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The moment I watched a guy ruin a $1,200 speaker at a live show
At a small venue in Portland back in 2019, some drunk guy grabbed the mic cable and yanked a vintage JBL monitor off its stand. The tweeter popped and the cabinet cracked on the floor. After that, I started putting foam pads under every speaker I own and checking cable runs before any gig.
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tessaperry2h ago
Wait, $30 on foam pads is overkill but $1,200 on a speaker isn't? That math doesn't add up to me. I've seen one drunk idiot take out an entire PA at a house show back in 2016. Foam pads and cable routing aren't about being paranoid. They're about not wanting to watch your gear eat shit because someone tripped over a cable you could have just taped down.
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richard_young804h ago
Man, I don't know. A drunk guy tripping on a cord and busting a speaker sucks, sure, but $1,200 for a vintage JBL that was already probably beat up? I'd be more mad about the lost night of music than the gear itself. Foam pads and cable routing feels like overkill unless you're regularly dealing with people falling into your setup.
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emma_wells833h ago
Raising an interesting point there about the foam pads and cable routing being overkill... I mean, yeah, if you're just having a quiet night with friends at home, it's probably not needed. But once you start bringing gear to bars or house parties where people are drinking and dancing close to the speakers, it's almost like you're asking for trouble not to protect your stuff. Guess it depends on how often you actually play out and how much you're willing to risk that speaker getting knocked over... Personally, I'd rather spend $30 on some padding than cry over a $1,200 loss later on.
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