Disaster Struck!

Aric

In the big scheme of life this incident is nothing. You're healthy, you have a wife who loves you, and you have the income to afford a lovely turntable and cartridge. Take a deep breath and be thankful you have the opportunity to even worry about such a problem. Most humans on this planet would love to be able to have such a " problem". Hopefully, your insurance will cover the loss. If not buy a new one or perhaps something less expensive. You'll live. And whatever you do don't start blaming anyone. Cartridges are easy to replace. Wives are not. Put the loss out of your mind for awhile. It will be better after a good nights sleep.

Cheers

Clay

hey there

I have 2 little kids at home and i am constantly thinking about something like this.... but in my mind a long time ago - i drew up this scenario and i decided that should something happen to my audio gear because of a genuine mistake - the first thing i would do is to Hug my wife and kids.

I will NOT blow my top.

I will not fret over these things.

I realize i will feel better on accepting the situation than fighting it retrospectively.

Please have a good dinner tonight with the ones you love and i suppose you very well know what is to be done to get back on track music wise.

Best regards

I am sorry to hear this has happened to you.  

Your wife is way more important than the stereo.  She will no doubt be very grateful if you tell her that - and will likely not let it happen again.  A cartridge is easily replaced.  Even two months without vinyl is not the end of the world.   

Do not let one small disaster cascade into a much worse one.

Best of luck to you both.

Charlie

Aric,

My wife came home one day, and had had an accident in our BMW X5.  Gratefully no one was hurt.  She was very hesitant to relay the news.  We both felt much better when I told her it was just a car, and that my wife is way more important to me that any car.  This year we celebrate our 40th anniversary.

Charlie

Cartridges like wives are easily replaced.....for a cost!     Pls don't tell my wife I said that, I value my genitals.

Aric,

You two look like a great couple in your avatar and your wife has the smile of a caring person. I'll bet she feels just as bad as you feel mad.

Hi Aric,

I feel for you - I had a similar experience with my Dynavector 20x2 on my WTL Amadeus. Got up one morning after a listening session, put on a gentle morning record and to my horror the sq was atrocious (immediately lifted needle to inspect).....I went through a similar ritual to yourself asking questions of the other half but there was no clear answer to the mystery save to say the stylus was indeed severely bent. To this day I am not sure how this happened but have but have finally laid it to rest blaming my very own fat fingers and temporary amnesia...

Having just moved in I didn't have accidental home insurance in place (that will never happen again). Eventually I saved up and got the DV XX-2MKII .............. so every cloud has a silver lining That was 2 years ago and it is still sounding fantastic....

Good luck

Sten

Not a nice situation to be in. I would suggest buying Mrs Aric a present. She probably feels very bad about this. Show her some forgiveness - it's only a cartridge.

Might be worthwhile to see what price you can get for the RP8 in its current condition. It might be a cheaper way of getting a new RP8 with an Apheta 2. 

Aric, I feel for you.  It reminds me of the time I had a friend over to stay along with his two young daughters.  I came downstairs one morning to find them playing with toy cars on the rug.  Except one of the "cars" was my Aro top with brand new SPU Royal cartridge onboard.  I had to grit my teeth and gently persuade them that the Aro didn't make the best car.  My friend slept upstairs oblivious to what had happened.  I took on the chin , it was nobody else's fault but my own.  Nobody was hurt, nobody had died (apart from the stylus). I'd just have to take more care next time.  As problems go, mine was but a minor tic against what others in the world experienced every day.

Read Clays post above, and repeat. 

Oh, and get yourself an inexpensive spare cart (if you need MC then the AT OC9MLII is very inexpensive Stateside) so that should any accidents happen you are always able to spin tunes in the interim.

My wife does not touch my hifi. Children visiting are told the high area is forbidden..so no one goes near it except myself.

I cleaned my gyrodec a week or so after having a new (reasonably expensive) cartridge fitted. Somehow, I managed to snap the needle right off!!

The first thing my wife said was "thank God I didn't do it".

Need(le)less to say it made me extremely careful when doing anything around the turntable from then on.

kaydee6 posted:

My wife does not touch my hifi. Children visiting are told the high area is forbidden..so no one goes near it except myself.

I learned that one the hard way, my niece pressed in all the domes on my speaker cones.  No one died and careful use of a Hoover restored them somewhat but it certainly made me flinch.  The OP has my sympathy 

Yes Clay's response is the fairest, but it will only happen again, so probably best to get a divorce. I can't see any other option. 

A previous MrsM did something similar and unfortunately I killed her in a moment of pique. I felt a bit bad about it for a while but luckily the judge was a fellow hi-fi owner so I got away with a telling-off.

time for a time out 

Sympathies. My wife shoved my PMC 20.23s out of the way with the hoover once not understanding that it took me hours to get the placement right or that she had wrenched a spike gromet from the plinth. I vented on forum but didn't get much sympathy.

Incidentally when I worked in the trade I saw no end of speakers with stab wounds in the drive units. Every last one involved a todler and a biro or screwdriver. I just have to accept that is also in my future. 

Better to suffer accidents with the hifi than keep it pristine but without (careless) loved ones.

Sorry to hear of your plight.

I once had both my kids poke the speaker cones in on my old Proac 1Sc's - fortunately they were easy to replace.

They even look a bit like the kids we had before.

G

When I got my first LP12/Ekos/Akiva combo I asked my dealer what I should to protect it from the kids - try razor wire was his considered answer! I now have a Kandid on an EKOS SE and a new LP12. My wife knows how much the Kandid cost and won't even go near the deck to change sides when I'm out of the room - daughter likewise!

At least there's insurance and as other have said - worse things happen at sea.

count.d posted:

Yes Clay's response is the fairest, but it will only happen again, so probably best to get a divorce. I can't see any other option. 

I totally agree. Some of the other posts though ! "Buy her a present as she is probably upset by what she has done" , yeah right, like a hearing aid so she can hear next time you tell her not to touch the record deck. I would now go and break her washing machine and vacuum cleaner to see if she buys you a present 

During the first two weeks I started at Naim, my first job for around a month was learning to set up lp12 turntables to Julian's satisfaction- the result based on listening. I was setting up an lp12, Breuer tone arm and supex top of the range, as I leaned over to make a small adjustment the stylus became caught in my big baggy wolly jumper-shit I could have died, the moment of truth came when I had to confess and tell JV the stylus assembly now in my hand had been destroyed.

he just said you had better fit another one then,smiled and walked off

Now that is a nice one Paul. Hopefully Naim is still such a good place to work.

On the other hand, with the time machine you obviously had at hand to squeeze a months work into just two weeks, you could have gone back to the past and do the same thing a little more careful .

Something like 20 years ago, opening the lid of my LP12,  a touch overenthusiastically perhaps,

the cloth over it, hooked the Arkiv tip reconfiguring the cantilver. Not a good thing since 

vinyl was my primary source and the cartridge was only 1 year old.

Aric, as soon as i started reading your post, my fear was that something much worts happened like 

the whole deck falled from the shelf !

Thanks gents. From the comical to the sincere your posts have truly helped. A good nights rest - shockingly I slept just fine! - always does the trick too. 

I did briefly consider following in TonyM's footsteps. The odds of finding a HiFi enthusiast in this country are probably pretty slim. Maybe one that would sympathize with "your honor, I really had no choice; she broke my prick" would harangue me and move on.

I'm impressed with all the virtuous self control stated in these posts.. Occasionally I have mishaps happen to me with various prized pocessions being damaged, and yes I am only human and I have a complete inexcusable sense of humour failure and shout and wail at those nearest and dearest to me... when the guilt sets in I apologise and kiss and make up.. and whatever is damaged is then replaced... Last year we had our 25th wedding anniversary.. I am just so amazed she has put up with me for so long...

Simon