Maggies and Moggies: Myth or Reality? (Magnepans and Cats)

I often hear audio hobbyists expressing sentiments along the lines of "I can't have Magnepans, because I have a cat, and the cat will claw and destroy them" or "I won't have a cat in the house, because I have Magnepans, and the cat will claw and destroy them." What I have yet to hear is anyone saying, "I had a pair of Magnepans, and my cat clawed and destroyed them." Indeed, in a current thread about cats and audio gear, several contributors have made statements quite the contrary, along the lines of, "I have Magnepans and cats, and the latter have never shown any interest in the former." That tallies with my own experience, from back when I had a pair of old Maggies: my cats, who had the run of the place, never paid them any attention at all.

So which one is it?



Let's hear your stories!

 

I hate cats even if I had no stereo equipment.

 

Thanks for sharing that.

OK, now does anybody have something to contribute that's actually on topic?

 

I've had a cat take out an MMG. I'd not had such a young cat/kitten before and she ran right up the speaker and took out a tweeter.

 

I have Magnepans for decades and three cats and never had any problems. I also know other audiophiles who have cats and magnepans with no issues.
I looked all over the internet to see if I can find any pictures of Magnepan speakers being destroyed by a cat. There are none.
Cats are fun.
People who hate cats are miserable sobs.

 

No magnepans but similar planar speakers for 30 years. They survived 3 cats without a.....scratch!

 

Here's what you do - go to the art supply store and get a couple of big pieces of foam core. Cut them down so you can lean them against the Maggies when you're not listening to them and voila, no problem with the cats.

 

I have 2 cats with Maggie .7's, no problems.

 

When my girlfriend moved in with me, she had a dog and a cat. That cat clawed all my leather furniture. It never touched my 1.7 speakers. Not even once.

 

My cat never touched them.
I sprayed some sort of commercial cat repellant on them, who knows if that did anything or not.
He had a scratching post and used that.

Now that I think of it, I did have a dog hike it's leg on an MMG which required a trip back to the factory for a rebuild.
I'm not sure if that was a critique of the speakers, my taste in music or he simply had to go.

 

Hmmm….might also want to ask Vandersteen owners. I know I’ve seen plenty for sale that had obvious kitty damage.

Growing up my family had a cat that would go berserk about once a year for no apparent reason. A Magnepan most likely would’ve been a prime target, the drapes certainly were. A Magnepan looks very much like a giant scratching post.

 

Well, I guess there's a first time for everything--sorry you were the lucky "winner." Just curious: assuming you had the speaker repaired (I started to say "had it fixed," but under the circumstances I thought maybe other phrasing might be better), what did you do to avoid repeat performances?

 

Thanks for the suggestion!

 

I'd think DCM Time Windows would be prime targets, too, but now that I think of it I don't remember ever seeing any that had taken cat claw hits.

On the other hand, I haven't exactly been looking for them, either.

 

I find they don't have to be as tall as the maggies. Maybe three feet tall and the cats won't bother with the speakers.

 

Hard to imagine I was the first (unless we assume this thread to be an all-encompassing sample of cat and Magnepan owners) but the speakers are gone and the cat is still here. Ironically, she loves music.

Do cats like hifi?

 

No Maggies, but I had Vandersteen 2CE's, that also are cloaked in fabric and have a reputation for being at risk with the kitties. When my mom and her cat arrived a while back I put some protective plastic around the bottoms of the speakers (when they weren't in use). Eventually I took the plastic off and the cat never showed any interest in them. And that cat has been known to claw other furniture, and is evil to boot.

That's just one data point though, cats are individuals etc.

 

Or they have very bad cat allergies.

 

Since i have 2 cats and 2 dogs (the 4 of them party animals like to party hard ), i keep the music room door CLOSED when i am not around.

W.r.t cats specifically, I keep water & 2 scratching posts in my speaker room at all times. When a kitten is brand new in the house, it is also a good idea to spray a tiny bit of catnip on the scratching posts for a few days and train them to scratch the scratching posts. The foam core cover suggested by the member above also provides additional safety.