Quick Horror Story

[Gump]

So, my mom was visiting and she was sitting in a chair adjacent to my left front 803D speaker. (about a foot away). My 3 yr old son climbed up onto her lap and I was sitting across the room with my 1 yr old daughter on my lap.

We were chatting when I noticed that my son was now sitting on the arm of the chair and was playing around pushing backwards with his feet against my mom's arm.

That's when I noticed my speaker starting to move. It's kinda funny how the mind works because at first I couldn't comprehend what was happening and by the time the brain synapses started firing and I realized he had extended out far enough that his back was pushing against the speaker it already was SLOWLY starting to tip sideways.

My immediate impulse was to dive towards the speaker but first I had to put my daughter down. It seemed like everything was happening in slow motion as I watched the speaker falling like a tree that had been chopped down in the forest. I got to it just a half a second too late.

My living room is carpeted except for a small area of tile in front of the fireplace.....I'm sure you can guess where the speaker landed. When it hit the tile it sounded like a gunshot going off---very loud. The cover came off the tweeter and flew across the room.

Then there was a brief moment of silence before there was a hideously mournful cry of anguish that I eventually realized was coming out of me.

Epilogue:
Well, there is now a narrow chip out of the wood about 2 inches long on the top of the speaker right where the seam meets the right side. Other than that, amazingly, it seems to be ok. Even the diamond tweeter, which I was sure would be shattered, was fine. Whew!

I'm sure there's a moral to the story but right now my nerves are too jittery to think of it. :E

[misterdoggy]

Oh well......

At least you can still enjoy the sound. Same thing happened to me with one of my 804S' and it has a slight dent but no missing wood. Slight indentation is all. Sounds fine.

we will both have to live the resale value depreciation nightmare

I hope your son doesn't feel too bad

[Gump]

Oh well......

At least you can still enjoy the sound. Same thing happened to me with one of my 804S' and it has a slight dent but no missing wood. Slight indentation is all. Sounds fine.

we will both have to live the resale value depreciation nightmare

I hope your son doesn't feel too bad

Thanks for the empathy.

Yea, "small chip in the cabinet" doesn't sound quite as good as "perfect condition". Like you said, "Oh well...".

My son was obviously scared when it first happened, not only due to the speaker falling, but also because of my "primal scream" that quickly followed.

He seemed to bounce back pretty quick when UPS delivered the new train table we ordered for him though.... :lol:

[ShadowZA]

Hi Gump

Life happens and one has to deal with all sorts of unexpected accidents and problems to solve. In the general importance of things, your son & daughter are more precious than an 803D. Aaaarrrggghhhh ... that does not lessen the pain though ... I feel your pain ... but also relief that all (humans + speaker) are ok. Whew!

You've also given my confidence in the 803D's a boost

[Audiophiliac]

Ok speaking of falling objects, I have a couple funny ones. Both, oddly enough, involving Sony CRT televisions.

1. My coworker (our service manager) had a 32" on the tailgate of his truck. He was working on it or something and decided he should pull around to the garage and unload it. Well he failed to secure the TV....so he gassed it, and it toppled right out and landed on the parking lot. A new case later, and it is 100% perfect again. Tough TVs.....

2. This one is classic. We have a client who has a 36" XBR. You know....the 220 lb. beasts. Well it is in the master bedroom. Atop a lingerie chest (a small dresser with a top measuring roughly 18"x18"). TV sat on a turntable as well....picture it? Well, one day, he went to swivel the TV to view it from another location, and it fell. On his foot. We went there after he was out of the hospital and the TV was still where it landed...face down on the floor in what was left of a blood pool stain in the carpet....his foot was jacked up. He was wearing no shoes and it landed square on it.

Well we picked up the TV, and he insisted we put it back where it was. We didnt argue. Hoisted it back to the top of the little dresser and carefully balanced it. Turned it on and no problem found.

[photoman]

As long as the little ones are OK, all is well. Besides, when your son grows up and becomes successful he's going to buy you a set of 802D for you. Of course you'll have to tell him this story about 1000 times first

I feel for you though, I don't even like dust on my 803D's. You know you probably can send it back to B&W and I'm sure they'll work their magic on it for a tiny sum... I've heard B&W really takes care of its customers. I'd do it, but it nice to know how strong they are.

[bleeding ears]

Guys, there is a moral to these stories.

Look out for the little ones!

A friend of one of my relatives lost a child through an accident with a television falling onto them.

Just think of the good side, speakers can be replaced .

All the best Pete

[DrJRapp]

Look out for the little ones!

speakers can be replaced .

Or better even, repaired. If you contact ANY custom cabinet shop they should be able to give you the name of who they use to do on site repairs. Most of those guys are amazing and when done, you can never tell the wood was damaged, and it's not too costly.

[tboooe]

Total bummer!!! This is why my kids are trained...they do not ever touch "daddy's music". I got them so trained that even when my wife or dad uses my stereo they say "oh oh...you cant play with that". If it was my speaker and knowing how unbelievably anal I am (like photoman I dont even let dust get on my system), I would either buy a new one or get the damaged one fixed. I just could not deal with it knowing that my speakers were not perfect. i know I would eventually become obsessed with the damage (I know this points to a bigger personal problem)....I am getting the chills just thinking about if this happened to me....

Again my consolences...I am going now to hug and dust my stereo.

[Andries]

My first home theatre system comprised of Missions all round. Great sound and apparently good for practicing target shooting. My son, thee years old at the time, managed to shoot with one of those guns with the plastic stub and little rubber sucker in front, right into the bass reflex port in into the loudspeaker. I had to take the speaker to the sales people where I bought it and one of the technicians had to open the speaker via the connection assembly at the back and pull out everything, including cross over board and padding, to find the offending "bullet". By which time the shop was full of people who had a good chuckle when the little rubber thing was eventually extracted using a really long pair of long nosed pliers...

[chemguy]

Andries...here's a similar story I posted a while back.

A couple years ago, my two year old son discovered the ports on the back of my 603 S3's. I guess he decided they made a nice hiding place for his small toy cars. Eventually, he pushed one right into the speaker cabinet and it ended up getting stuck on the magnet of the midrange driver. Eventually my wife and I were able to fish it out using a little ingenuity and a coat hanger.

And Gump...a similar story again.

In our living room, we have a sofa between our 804S speakers. My wife was sitting there reading a book and listening to music, while my 9 year old son was sitting beside her on arm of the sofa, reading along with her. He was leaning against her, while gently kicking his legs back and forth over the edge in time to the music. I was upstairs while all this was going on when I heard this dull thud. Didn't think much about it. When I came downstairs, I saw this curved gash about 1/8" deep in the wall of our living room, about a couple of feet away from the speaker. When I asked how that happened, I learned the sad story. Apparently, one of my son's gentle kicks clipped the speaker and sent it toppling into the wall (which thankfully broke the fall in midflight, about a quarter of its way down to the hardwood floor below). I now have a nice casting of the 804S curved cabinet in our drywall. The good news: the speaker survived, with absolutely no damage to the cabinetry, and no damage to the sound. We all laugh about it now.

Interestingly, I was considering upgrading to the 803D's in the next couple of months as I'm still within the year trade up period. Good to know they, too, can handle our wonderful children!

[Audiophiliac]

I have pulled everything from toys to dead animals out of ported speakers and subs. Lovely.

[aaron]

Find a talented, experienced local furniture refinisher. I'm in the business and one of our guys is almost GOD like in his ability to repair wood and wood veneers. That gash and dent would be gone forever with the right talent.

[Race Car Driver]

I can almost hear that loud smack sound you describe now, and i cringe...
Gump,.... Sorry to hear.....

[Gump]

All of you, of course, are correct. The most important thing by far is that my children were not injured when the speaker fell. If the speaker had to fall (and I wish it hadn't) this was the best outcome I could have asked for and I am thankful for that.

Having said that for the record, I must add that when I replay the image in my mind of my 803D slowly tipping over and then crashing to the ground I still get a little queasy 8O

Mucho thanks for the suggestion about contacting a cabinet/furniture professional to fix the damage. That idea hadn't occurred to me. I'm just as nit-picky as tboooe and the idea of my speaker cabinet being damaged is going to bother me more and more everytime I look at it.

First thing Monday morning I'll be searching the yellow pages!

[dyazdani]

So what's the moral of the story? Get 801s or 802s, they are too heavy to tip over like that :lol:

[RebelMan]

Your little mishap is unfortunate Gump but it is good to know that your little ones are okay. Ever since our child was born (two months ago today) I have been trying to think of ways to prevent any possible accidents involving a toppling loudspeaker. Your situation makes my concern all the more real.

[Andries]

:B Audiophiliac, I like the one about pulling out dead animals from ported loudspeakers and subs. Think about it: if you were a mouse or rat, the nice woolen padding would make a real comfy home indeed, including music, a bit of heat for cold Winter evenings and a vibrating bed! And no cat would be able to get you there...

Pity that the dead animals could not find their way out again!

[ZX10 Guy]

This topic presented a real issue that I've thought about with my system. Although I'm not married and don't have kids, I always like to plan ahead as sometimes I do have guests over who do have kids. My solution is as follows. Because I am able to have a dedicated room for my gear, this opened up a lot of options. The main access to my sound room is via two doors. One set of doors is a set of pocket doors. The hardware I put on them can only be unlocked from inside the room. Unlocking the doors from outside of the room isn't possible unless you use a screw driver. The other door is a simple door which I can put a lock on if I choose to totally secure access to that room. Or I can put a lock on the door providing access to the basement.

[Gump]

So what's the moral of the story? Get 801s or 802s, they are too heavy to tip over like that :lol:

Hey, I like that idea alot!!

Now if I can just convince the wife....... :roll:

[Gump]

Just a little wrap up to this old story....

I procrastinated for the last year and never got my speaker fixed. It still sounded great so I just let it slide---too much else going on.

Well, we moved into our new house last week and the movers knocked a big chunk out of my wife's Yamaha piano and also dented the formal dining room table. The moving company sent out a wood/cabinetry repairman to fix them. He did a great job and my wife suggested that I let him take a crack at my speaker and----(drumroll insert here) he fixed the chunk out of the cabinet and the speaker is as good as new! Cost me 30 dollars.

I am now whole again... :B

[Briz vegas]

Handy to know in case of lifes little accidents

[caleb]

If there is a good part to this story it is that the diamon tweeter didnt smash with the impact.

[GlidingDutchman]

What about fixing these tall & slender floorstanders to granite plinths?

I have a set of B&W P6 floorstanders with threaded inserts on the bottom for the spikes - I thought that one can have two slabs of granite cut to screw onto the bottom of the speakers - you know, kind of an anchor... and it will not be top-heavy...

GD

[CurtisBradley]

Ok speaking of falling objects, I have a couple funny ones. Both, oddly enough, involving Sony CRT televisions.

1. My coworker (our service manager) had a 32" on the tailgate of his truck. He was working on it or something and decided he should pull around to the garage and unload it. Well he failed to secure the TV....so he gassed it, and it toppled right out and landed on the parking lot. A new case later, and it is 100% perfect again. Tough TVs.....

2. This one is classic. We have a client who has a 36" XBR. You know....the 220 lb. beasts. Well it is in the master bedroom. Atop a lingerie chest (a small dresser with a top measuring roughly 18"x18"). TV sat on a turntable as well....picture it? Well, one day, he went to swivel the TV to view it from another location, and it fell. On his foot. We went there after he was out of the hospital and the TV was still where it landed...face down on the floor in what was left of a blood pool stain in the carpet....his foot was jacked up. He was wearing no shoes and it landed square on it.

Well we picked up the TV, and he insisted we put it back where it was. We didnt argue. Hoisted it back to the top of the little dresser and carefully balanced it. Turned it on and no problem found.

Such things happen but I don't found any relationship with horror or ghost stuff. There could be minor fault or some electric problem. Even my wife tell me about such issues but I don't relate it with horror stuff

[Rod#S]

So, my mom was visiting and she was sitting in a chair adjacent to my left front 803D speaker. (about a foot away). My 3 yr old son climbed up onto her lap and I was sitting across the room with my 1 yr old daughter on my lap.

We were chatting when I noticed that my son was now sitting on the arm of the chair and was playing around pushing backwards with his feet against my mom's arm.

That's when I noticed my speaker starting to move. It's kinda funny how the mind works because at first I couldn't comprehend what was happening and by the time the brain synapses started firing and I realized he had extended out far enough that his back was pushing against the speaker it already was SLOWLY starting to tip sideways.

My immediate impulse was to dive towards the speaker but first I had to put my daughter down. It seemed like everything was happening in slow motion as I watched the speaker falling like a tree that had been chopped down in the forest. I got to it just a half a second too late.

My living room is carpeted except for a small area of tile in front of the fireplace.....I'm sure you can guess where the speaker landed. When it hit the tile it sounded like a gunshot going off---very loud. The cover came off the tweeter and flew across the room.

Then there was a brief moment of silence before there was a hideously mournful cry of anguish that I eventually realized was coming out of me.

Epilogue:
Well, there is now a narrow chip out of the wood about 2 inches long on the top of the speaker right where the seam meets the right side. Other than that, amazingly, it seems to be ok. Even the diamond tweeter, which I was sure would be shattered, was fine. Whew!

I'm sure there's a moral to the story but right now my nerves are too jittery to think of it. :E

Wow, not good, looks like Mom owes you a new pair of speakers, hey what can you say, they come as a pair No Mother's day card for her You have to blame Mom because you can't get any money out of the kid and she was touching him last

[Rod#S]

Good lord this thread is 7 years old :E