Question Can Hard Drives receive damage from a bookshelf speaker? (Vibration or Magnetic)

[WhatIsAMobo]

I recently bought a pair of powered speakers: the Klipsch R 41PM, still havent received them yet. (link to the speakers: https://www.klipsch.com/products/r-41pm-powered-speakers)

And as I was thinking to myself, I started to wonder if the vibrations caused by the bass or vibrations caused by the loud music could damage any of my hard drives.
Another concern was the magnetic field of the speakers. I couldnt find if the Klipsch R 41PM were magnetically shielded.

The hard drives we are talking about are inside my computer case. 2 in a rack, supported by the computer case. 1 is on a rack I found on an old computer, yet I used it to keep one HDD stable inside the case.
There is another hard drive (this one External) that should be on a "riser" wooden thing so I m able to connect it without straining the cable to the USB ports. It would be behind the PC.

I drew a diagram of how my desktop looks like. The dark orange things are supposed to be the speakers, and according to the measurements I estimate they should be at least 20 cms away from the computer case. The blue rectangles are both the 2 drives in a rack inside my PC and the 1 external HDD thats sitting on the wooden riser, and the green rectangle is the HDD thats just resting inside the case, yet it has its own metal rack.

@USAFRet Sorry for tagging you. In the past you have helped me a lot with these storage issues, and I d appreciate your input on this. Thanks in advance.

https://imgur.com/dZUuSX0

View: https://imgur.com/dZUuSX0


Any thoughts?

 

[Moonstick2]

The magnets aren't going to be a problem. If the speakers were strong enough magnetically to affect an HDD at that distance they'd have to put warnings on them against anybody with a pacemaker picking up a speaker to move it.

The vibration...if you put something loose and light (like a small spoon or a tray of little bearings or similar) where the HDD would be and/or on top of the PC case and the bass thump is enough to make it rattle...then maybe it would be bad for a mechanical drive. High volume higher frequency is unlikely to be any problem at all, just very low frequency bass thump.

It'll be very hard for anybody to answer definitively on the vibration because it depends on lots of factors relating to your desk and so on. You can try resting your hand on the PC and see if the thumping can be felt through the case.

You could probably buy some thick vibration-insulating matting to sit beneath the PC.

 

[punkncat]

If you look, I am pretty sure Klipsch shields their speakers anyway.

My home audio system is based in the older versions of these reference speakers. I have 5's in the front, 4's in the back and center channel. The left side has the front speaker sitting atop the 12" powered sub. I had my HTPC sitting within a couple of inches of the sub for years. Had my media server built up with 5 HDD inside in that spot for a long long time and the vibrations and magnetic field never caused any issue.

 

[WhatIsAMobo]

The magnets aren't going to be a problem. If the speakers were strong enough magnetically to affect an HDD at that distance they'd have to put warnings on them against anybody with a pacemaker picking up a speaker to move it.

The vibration...if you put something loose and light (like a small spoon or a tray of little bearings or similar) where the HDD would be and/or on top of the PC case and the bass thump is enough to make it rattle...then maybe it would be bad for a mechanical drive. High volume higher frequency is unlikely to be any problem at all, just very low frequency bass thump.

It'll be very hard for anybody to answer definitively on the vibration because it depends on lots of factors relating to your desk and so on. You can try resting your hand on the PC and see if the thumping can be felt through the case.

You could probably buy some thick vibration-insulating matting to sit beneath the PC.

I ll try the spoon method. I was thinking of buying foam pads for the speakers, as well as for the wooden riser I ve got for the external hard drives I connect to my PC from behind.
The desk is a custom job. Made out of Melamine. 2 planks on each side, 2 on top (for more thickness). And 1 plank to support the structure in the middle, alongside a second one that holds the desk from the rear part.

Good to know the magnets arent a huge issue. The case on my PC is also rather robust. Its an MSI Gungnir 110m. Whatever metal it is, its very resistant imo. Hopefully that can help to withstand the vibrations.

 

[WhatIsAMobo]

If you look, I am pretty sure Klipsch shields their speakers anyway.

My home audio system is based in the older versions of these reference speakers. I have 5's in the front, 4's in the back and center channel. The left side has the front speaker sitting atop the 12" powered sub. I had my HTPC sitting within a couple of inches of the sub for years. Had my media server built up with 5 HDD inside in that spot for a long long time and the vibrations and magnetic field never caused any issue.

Wow! Thats a relief to hear. I ll still get some foam and pads just in case, but just a couple of inches you said? Well that makes me feel much more calm that I know someone experiences more acoustic stress. I heard Subwoofers have stronger magnets.

 

[punkncat]

I would be interested in hearing a review about these powered monitors when you get them in. I have looked at them as they were on quite an attractive sale not long ago. Been thinking about using them for my PC.

Yes. I had a Lian Li case that was piano black and had a HDD 'stack' inside. IIRC it was the Q series, but anyway it looked nice alongside the rest of the furniture and the placement had to be right beside the sub. Later on, after retiring that rig I placed a gaming system there that the side panel was open to the right (from the front). Significant other wasn't terribly pleased with that arrangement, but it still sat there for a few months before she rather suggested it HAD to go...so I got a Silverstone Grandia and actually put the PC inside the entertainment center.

Never had any issues I could attribute to the vibrations or magnetism. Heat, well...

 

[WhatIsAMobo]

I would be interested in hearing a review about these powered monitors when you get them in. I have looked at them as they were on quite an attractive sale not long ago. Been thinking about using them for my PC.

Yes. I had a Lian Li case that was piano black and had a HDD 'stack' inside. IIRC it was the Q series, but anyway it looked nice alongside the rest of the furniture and the placement had to be right beside the sub. Later on, after retiring that rig I placed a gaming system there that the side panel was open to the right (from the front). Significant other wasn't terribly pleased with that arrangement, but it still sat there for a few months before she rather suggested it HAD to go...so I got a Silverstone Grandia and actually put the PC inside the entertainment center.

Never had any issues I could attribute to the vibrations or magnetism. Heat, well...

I ll try to tell you as many details as I can get from these speakers.
Only thing I know is that the ones I ll be receiving have most if not all the necessary connections to connect the speakers together, plus several others to connect to your PC or different music players. Thats what sold it to me.

 

[fzabkar]

Pads under the speakers might offer some peace of mind, but any effect due to magnetism would be completely imaginary. The HDD has its own internal neodymium voice coil magnets which would be far more likely to affect the data, but of course they are harmless.

If you are concerned about any possible effects of acoustic vibration, just monitor the HDD's Seek Error Rate attribute in SMART. This will flag any servo errors.

 

[WhatIsAMobo]

Pads under the speakers might offer some peace of mind, but any effect due to magnetism would be completely imaginary. The HDD has its own internal neodymium voice coil magnets which would be far more likely to affect the data, but of course they are harmless.

If you are concerned about any possible effects of acoustic vibration, just monitor the HDD's Seek Error Rate attribute in SMART. This will flag any servo errors.

I appreciate so far your and everybody's response. I feel so much relieved now. Gotta get some foam/pads now.