cats and speakers - looking for clues

I’ve had cats in my house, as many as three (Russian Blues) at a time, for more than 35 years now and have never had any issues with them doing "bad’ things to my speakers or other equipment. Perhaps we’ve been lucky, I can’t say. But I can say that if it came down to it, I would choose my cats. There are some choices in speakers that have more preventative protection. My current Martin Logan Montis’ are in that "cat"egory. Not really any issues with scratching on these babies.My previous speakers had large cloth grills, but they started high enough up the cabinet as to not really pose any issues. Mind you they were 6 Ft tall, and I’m sure would have been excellent perches, if the tops were accessible. We are down to just one of the Rushian Blues (they were brothers when we got them from the sanctuary in Lousiana in 2012) and he’s king of the house.

I’ve had cats & nice to very nice audio systems my whole adult life & currently have 3 cats now which wasn’t planned ( sort of like my kids way back when…)

Buy a new spray bottle at Home Depot for $4 or whatever, fill it w/ water & give a quick squirt to whichever cat goes near your system; speakers, amps, turntable etc.  After you do this a few times, merely picking up the bottle w/ send them running. Aluminum foil can also be put over your stuff when you’re not home. Cats hate foil. 

I've been rescuing feral cats for 25 years and have had expensive audio equipment the whole time.  Between 2005 and 2019 I had 10 - 14 living indoors full time in my house and still have 7 now.  The floor standing speakers did become a target for a couple of them, despite having scratchers everywhere, so I wrapped them in mylar.  I cut a sheet tall enough to exceed their reach and wide enough to cover the front and sides, then held them in place with ribbon as straps around the back held in place with velcro tabs.  Very easy to remove when I want to use the speakers.  Release the velcro from one end of the bottom strap, lift the mylar cover off and set it aside.

I also used mylar sheets held in place with velcro tabs to guard the AV stand from spraying, which I did have a little of elsewhere, but none on the AV stand.  I can post pics if you're interested.

It has definitely required extra work, but it has actually worked really well in one of the more extreme indoor cat situations you're likely to find.

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Perhaps we’ve been lucky, I can’t say. But I can say that if it came down to it, I would choose my cats.

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One cat, alone, can get awfully mischievous.  I always think it's better for a cat or a dog, for that matter, to have a buddy.

My wife and I took in an adult stray we named Charlie Sheen (he had a white patch under his nose...you get the drift) in 2012.  He was a good boy for the 10 years he ruled the house.  Then we rescued two kittens barely a month old in August 2023.  Dobby and Kossa have never shown interest in my numerous speakers, except Dobby runs into whichever room I'm playing music in to sit and listen.  To be safe, I contacted Digital Deck Covers. 

Absolutely phenomenal products and service.   Some speaker brands are already sized (JBL, Focal, Tannoy, Dynaudio, KEF, Wilson ), but you can do measurements off a template they provide and they will custom make you covers.  Take my advice and go with the Double-Sided Quilt Nylon material.   Pillow soft.  Slide on and off with ease and look great.  All mine are black.

I've had them make covers for my Klipsch Forte II's, Heresy's, KG 4's, Polk Audio 10B's, and most recently my KLH 5's.  When shipping me my KLH covers, they accidentally sent me a set of covers for a pair of Dynaudio Bookshelf speakers.  I offered to send them back, and they told me it was their mistake and to keep them.  The covers fit my Klipsch KG 1.5's perfectly.  The most expensive set of covers I've had made were less than $200.  The best audio related investment I've made in a while.