[Gopher]

I've got a 4 month old son, two cats and a preference for tube amplification.  I had one cat and Fi2a3 monoblocks for years without an issue, but in my present condo my stereo is in my small living room where my son will soon be crawling/walking and I'm a bit concerned about potential catastrophe.

I've been reluctantly shying away from Atma-sphere and 845 SET amps (which should be the amps of choice for my speakers) because of the concern, looking for shielded alternatives. 

Just as I resolved to buy a caged tube integrated, the opportunity to jump on a used S-30 came up and I pounced on instinct.

Is this a big deal for fellow ACers?   I don't know if I'm being overly worried or what--if something happened to my son I'd never forgive myself.

What do you guys think? 

[turkey]

I burned my hand on a tube amp when I was a toddler. I guess I learned my lesson and didn't do it again, but I could have been seriously hurt. (That particular amp had filter caps in series to get a higher voltage rating, and the cans of the caps were hot. They had paper sleeves on them as insulators, but that didn't do a thing to kid-proof them.)

I also used to remove the screws on AC receptacle wall plates with my thumbnail. In addition, I was able to open up those folding gates, so I fell down some stairs a couple of times. I took apart alarm clocks and other things while they were still plugged in. It's amazing that I survived.

I think parents should do everything they can to protect their children, but they should also recognize that they can't do everything.

Your stereo system will probably be attractive to your son because it's something that you do stuff to, listen to music, etc. He'll want to at some point see what you're up to, and he might very well touch things he shouldn't.

I'd honestly recommend going with tube gear that has good covers on it for now, or even SS. Those big glowing power tubes are just dangerous.

Can you put the amp up high enough so he won't be able to reach it? Or maybe inside a cabinet or something?

The other option is to never let him in the room when you're using your stereo, but I'm not sure that will work.

[Chromisdesigns]

If you are worried (and I think you should be, not only for the kid -- what if he yanks a tube out while the amp is live?) then make a temporary cage from some hardware cloth -- may not look too great, but you have a small kid, you are probably used to the house having that lived-in look by now!

If you have a suitable rack or shelving unit, you could put a screen across the front and sides, as an alternative.

[S Clark]

Nothing is more important than your child.  If you can't absolutely guarantee that you can isolate your tube gear from your son, live with solid state for a couple of years. Pick up a Virtue, in two years you can sell it for probably 70% of what you paid for it.

[Berto]

Hey Gopher, I read about your concern before. Was wondering if a lucite or acylic (spchk) custom made cover with enough small holes on the top would do the trick. Atma amps do get REAL hot so not sure if the cover could melt or if it even has enough venting. I don't have any kids but do have a dog and woulnt mind exploring this option for my MA-1s. Be nice to be able to see through whatever is protecting them as well.  Maybe you can give Atma a call and they can recommend a solution as well, they are very helpful.

Have you heard the S-30 yet? What an aamzing amp

[HT cOz]

Nothing is more important than keeping your kids safe.  Just think how you would feel if something did happen that was totally preventable?

You are spending some serious coin on your system.  Get a proper cabinet and stop worrying.  I own this HDTV amore that holds everything well out of reach of the kidos.   They look nice and are not too expensive.

http://www.performancefurniture.com/ac/styles_ac.html

Best of luck.  Keep'em happy and love them not much more to being a parent of a baby!

[Tyson]

Get a rack that's closed in the front, top, and sides, but open in the back.  Use computer fans to suck the hot air away.  That way your tubed stuff is enclosed away from the kid(s), and still is nicely ventilated.

[mjosef]

Kids will be kids...you can hide it all you want, they will find a way to get at it.
Nice thing about kids is that you can train them very easily. They learn fast(usually), allow them to touch stuff they shouldn't (under your supervision of course), and explain in baby language why they can touch some things and shouldn't touch other things...things that get hot=no touch...like stuff on the stove...hot tubes...allow them to quickly touch the hot tube and they will steer clear of that in the future.
The volume knob on the other hand takes a longer time to teach them not to touch, that you will have to learn to check before firing up the system.

I see parents nowadays allowing their kids to do whatever they want  ...parents need to parent, kids need guidance for 18/19 years before they find their way in the world.

[HT cOz]

I have a 3.5 year old and 20month old at home right now. 

Look at your house everything waist high and lower will be explored by your young child.

My 3 year old boy will climb to get things but he also is capable of reason and being taught.

These are really not opinions just reality.  To be safe, I think you need to be able to lock up/ close off things like tube amps.

Heres my amp...


Eye candy even to the young!   

[thunderbrick]

I burned my hand on a tube amp when I was a toddler. I guess I learned my lesson and didn't do it again, but I could have been seriously hurt. (That particular amp had filter caps in series to get a higher voltage rating, and the cans of the caps were hot. They had paper sleeves on them as insulators, but that didn't do a thing to kid-proof them.)

I also used to remove the screws on AC receptacle wall plates with my thumbnail. In addition, I was able to open up those folding gates, so I fell down some stairs a couple of times. I took apart alarm clocks and other things while they were still plugged in. It's amazing that I survived.

Lemme guess. You grew up to be an engineer.   

[neyloj2]

When my son was two years old I was rebuilding a speaker cabinet and had a brand new Black Widow 15" sitting there and he decided it was a chair and plopped down in it. Kids are kids, I couldn't get mad at the little guy. Please move your tubes, imagine if your child falls on them. Now that I think about this it dawns on me, my son is 24 years old now. He owes me for that speaker.

[*Scotty*]

Gopher, you might contact Blair at Nightshade Audio about building you some cages for your amps.
His business is building tube amps and he specializes in custom amps. He might be able to hook you up with some cages for your existing amps.
You can PM him at this link  http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?action=profile;u=46696
Scotty

[Bemopti123]

Even when my son was a toddler, he never seemed to be interested in my audio equipment, be it an expensive tube amplifier, turntable and the like.  The only thing I have ever bothered to protect were speaker cone/domes. 

My daughter is 2 1/2 and she does not think my F2A amp and their tubes are worthy of her attention. 

I never ever emphasized stuff like, "If you touch that, you will get hurt" etc....  Some children are into mischief than others. 

Now, when I was a child if I ever got into trouble with stuff, more than the stuff getting damaged and hurting me, the discipline that followed it was more hurtful. 

[HT cOz]

Did you keep your amp/turntable lower than waist level?

[mcgsxr]

My girls are now getting on 5 and 7.  There has always been a couple of systems in the house, including a very DIY one in the basement for over 5 years, that includes a tube amp.

I placed the tube amp on top of a rack, and by the time they could reach it, they knew better than to do so.  I kept it off unless I was in the room too.

Now, I also know that boys and girls are different, as I have 2 nephews that are now 5 and 3.

THOSE monkeys made a beeline to the audio gear like my girls never have, and began exploring (pulling cords) until I could get over there and show them.  I have found that decoy cords are fantastic with younger boys - give them some cheap IC's to play with, and an unplugged piece of gear, and they will go to town plugging and unplugging, until the novelty wears off.

Your kids, your call.

[Gopher]

THOSE monkeys made a beeline to the audio gear like my girls never have, and began exploring (pulling cords) until I could get over there and show them.  I have found that decoy cords are fantastic with younger boys - give them some cheap IC's to play with, and an unplugged piece of gear, and they will go to town plugging and unplugging, until the novelty wears off.

Your kids, your call.

That is hysterical!  I think I have a tape deck and some disposable RCAs that will fit the bill when the time comes.

Tonight my little man helped me build two PCs....  well more like he had a toy hammer he sucked on as I worked at rebuilding my music server and assembling a spare parts 'puter.

I'll make sure to get at least a few months of enjoyment out of this exposed tube world until he's big enough to tamper.  Hopefully the interest won't be there, but I'll go into things expecting the worse.

For the record my turntable is about waist high and the amp will be on the floor.  Here's an idea--speaker placement has widened slightly, but you guys

can get the jist of how open things are.

 

[lonewolfny42]

My "little fingers" are being drawn to those silver things in the speaker....  

Good luck Fred.....it's very open...

[JohnR]

One thing that hasn't been mentioned I don't think is how high the supply voltages are. I'd be inclined to stay away from the high-power SETs, the voltages these run at (some getting close to a kilovolt) is scary (I think so anyway).

[atmasphere]

When I was a kid, there was this console radio full of tubes... I backed it away from the wall and messed with it a lot. It made some weird sounds when me and my brother were poking a pencil in the AC wall socket... and I didn't die! As far as that goes, that was a whole lot less risk than my riding my bike to school in the 2nd grade...

The fact of the matter is that unless your kid has developmental issues, he will have to learn about 'hot' sooner or later. Your pets already know. My cats used to sleep on the power supply cover but they gave the tubes respect. Your kid will too.

Now- I already pull power tubes out of the amp while its playing (I do it at shows all the time). The S-30 does not care, although the power level goes down. So that's not a worry. But if your kid is the kind that does not obey his/her parents, I would be nervous about leaving tools, a stove, light bulbs, my wallet, nice looking rocks (and ugly ones too), LPs, CDs, interconnect cables, staples and the stapler and for that matter a wide range of just about anything laying around that might be associated with life in any way. In short, maybe a padded room might be the ticket for you to live in while your child roams the house   ....uh, just kidding... (no pun intended).