High end headphones like Audeze vs. your girlfriends friends 5 -6 year old kids

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It is the Saturday after New Years so my girlfriend decides she wants to have another couple come over just for dinner. I said as long as they wear masks inside I am cool with it. So when they arrived we all said our “hellos” to each other and I realize they brought their two kids. They were boys around 5-7 years old. Dinner went really well and my friend Julien and I decided to go out for a beer, nothing big. As we left I made sure the door to my office was shut to keep the kids out. I also said to the ladies to please make sure the kids do leave the living room and keep them out of my office. I come home and everything seems cool. The girls were talking and a movie was on so I figured the kids were on the couch with them. So Julien and I went to the office and it became clear that they didn’t watch her kids because they were in my office chasing each other around and using my headphones as their little play radios. As I watch them for a moment I see my LCD-3s fall right off one kids head and hit the hardwood floor. My girlfriend can see I am about to lose it so she get the kids out there. I start looking around and I see that my Ether 2s and new Meze Empyreans just lying on the floor. I am about to cry at this point I swear to god and my girlfriend trying to be apologetic and shift blame to her friend and I just told her she needed to leave with her friend, which she did. Now that everything is back in the room I realize I am missing my Audeze LCD-4s. After looking for them I go onto the back porch to have an overview of the backyard and there they were, lying in pieces on the pavers in the back yard. That was the killing blow, but to add insult to injury I see they made sure to knock over my metal woo audio headphone stands so they they fell and scratched up my amps and one fell off the desk onto the brand new power conditioning unit I just got.
I honestly don’t even know what to do about this. I don’t have any money, I don’t work because I go to school and because I am partially disabled from a previous injury. My girlfriend’s friend won’t pay for it, with two kids from two different deadbeat parents. She said she would make it right and replace everything that her kids damaged. She demanded that I give her a number off the top of my head and I said, $12,000.00 just for the headphones (which is actually correct) and she almost passed out. lol I know I will never see a dime.
So guys, what do I do? Is my only option to end my participation this hobby I love so much? It took me years to save for and buy everything I had. Thanks for letting me get this off my chest.

Edit: fixed only the spelling mistakes and typos that made no sense

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This won’t mean much, but you have my most heartfelt condolences. From a practical perspective, we’re any purchases recently (90-120 days)? Some credit cards have purchase protection for just such occasions. Last, maybe homeowners insurance?

Damn bro. Just damn. My kid just asked me why the color drained from my face. Damn.

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First, hoooleeesheet. There are no words. Sorry man.

Second, buy a lock for the door?

I have no suggestions other than salvage what you can, check with insurance, and uhh… Damn.

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What I find most bothersome about this is that you made it clear that no one was to enter your office and yet they didnt have the common decency to ensure that that simple request was upheld. Couldn’t they tell that the kids were not around? I mean they are 5 and 6, they’re gonna do shit. That’s a failure of basic parenting…

I have had similar things happen regarding simple requests that are ignored that lead to this and that issue and it really drives me nuts, but, if I were to add damage to expensive and/or cherished possessions because of that ignorance… hooooleeeesheeet is right.

I felt myself getting angry reading this. Just f**king awful.

Dont stop listening, I can understand the reasoning but its coming from a mix of anger and grief, not a combination to make a decision on. Why punish yourself for others stupidity.

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It sucks. Buy a keyed door lock for your office. Kids break things.

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Omg, so sorry for such a shitty thing to happen. Have you got home insurance? Are you able to claim?

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How utterly awful and heartbreaking. I’m so sorry for you, @Animal, and I hope you’re doing ok - or as well as can be expected given the circumstances. This must have been devastating. (This is one of those moments when I wish I knew something about the law and small claims courts).

I hope all this doesn’t ruin your love for the hobby. It would be understandable, though, if you were to decide you don’t want to be reminded of what happened every time you use headphones.

If you don’t have insurance, would it be possible to see if you could get the headphones repaired? It would probably be prohibitively expensive to ship the Empyreans to Meze but you could contact Audeze and Dan Clark Audio and ask what the procedure might be: they might offer you an estimate for the repair work (could you send photos to them?), and since both are reasonably close to you (in CA, right?), then the shipping might not be too expensive.

You might even be able to purchase replacement parts, including the drivers, depending on what kinds of damage the headphones have sustained. Perhaps it might be possible to get the headphones repaired gradually, as and when you have the funds, replacing a pair of damaged cups now and then the drivers later, etc.?

I know it won’t provide any consolation right now, but perhaps it might help to the consider the possibility that, in months or years to come, you might be in a position to repair or replace these cherished headphones. I do hope so. I’m so sorry to hear this is how 2021 started for you.

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I’m sorry to hear about this experience.

The only thing I can think to add at this time would be to photograph all the damage. If at some point you consider legal action it would probably help to have evidence of the damage taken soon after it happened. I don’t know if any kind of official record (ie police report) would be useful.

I suppose you have to take it one day at a time but I think you will be able to let music back into your life.

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Man !! It sounds like a nightmare. Sorry mate. It makes me angry to hear your story.

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Nothing to add, but just to say really sorry to hear about that. Hope you can claim with your CC card or insurance as others have said.

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Man that sucks 1 million times over :cry: but at the end of the day you amassed those dope headphones and amp to listen to music, tragic as this may be you can still listen to music, this wasn’t destroyed nor was anyone hurt, so looking at the state of the world as it is day it could’ve been worse :man_shrugging:

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@animal so sorry to hear about this. Anyone who has kids nows that they get into things and somethings will break. I keep my equipment locked up for that reason, though I bring my kids into my office so that they understand my love of music and to see if any of it rubs off on them.
With regards to the gear, ow much is cosmetic versus actual damage? At the end of the day cosmetics are what they are and shouldn’t impede your enjoyment, but how much of the equipment is actually damaged and requiring repair or replacement?

As to your girlfriend’s friend, I wouldn’t expect much. They likely aren’t in a position where they’d be able to pay you to buy brand new replacements for any of your damaged gear.

Other posters have mentioned insurance, I’d reach out to your homeowners or renters insurance entity to see what they cover.

No matter what, don’t stop listening. It’s about the music and the joy it brings.

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Thanks everyone for the support, compassion and understanding. I just needed to vent to other people that understand the situation and that it is more than just damage to things, as these things connect us to the music in the best way possible. We all pick certain components that hopefully gives us the sound we are looking for, especially headphones. Especially when spending thousands of dollars on gear and so much time researching, testing and comparing gear, those purchases are meant to last a lifetime. My girlfriend gets it, she has her Focal Utopias that she loves because she picked them out against my Meze Empyreans, my LCD-3 and LCD-4 etc… She picked those because she likes the sound the best. They make her smile the most. She also knows me and knows how important music is to me and how not being able to play the drums anymore (professionally or for long periods of time) has affected me. She was there before and after I broke my back, and knows me better than I know myself sometimes.

Short story is homeowners insurance will not cover any of it because the cause of damage is not listed as a peril they cover. No credit card protection for anything and only the power supply was purchased in the last 90 days. Tons of cosmetic damage to DACs, AMPs, Power Supply, headphone stands. Functional damage to my SOtM streaming trifecta, looks like cords were yanked out of some of that stuff causing damage, so not streaming. LCD-3s have cracked cups and only one side works for whatever reason. LCD-4s basically exploded when they hit the ground. Empyreans and Ether 2s make sound but its messed up

The situation is what it is and cannot be changed so there is nothing to do but move forward and have a sense of humor about it.

I’ll respond to individual questions in my next post (s), I just didn’t want to put it all in one new post. I really appreciate everyone’s compassion and understanding. So, thank you all for that

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I feel the pain! Besides locks, I would write a letter with what happened, maybe the link to this thread. And see if the manufacturers can do anything to rebuild them. I bet the most expensive parts (the drivers) are OK. The repair might be affordable, maybe they would do it pro bono?

Always worth a try. This is the danger of this hobby. Things that most people think are trivially proved are in the 10’s of thousands of dollars. People don’t get it.

The credit card idea is also good, some Chase and Amex cards will cover a year or two of accidental damage. Our business years ago ended up replacing 6 or so vacuum cleaners that one of the staff weirdly kept breaking.

Good Luck!

SD

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Nothing I can add to the general sympathy. At 5-6 years old, it’s even years before they’d make reasonable indentured servants.

I can only offer this to show that it’s an old problem:

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I think the best way to do this is to just tag the person I am responding to rather than making a whole bunch of posts.

@pennstac, LOL! Ha ha ha that was pretty funny, especially when he kicks the kid over. :rofl: Perfect for how I felt and I appreciate you posting it and making me really laugh for a bit. I appreciate the sympathy as well.

@Idahodoc, thanks for sharing the pain. I think that is a good idea and today I already did some reaching out today but no responses yet. Pro bono would be great for some parts and it does not hurt to try. I have been spending most of the day going through my credit cards and it seems that most major brands pulled a lot of their member benefits in the last couple of years. I checked my AMEX, my Discover and my ViSA and called them as well to see what they can do.

@NYCMD I would say there is more stuff broken, like buttons, switches and things like that making the amps unusable. I am normally really OCD about my stuff (it is related to my ADHD), but beggars can’t be choosy at moments like this so if its functional then I count that as good. There is no way I am getting anything from Lauren as I know she struggles as it is and I am just not going to add more financial stress or burden to her life. I don’t want to ruin my girlfriends friendship with her either. I am still going to file claims, but I already spoke to my agent and insurance won’t cover anything. And I would never stop listening, music is too much a part of me

@LittleCans, you are right that the music is not going anywhere and I am always glad when no one gets hurt. I know it can always be worse and I always try to focus on the fact that it wasn’t.

@enginerd thank you for the nice words. It looks like a no go on filing a claim with insurance or credit cards. A lot of it wasn’t purchased recently enough or even on a credit card. A couple things were gifts too. I will still try though

@Josrenthlei, you are spot on! It was a nightmare and I am still incredibly angry with the whole situation. Not so much anyone in particular, but just the whole situation. Thanks for getting angry about it too.

@NickZ, yeah I’ll do all that. I won’t have any issues letting music back into my life or anything, just the things I used to listen to it with. That is going to take the longest

@Tchoupitoulas, Thank you so much for the very compassionate and caring response. I am doing fine fine though. Just a little pissed off still but nothing that I can’t handle. If I were to stop with this hobby it would not so much be that it is painful and will be hard to get over when using headphones in the future, but more just my current life situation and money situation will probably be what will hold me back. If I was rich I would have purchased all new stuff today already :laughing:
I really do appreciate your concern about any psychological effects this could have on me though. As devastating as it was I deal pretty well with stuff (I may explain this in another post after this one)
You are correct though that Audeze and Dan Clark Audio are close enough to me where shipping won’t cost a fortune so I will send the Ether 2 in and the LCD-3 in. The LCD-4 is just too far gone though. It dropped 3 stories onto cement or rock and they just looked like they were exploded. I think those would have to be new ones. Hopefully I hear back tomorrow

@prfallon69, thanks man. We have the insurance, they just won’t pay to any of it since it did not occur to a disaster or fire or a theft…stuff like that.

Reached my limit of how many people I can tag so they rest will be done a little later

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Wow horrific, I’m so sorry to hear about this.

As others have mentioned lock your doors… I have an office and it’s a different key from the other doors in my house. Hopefully the individual manufacturers will be accommodating of the situation

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Yeah it is usually a good idea when you have kids, but we don’t have kids snd generally dont have a lot of them over, so we never thought about installing locks on any of the doors we will now though and I won’t even let my girlfriend in :laughing:

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Right, I grew up with… less than stellar family so I learned to protect my things early on.

I also keep a few entry level systems that I enjoy for scenarios like this, as I’ve suffered total losses before! An while it sucks there’s still a lot of amazing music to enjoy and entry level gear/systems have come a LONG way from where they were even 5 years ago

Do you happen to have a back up system you enjoy while your current collection get’s repaird/restored

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Thank you for the condolences. That is what I needed last night so it meant a lot. The second part made me laugh though, ha ha ha. Thats crazy he noticed it too so it must have been good color change.

@ProfFalkin thanks for saying something. “Sorry man” is good enough for me. Yes I will be buying a lock but I don’t even know why at this point everyone is suggesting them, I am not letting kids in my house ever again!

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