Friends and mates, some of us have cats and love cats. How does one manage the turntable and your lovable cat? Do cats like music? (I think they do) How does your cat respond to music? Do cats like hifi? My cat, Madam the cat (now deceased) loved music. She sometimes sat next to me on the arm of the chair, and appeared to be actively listening to the music! She didn't like Zeppelin, but almost everything else. I know once, as I played a Telarc demo CD, "Time Warp" a section of digital footfalls pattering randomly. Madam followed the sounds through the stereo image, and then jumped to the floor to the speakers to investigate, then in back of the speakers. On another day, I was listening to my Canadian issue of "Dreamboat Annie", when Madam decided to jump on the turntable. I believe she only wanted to sit on it. The AR platter stopped and bottomed on the base under her weight. Always the worst case scenario, I enunciated "nooooo" and tried not to make a sudden move.. but she froze there. I picked her up (she was clearly stressed) stroked her head, and explained (as if she understood every word .. but she knew some words) "Not the turntable, Madam." There was no damage done, and she never attempted that again. Gray the cat also loved music. I was renting part of an upstairs apartment in a house of musicians. Gray the cat was Gary the Hudson Valley painter's cat. He would always park in front of my Marshall 2204.. right up to it as I practiced, without fail. The amp was loud enough to frighten a cat, but not Gray!! I never had it rattling the windows.. actually, always turned down with the cat there! What is your amazing hifi cat story, or brutal nightmare? (this discussion does not welcome cat hate comments, but simply about your CAT and hifi)
Anytime I wanna find one of the cats, I just start playing music. All three will be there within a minute or two, right on the sofa in the sweetspot. It's been a long time since I kidded myself into thinking they were there to see me
The cat in my avatar appeared to be soothed by music.She would find a near field spot often purr and wag her tail.I would jam on the drums in my basement and she would be drawn,sometimes swaying even if coincidence,very interesting to see.Even if rhythm wasn’t the draw,my cat picked up on the low end coming from my speakers.
All my cats have love/loved it. I guess you know when you consistently find them in the sweet spot. We used to always play Callas for Geeshie when she was alive. I'm perfectly fine being told I'm projecting when it comes to guessing their taste in music.
My cat (our first, named Hetfield) is under a year and still really only a kitten, and as such is intent on destroying everything that moves. I can't risk him in the room when the TT is spinning, it's bad enough that he tries to walk across the cover when it's not.
My one year old loves doing D.I.Y with dad and so any turntable adjustments have to be carefully planned. Listening without a dustcover is a thing of the past. My right-hand speaker makes a perfect place to complain loudly about the slow arrival of his lunchtime prawn. I haven't worked out what his favourite Beatle's album is yet.
Music has to be played at lower volumes if animals are around. Their hearing is MUCH more sensitive than humans....like 3X as much. Last thing you want to do is make them deaf. Something to keep in mind. Most of my "kids" have enjoyed listening in the same room...or at least interested enough to stare at the speakers in curiousity
When we had a cat in the house she seemed to like music but would leave the room if there was music with lots of high frequency content.
Marilyn (the Queen of our Castle) likes Billy Corgan and classic jazz. Play some Chicago and she leaves the room every time. She normally likes laying on the floor in the sweet spot between speakers or right next to me
My cats do not like the sounds coming out of my HiFi, but they like the Hifi equipment itself. At times, it becomes their jungle gym
I have two cats that generally leave the room when the stereo is on at any kind of volume, but I have had cats before who would sit through anything. So I don't think all cats are the same with tolerating music. One of my cats is constantly intrigued with the wiring in back, unfortunately.
This is my typical view from the sweet spot of our family cat as she's chillin' to LPs. When she was young she trashed a pair of MMGs (I'd never had a kitten before). After she got spayed a couple years ago she chunked up and really calmed down (got lazy) to the point I don't even worry about not having a dustcover for my turntable (a Schiit Sol). This would have been unthinkable at one point since my SL-1200 was part of her regular parkour course.
They have better hearing than humans. Cats have excellent hearing and can detect an extremely broad range of frequencies. They can hear higher-pitched sounds than humans or most dogs, detecting frequencies from 55 Hz up to 79 kHz. Cats do not use this ability to hear ultrasound for communication but it is probably important in hunting, since many species of rodents make ultrasonic calls. Cat hearing is also extremely sensitive and is among the best of any mammal, being most acute in the range of 500 Hz to 32 kHz. This sensitivity is further enhanced by the cat's large movable outer ears (their pinnae), which both amplify sounds and help a cat sense the direction from which a noise is coming.
The cats only leave the room when I play guitar. Recorded music they like. Maybe they prefer music that's in tune.
We had a cat who preferred certain types of bands over others and you could see a behavior change. His "favorite" (knowing I'm putting myself out there as a crazy cat guy) was The Who. When we listened to them he would get on his spot on the couch, even staring at my wife until she slid over until he could sit there. Towards the end of his life when he was slowing down, we were trying out some new discs and the third selection was Neil Young's greatest hits. During the first song he trotted down the steps at a speed which he didn't move at anymore, and took his place on the couch. He also paid attention to Led Zeppelin as well, so I'm wondering if there's a common element. We adopted him older and don't know anything about his first house, so maybe he had memories of their music taste. Or it could be something in frequency, who knows. Our current cat isn't bothered by anything played at regular volume. But she knows we tend to "crank it up" in the basement and avoids coming down when we're listening. The exception is we put on a DVD-A demo disc with jazz and classical. When playing that at a lower volume she stayed and there was definite ear twitching to certain instruments.
