me and grin - I would smile back. So happy to share.
 
Multi-pronged strategy here:

1. ATC SCM11s: metal grille, magnetically attached, against the wall (no port), heavy.
2. Four pillar speaker stands: no wobble, no spikes.
3. Quad 99 system: small, robust, no long cables, no knobs, looks dull and unimportant.
4. Technics linear tracker turntable (SLQL1 but doesn’t really matter): only works with the lid down and a record on it.
5. iPad and Sonos for their music: they don’t need to use the main HiFi unless I’m there.
6. Explain rules of engagement clearly and repeatedly, as often as necessary. Kids are learning machines, it doesn’t take as long as you might fear.

We are seven years in and no damage, daughter is a bit heavy handed with vinyl (and everything) so she only puts hers on. Sound quality is less than optimal of course due to above compromises but easily liveable with, for my purposes.
 
I already had a Soundstyle (tripod) type rack, but had to change it for a 4 leg version similar to https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/32475439...d=link&campid=5338728743&toolid=20001&mkevt=1 (due to getting a Cyrus amp reaching the back middle leg, which was much deeper than my Musical Fidelity B1). So when the boy started toddling, this had the advantage that the shelf corners did not stick out. I then bought a sheet of laser cut frosted acrylic sheet , 4 or 5mm can't remember which (aka perspex) with nice rounded corners (search online). I fixed this with 4 plastic coated 'Terry' tool type clips 2.5" similar to https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/32364359...d=link&campid=5338728743&toolid=20001&mkevt=1
To make the left side act as a hinge, I put a heavy duty cable tie beneath the tool clips, to stop them slipping down the leg, and used a small cable tie on the 'open' end of the tool clip to keep it tight. On the right side, I 'stretched' the tool clips open a bit, so the panel could open easily (but not too easily). The left side and back were up to walls, leaving only the right side open. This was never as interesting as the front to cause a problem, and the teeth marks on the volume knob soon faded.
I put the speakers way high up in a non-stereo optimal position, resigning myself that I would be too busy for 2 or 3 years to worry.
 
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I bought Shahinian Oblisk 2’s after the birth of my child and it worked out well. The casters make for easy transfer of the speaker. Plus they are excellent speakers.
 
I went through 2 babies > toddlers > teens. A few firm NOes and they got it, never had any damage from them, despite shiny tweeters and woofers from my Monitor Audio Studio 20s.

HOWEVER, I did get a few finger pokes into the gold-dome tweeters. Other peoples' toddlers was a hazard I had not prepared for. COVID probably a relief for that aspect, but I hope we get past that soon.
 
I find one of these very effective, only takes a max of 2 hits and they learn.

Works for cats too ;)

Why compromise your enjoyment, education is surely what's needed :)

i-jn9Vv3T-L.jpg
 
With 4month old Twin boys I'm very much in the same boat.
Wife says 'the hifi stays' which is nice, but my main focus is their safety and not having to stress over 'what if they break it'.
Have been simplifying things in general in preparation. Less boxes, knobs, wires, etc.
Now using a small Lyngdorf all-in-one unit, on the top of an alcove cabinet (but can be hidden away if needed below behind doors).
Hell,I can even get my google voice assistant to play music/radio on it when my hands are full (as they are most times now).

Garrard 401/SME probably getting packed up for a bit, pre-cirkus LP12 now up on the alcove shelf (401 too big to fit) with a cheapo at95e.
Although I may see if I can make an ultra-compact 401 plinth that would allow it to fit... :)
As long as it couldnt get pulled off as it's heavy as hell.
Need to put a base on the lp12 so no one gets zapped. Tramp 2 maybe?
Will be cheapo cartridges for the foreseeable.
It can be fun to see how much performance you can get out of budget stuff that you're not afraid to get damaged.
The opposite of upgraditis!

Next order of business is speakers.
Have used small standmounts (currently Spendor) but the top-heaviness is a concern especially when pulled out from the wall a little.
Either looking to go on-wall (maybe 2.1 or 2.2 sub system) in the vein of Lyngdorf, but maybe DIY.
Or like some have suggested solid floorstanders, although with my small narrow living space they would have to be on the smaller side or at the least shallow.
Many floor standers are narrow but deep which won't really work.
Small Tannoy's (cheviots etc) have my attention as they may just about work if I can convince the missus...
In a pinch runing standmounts against the wall with a 'baby gate' in front of each is an option.
Have room correction in the lyngdorf helps with less the ideal setups luckily.

Thinking outside the box what about small low-to ground speakers with grills on or even better no push-able tweeters... Neat Iota Alpha comes to mind?

Best of luck in your adventures in Parent-Fi.
Will be watching this thread for tips!
 


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