38
CPSC NEISS Data 2005–2024

Stereo Or Hi-fi Components Or Accessories

Twenty years of CPSC NEISS emergency-room records for this consumer product category, combined with demographic breakdowns, multi-year injury trends, and matching recall notices.

Home Structures & Construction Materials · CPSC Code 546

Stable over 5 years

The verdict

Stereo Or Hi-fi Components Or Accessories carry a danger score of 38/100 (low risk), driven by roughly 14,037 ER-treated injuries a year that are roughly flat over the last five years.

38/100
danger score (low risk)
14,037
ER visits per year (avg)
1.9%
end in hospital admission
15-24
most-injured age group

Every figure is rendered from the CPSC NEISS record for product code 546 - last data year 2024.

PlainSafety danger score

0/100100/10038/100
PlainSafety danger score

Source: CPSC NEISS danger-score model As of 2024

How this 38/100 score is built

The score is computed from four CPSC-derived factors for stereo or hi-fi components or accessories - no opinion, no editorializing:

  • Injury volume14,037 ER visits/yr
  • Severity (hospitalization rate)1.9%
  • Fatality rate0.00%
  • 5-year trend+5%

See the full methodology for the exact weighting of each factor.

What the CPSC Data Shows

Stereo Or Hi-fi Components Or Accessories (CPSC product code 546, in the Home Structures & Construction Materials category) generate an estimated 14,037 emergency-room visits every year in the United States, adding up to roughly 280,744 ER-treated injuries across the 20-year span from 2005 to 2024. PlainSafety derives a danger score of 38/100 for this category (low risk), combining raw injury volume, demographic reach, severity of outcome, and multi-year trend. The five-year trajectory shows that injury counts are roughly flat over the last five years, with the busiest year on record being 2024 (17,623 estimated ER visits) and the quietest 2007 (10,709 estimated visits).

The single most common ER diagnosis for stereo or hi-fi components or accessories is foreign body to the ear, accounting for approximately 66,763 visits across the 20-year NEISS window, followed by laceration to the face (27,700 cases). The 15-24 age group absorbs the largest share of injuries, about 55,846 cases over the NEISS window, and males appear slightly more often than the opposite sex in that cohort. Severity outcomes from the NEISS disposition field show that 1.9% of ER visits involving this product end in hospital admission or transfer.

Beyond the hospital-sampled NEISS projections, this page also aggregates 241 consumer incident reports filed directly on SaferProducts.gov, plus 20 anonymized ER narratives - together forming a layered picture of how stereo or hi-fi components or accessories fail in real households. Every figure on this page comes from CPSC-published data: NEISS projects national estimates from a probability sample of about 100 U.S. hospital emergency departments, while SaferProducts.gov collects voluntary reports from consumers, manufacturers, and clinicians. The danger score, trend indicators, and demographic breakdowns update automatically when CPSC releases a new yearly NEISS file, which is why this page is dated 2024-12-31. For regulatory context, consult CPSC recall notices and the SaferProducts.gov public database linked below.

14,037
Injuries / Year
1.9%
Hospitalization Rate
0.00%
Fatality Rate

Annual Injury Estimates (2005–2024)

10K12K14K16K18K 20052008201120142017202020232024 18K
Estimated annual emergency-room visits for Stereo Or Hi-fi Components Or Accessories, CPSC NEISS

Source: CPSC NEISS national injury estimates As of 2024

Source: CPSC NEISS national estimates CPSC NEISS national estimates Injuries represent ER-treated cases only

Who Gets Injured?

Age Group Male Female Total
0-4 29,834 15,613 45,447
5-14 21,917 15,091 37,015
15-24 37,846 17,992 55,846
25-34 29,268 15,174 44,493
35-44 22,523 12,442 34,965
45-54 17,106 11,659 28,765
55-64 12,674 7,033 19,707
65-74 5,284 3,263 8,547
75+ 3,489 2,467 5,956

Most Common Injuries

Body Part Diagnosis Est. Injuries
Ear Foreign Body 66,763
Face Laceration 27,700
Head Internal Injury 17,701
Head Laceration 17,261
Ear Other 15,875
Foot Contusions, Abr. 10,657
Finger Laceration 6,846
Lower Trunk Strain, Sprain 5,604
Toe Fracture 5,576
Head Contusions, Abr. 5,067
Face Contusions, Abr. 4,131
Toe Contusions, Abr. 3,881
Internal Ingestion 3,573
Lower Trunk Other 3,509
Upper Trunk Contusions, Abr. 3,273

Severity Breakdown

Treated/examined And Released 95.8% (268,894)
Left Without Being Seen 2.1% (5,867)
Treated And Admitted/hospitalized 1.7% (4,784)
Treated And Transferred 0.2% (687)
Held For Observation 0.2% (539)

ER Visit Narratives

Real anonymized emergency room reports from the CPSC NEISS database.

Age 14 · Male · Ear · Foreign Body · 2024

14YOM PRESENTS WITH POSSIBLE FOREIGN BODY IN LEFT EAR. PATIENT HAD AN EARBUD IN HIS EAR THIS MORNING, REMOVED THE EARBUD AND NOTICED THE SQUISHY PART WAS STILL IN HIS LEFT EAR. DX: FOREIGN BODY, LEFT EAR.

Age 4 · Male · Face · Laceration · 2024

4YOM PRESENTS WITH A LACERATION TO HIS LEFT FOREHEAD AFTER HE HIT HIS HEAD ON A SPEAKER DX: FOREHEAD LACERATION

Age 19 · Male · Ear · Foreign Body · 2024

19YOM PATIENT STATES THAT HE HAS AN EARBUD STUCK IN HIS RIGHT EAR DX: FOREIGN BODY OF RIGHT EAR

Age 71 · Male · Ear · Foreign Body · 2024

71 YOM PRESENTS WITH EAR PAIN NOTED TO HAVE A BLACK EARBUD COVER STUCK IN HIS LEFT EAR. DX: FOREIGN BODY LEFT EAR, OTITIS EXTERNA

Age 27 · Female · Ear · Other · 2024

27YOF WITH EAR PAIN AFTER LISTENING TO MUSIC THROUGH HER ***AND INCREASED THE VOLUME AND FELT PAIN IN EAR DX: OTALGIA OF LEFT EAR

Age 63 · Male · Not Stated/unk · Contusions, Abr. · 2024

63 YOM GOT UP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT, TRIPPED AND FELL INTO A SPEAKER LANDING ON HIS RIGHT SIDE. +RIB PAIN. DX: MUSCLE CONTUSION, ECCHYMOSIS

Age 17 · Male · Hand · Fracture · 2024

17 YOM WEARS EAR BUDS AND C/O CLOGGED FEELING IN HIS EARS, THEN WOKE UP WITH DIZZINESS THIS MORNING, BECAME FRUSTRATED AND PUNCHED A TREE WITH RIGHT HAND. DX: RIGHT HAND FRACTURE, 4TH METACARPAL, CERUMEN IMPACTION

Age 30 · Male · Foot · Other · 2024

30YOM TO ER FOR RIGHT FOOT & ANKLE PAIN AFTER HE KICKED AN AMPLIFIER, PT NOW WALKING W/ CANE , PT HX BIPOLAR & RACING THOUGHTS DX RIGHT FOOT PAIN, MANIA, BIPOLAR 1, BOARDERLINE PERSONALITY DO

Age 66 · Female · Head · Laceration · 2024

66YOF TRIPPED AND FELL AND HIT HER HEAD ON A SPEAKER AT HOME. DX: SCALP LAC.

Age 22 · Male · Ear · Foreign Body · 2024

22YOM, CONCERNING FOR TIP OF *** STUCK IN RIGHT EAR SINCE THIS AFTERNOON, DX: FOREIGN BODY SENSATION IN THE RIGHT EAR CANAL

Age 24 · Male · Ear · Other · 2024

24YOM C/O EAR PAIN AFTER WEARING EAR BUDS. DX: OTITIS EXTERNA

Age 44 · Male · Lower Trunk · Strain, Sprain · 2024

44YOM STRAINED BACK WHEN PICKING UP A SPEAKER AT HOME. DX: LUMBAR STR

Consumer Incident Reports

Reports filed by consumers on SaferProducts.gov.

9/9/2021 · Injury, First Aid Received by Non-Medical Professional · SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS AMERICA, INC. (SEA) · United States

I wore the earbuds for an hour and woke up in the middle of the night with puss oozing out of my ears and could barely hear because my ear canal was full of scabs and extremely itchy. I talked to Samsung and they said this is a recurring problem that happens to certain people.

9/7/2024 · Injury, First Aid Received by Non-Medical Professional · Sony Electronics · United States

During use WH-1000XM4s emit a loud, high pitched noise. Much louder than is safe for any headphones. Can result in permanent hearing loss

9/7/2021 · Incident, No Injury · TOZO INC · Pennsylvania

I was wirelessly charging my Tozo T5 Wireless headphones on a wireless charging pad. I have used this pad many times with my phone and had no issues with it. I returned after several hours and smelled burning plastic. I discovered the charging box that the headsets were in had melted to my wireless charger, destroying both of them. They were extremely hot and I was able to remove them from the residence before they caught fire.

9/6/2020 · Incident, No Injury · Harman International Industries, Incroporated · Oregon

JBL Charge 3 speaker caught fire [REDACTED]. It appeared to occur where the charging cable that came with the unit inserts into the back. I was not home, thankfully the unit was not near flammable materials, no damages or injuries. I purchased the unit in late 2017/early 2018. The number is GG0304-BH0110208. The metal portion of the power cord that inserts into the back has always seemed flimsy/easily bendable.

9/30/2011 · Incident, No Injury · Harman International Industries, Incroporated · Washington

Fire in a home theater system powered subwoofer. Fire did not extend to any other object, it went out when power was shut off to speaker. My concern is that if I had not been aware of the problem and shut power off, there was a potential to cause a house fire. I also noticed on the seller's website other consumers have complained of similar failure of this brand and model of amplified subwoofer. After smelling electrical smoke, I turned off the power and removed the power amplifier part of the subwoofer to inspect it. On the back of the circuit board there was obvious deep charring, and a foam strip above the charred area appears to have some burning and charring.

9/29/2013 · Incident, No Injury · Bose Corporation · India

The powered Bose Cinemate Series II speaker was working fine for few months. Just today when turned on, a huge spark erupted at the Bass Module and burt smell started coming out. We turned the power off and inspected the product and the smell was still persistent. Stopped using the product

9/27/2022 · Injury, Seen by Medical Professional · SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS AMERICA, INC. (SEA) · Minnesota

The use of bluetooth enabled ear-buds manufactured by Samsung results in ear irritation, ear infection, hole in the ear drum and partial deafness. I have noticed that using the Galaxy Buds2 Pro Earbuds (FCC IDs: A3LSMR510L, A3LSMR510R) results in serious issues to my ear. As a result of using these improperly manufactured earbuds, I had to visit the urgent care to seek treatment for an ear infection and a hole in my ear drum. Please note, that I have used these earbuds for limited durations - 70% of my usage is less than 60 minutes and only 30% of my usage reaches periods of 90 minutes or so. These ear buds manufactured by Samsung pose a grave danger to the American public and the product must be recalled.

9/27/2019 · Injury, No First Aid or Medical Attention Received · ShenZhen Mobai Technology · Rhode Island

The add on battery that's on the [REDACTED] caught on fire. We could smell something burning at 3am. The [REDACTED] was in my room and plug into the house outlet. We unplugged the [REDACTED] and took it outside and then removed the battery from the bottom of the unit which was by now on fire. We just left it outside to burn because my understanding is that there is no good way to put it out. After it had cooled down we picked up the parts and saved them. One battery case was empty with all the contents laying on the ground. The other battery case still had material inside it but the ends had been displaced. Had we not removed the [REDACTED] or if no one was home at the time I'm sure it would have started a fire in the house.

Showing 8 of 241 reports.

Product Recalls

Search for active and past recalls related to stereo or hi-fi components or accessories on the CPSC website.

Frequently Asked Questions

How dangerous are stereo or hi-fi components or accessories?

Based on 20 years of CPSC data, stereo or hi-fi components or accessories have a danger score of 38/100 (low risk). An estimated 14,037 ER-treated injuries occur annually in the U.S. related to this product category.

What are the most common injuries from stereo or hi-fi components or accessories?

The most common injury is foreign body to the ear, accounting for approximately 66,763 injuries over 20 years.

Are injuries from stereo or hi-fi components or accessories increasing or decreasing?

Stable over 5 years.

Who is most at risk for stereo or hi-fi components or accessories injuries?

The 15-24 age group accounts for the most injuries, with approximately 55,846 cases recorded over 20 years. Males are more frequently injured in this age group.

What happens when someone is injured by stereo or hi-fi components or accessories?

Of all ER visits involving stereo or hi-fi components or accessories, approximately 1.9% result in hospital admission. The majority of patients (98.1%) are treated and released from the emergency department.

How can I report a safety problem with stereo or hi-fi components or accessories?

You can file a consumer incident report at SaferProducts.gov, the official CPSC reporting portal. Reports help the CPSC identify emerging hazards and trigger investigations or recalls. You can also call the CPSC hotline at 1-800-638-2772.

Safety Guides

What this means for you

Treat the 38/100 score as relative risk between products, not your personal odds of injury.

  • See where this category ranks against every other tracked product. Full rankings
  • Injuries cluster in the 15-24 age group, take extra care if that describes your household.
  • Check for active recalls on this product before you assume it is safe. CPSC recalls

NEISS estimates ER-treated injuries from a national probability sample of hospitals; they do not capture injuries treated elsewhere or not treated at all.

Data: CPSC National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) 2005–2024 and SaferProducts.gov consumer incident reports. Injury estimates are based on a nationally representative probability sample of U.S. hospital emergency departments. This page is for informational purposes only and is not affiliated with the CPSC.