Speaker Grilles

[servicetech]

I've noticed speaker grilles are "taboo" these days because they color the sound. What do you do about kids and pets? Do you have your stereo system for "everyday use" in a living room or does everybody have dedicated listening areas?

[Alaric]

When my spousal unit returned home with a cat I claimed the finished basement as the "man-cave". My speaker manuf. also recommends leaving the grills on my speakers-which is too tempting for the feline invader. In a week or so he's scheduled to lose bollocks and blades , but I'm keeping the cave.

[servicetech]

So what do you do when you want to watch a movie with the family? Invite them to the "man cave" or listen through the TV speakers (UGH) in the living room?

[cjd]

So, grilles and pets don't mix well at all. That's called a scratching post to a cat.

Kids... Use a system with a tweeter that has a grille. RS28A looks great, no way to ding it. Seas 27TBFC/G doesn't look as good but sometimes... Both popular and superb sounding tweeters. And don't use the T-B W4 Ti driver which shouldn't be touched at all.

Beyond that - I was taught HOW to press on speakers when I was a kid so as to not damage them. Perhaps more effective than being told NOT to and sneaking back later.

Oh yeah - having the last joint in a cats feet chopped off (declawing) will NOT protect speakers. The behavior doesn't go away, it's just less destructive. But a grille and a declawed cat are not any better a mix.

Oh yeah. Two cats is less problematic than one. Really.

C

[Alaric]

So what do you do when you want to watch a movie with the family? Invite them to the "man cave" or listen through the TV speakers (UGH) in the living room?

I have an Onkyo HTIB and a 48" Mits 1080i in the living room for family time. The spousal unit is tone deaf-she wouldn't care if it was a clock radio. My 8 year old daughter loves to sit and listen to music (and dance) with me. Makes for good quality time.
I'm not happy with having the cat surgically altered , but the spraying and destroying furniture must stop. If this doesn't do it , he's out of here. Not being a cat fan myself , two cats ain't happenin'. I won't feed him to the python , but he will be adopted out if the poor behavior doesn't stop.

[cjd]

How old is he? Sounds like a little too old maybe. If not, it'll just take some attention on your part (you being the generic "you" - kids LOVE some of the "bad kitty" treatments, and your daughter sounds like the right age to help out.

A second cat WILL help with behavior problems more than anything else, particularly agressive stuff. Spraying is a male cat issue, fixing him won't necessarily help that. And if he's spraying, it may be too late to fix him, too. Scratching can be cured with attention to the problem - a squirt bottle for bad behavior (we used to just set the spray bottle in front of plants and it would keep the cats away - they usually HATE getting squirted) and some appropriate places to scratch. But, most of this comes with having a cat raised to good behavior. And, not having claws won't cure the behavior, just the amount of destruction that comes with it.

Anyhow, I digress. Kicking back with a cat (or two sometimes!) purring on my lap while I listen to music is SO much nicer than no cat.

Good luck with it all.

C

[Jim85IROC]

If you supply a better alternative to your cats, they'll leave your speakers alone.

When we first got our cats, they started to work on my speaker grills, and did manage to make a mess of my subwoofer grill, but after yelling at them a few times and then taking them to their scratching post, they got the point within the first few months. They haven't touched my speaker grills in over a year (we've had them a year and a half).

That's a far better alternative to de-clawing a cat. Most cats can be taught not to destroy your house.

[Alaric]

Kitty has a scratching post-and a couch. :M I also don't relish the idea of squirting water in the direction of my speakers. I am being patient and trying to understand the fact that his life has gone through some big changes. Since I'm not a cat person , I've left the corrections to the spouse , except for verbal eruptions when the couch is clawed in my presence. Also , he plays with the water when squirted. *sigh* I am truly trying to compromise with all involved. The spraying is recent (since his arrival) , and even his owner has stated that if he wizzes on our daughter's belongings again he's outta here. I simply won't tolerate cat urine on my child's stuff. :naughty:
As an aside , I'm also dealing with my daughter's reluctance to adhere to rules after 1.5 years of living with mom.
In a nutshell , I don't want to overreact or make a poor decision based on stresses not related to the critter. I also have my limits.

[littlesaint]

A don't like house cats, but I wouldn't declaw one unless absolutely necessary, and not at all if it is an outdoors-a-lot cat. Cats need their claws to defend themselves. They don't know that they no longer have them, and their fight or flight response is still to fight when attacked. If they do flee, they will try to climb, but again no claws.

[Alaric]

This cat runs when the door is opened. You can't push him outside with a broom. I agree with your premise , but I would never tolerate a "pet" that gets thrown outside to piss off the neighbors-and it does piss off the neighbors. The cat in questions' response to stress is to roll over and whine.

[Hank]

Cats were made to be flushed.

[servicetech]

We used to have cats and the scratching post took the abuse instead of the speakers. It's the 18 month old I'm worried about, so far he hasn't "discovered" the speakers since we leave the grilles on.

[stangbat]

My stereo is in the basement in an "everyday" area where the kids also play. I'm currently making the ZDT3 and I'm going to make grills for them, held in place with magnets. When it comes time for serious listening, I'm just going to remove them. Best of both worlds IMHO.

[ThomasW]

Oh yeah - having the last joint in a cats feet chopped off (declawing) will NOT protect speakers.

That method of declawing hasn't been used in long time.

Current technique excises only the claw leaving their first knuckles in tact. This method is so benign the animal returns to it's normal activity level about 48hrs after the procedure. The procedure is frequently done at the same time as spay or neutering, that way there's only one episode of general anesthesia

[Alaric]

Yaahhh! Thomas. Boooo! PETA.