Can an amp ruin nearby electronic equipment? i.e. mp3 player?

Question

The guitar amp i put beside my couch... i use it as a table too... but do amps have any electronic signals or magnets that can screw up things i might put on it? I dont want to make any mistakes... i think i might have messed up something already, im not entirely sure...

Im just checking here, because im zeroing in on a whole different problem..

Answer 1

Amps are speakers, and speakers (especially large ones) have magnets that are used to transfer the electrical signals into motion (the electrical signal goes through a coil that pulls on the magnet, causing motion which pushes the speaker cone, creating soundwaves in the air in front of it). Setting unshielded speakers next to a standard TV screen (LCDs and Plasmas are not affected, but Cathode Ray Tubes are) will cause discoloration next to the speaker because the magnet will screw with the magnetic aiming system for the electron gun (a friend of mine had a TV with color blotches in two of the corners because he'd set one minispeaker on the top corner and another next to the TV on the other side). Now, a decent portable digital music player will be electrically shielded, so it be affected by any nearby household-strength electrical signals, but electrical shielding is designed to shield against electrical signals, not magnetic fields. Occassionally setting your player or cel phone down on it briefly probably won't have any noticable effect, but I'd advise against using your amp as your primary storage location for your phone or player when they're not in use.