Stereo system in the shop?


Brendon_t

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I'm personally a big music fan. The whole house is wired up with a central sound system that can be controlled from a central dock or either of the wife or my IPAD.

Whenever I'm in the shop, I bring my ipad out and crank some Pandora but is just not loud enough, whenever I turn my dc on or even using a ROS, I can't hear it at all. I'm thinking of installing a stand alone sounds system out there with just AM/FM and aux input but I'm slightly worried about the dust and grime factor. Does anybody have a garage sounds system installed or have a recommendation of a good loud system that will stand up to outside temps and grime?

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I have an old receiver and a decent pair of speakers.  RCA jack and either ipod or Pandora most of the time.  It rocks for a garage stereo.  I've had it out here for years and dust hasn't been a factor...if it dies one day I don't really care...I'll just slap another old receiver on the shelf until I kill that one, too.

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I've got a setup in the shop... I did go with outdoor patio speakers -- figure if rain and snow can't kill them, than a little dust should be AOK. Like Eric, I'm assuming the electronics will just die someday -- kind of hoping the receiver dies soon, then I can get a blue tooth enabled unit to drive my headphones... :)

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I have a junk store cd changer, am/fm stereo in the basement shop, I carry a Dewalt job site radio around with me for when I can use it. I also have a little round rechargeable speaker that puts out huge sound, its called Jam touch wireless speaker, I've never tried to sync 2 at a time, @ 28 bucks, thats a thought.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Wireless-Portable-Speaker-Charcoal-HX-P550BK/dp/B00JUOG2YU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1427673942&sr=8-1&keywords=jam+touch+wireless+speaker

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Just got it hooked up the other day.  An old Technics receiver with a couple of equally old Advent speakers, with  a moderately old IPod as the source.  Inside of a cheesy "entertainment" center, with the requisite smoked glass, and all is good with the world.

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I used to like talk radio, but I don't even have a radio anymore in the shop. More and more I've grown to be a TV person, so I have a TV mounted on the wall. Even if I only glance up at the screen I can hear what's going on. My latest favorite to watch is Me-Tv which is now running Star Trek followed by Emergency-51 in the afternoons.... it works out well because two hours is about all I can manage in the shop at a time.

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Just got it hooked up the other day. An old Technics receiver with a couple of equally old Advent speakers, with a moderately old IPod as the source. Inside of a cheesy "entertainment" center, with the requisite smoked glass, and all is good with the world.

Dude is there a Nintendo in the bottom drawer because I swear I had that same set up in my first house, tuner and all, I sold the 48" speakers separate, that is why the set don't match. LOL

For the record that was 1988

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Six speakers, receiver w/cable (great music channels), radio, iTunes.  I wish there was a way to use Bluetooth noise canceling headphones to listen while dust collector is on... any ideas? I ran speaker wire while building my shop.  Had a big surprise when building inspector said I needed an additional  "low voltage" permit ($35).  It was worth it though.

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Old Sony receiver and CD player , 4 old speakers, occasionally hook the iPad up to it. If the damn thing would die I could get a new one for the house and demote that one to the shop. Rarely crank it up very loud unless it's late or on the weekend due to warehouse neighboring businesses.

Haven't blown the dust out of it in years and it still is on low most days just as background when the machines aren't running.

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I have a cheap 55 inch LCD TV that is full HD. I have a 3.5mm stereo jack that runs from the TV to a 2 port switch box. From there I can select the Aletec Lansing speakers with sub woofer that I have had for 12 years, or I switch to the FM broadcaster that runs out to an Ariel on my roof. I have a pair of digital earmuffs that work beautifully that lets me listen to whatever is playing.... even if I am 100 yards away (large block of land) or in the shop. The TV has 3 hdmi in ports, a USB port and of course, free to air TV. I can watch music videos, listen to MP3's, livestream events, Pandora.... and as soon as I turn machines on and throw the muffs on, I hit the little switch box and don't skip a beat. I love it because there are no cables, it has a much larger range than Bluetooth, the external noise is dulled and when the muffs come off, I just hit the switch again and the shop is filled with the Aletec Lansing speakers again. I spent a lot of time asking forum members about their setups and advise,.... and this was the result that worked for me.

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I have a cheap 55 inch LCD TV that is full HD. I have a 3.5mm stereo jack that runs from the TV to a 2 port switch box. From there I can select the Aletec Lansing speakers with sub woofer that I have had for 12 years, or I switch to the FM broadcaster that runs out to an Ariel on my roof. I have a pair of digital earmuffs that work beautifully that lets me listen to whatever is playing.... .

Hey Dave, which FM transmitter do you use? I've been thinking about using this exact solution since I cannot find any Bluetooth enabled ear muffs... And I already have the 3m muffs with the AM/FM receiver. I know I can use a cord between the muffs and my iPhone, but that's a little clunky for me. I just didn't know if one of the super cheap transmitters would work well enough or if I need to spring for something a little more high end.
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I have a set of computer speakers with a powered sub to which I hook up either my laptop or ipod.  The speakers are around the miter saw and I had them get to the point where they were completely stuffed with sawdust behind the grill but it doesn't hurt them.  I don't want to know what is going on inside the sub.  Hearing protection with built in speakers and a jack for the ipod are a must.

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I also use the 3M WorkTunes... They are great, but they don't get very loud, so I usually have them turned up to 11.

 

They are plenty loud enough to be heard over whatever machines are running. I've taken to using them outside the shop as well (snow blowing, power washing, filtering out my wife's comments about my tool habit...)

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Hey Dave, which FM transmitter do you use? I've been thinking about using this exact solution since I cannot find any Bluetooth enabled ear muffs... And I already have the 3m muffs with the AM/FM receiver. I know I can use a cord between the muffs and my iPhone, but that's a little clunky for me. I just didn't know if one of the super cheap transmitters would work well enough or if I need to spring for something a little more high end.

I will have a look when I get back in the shop. It is a Chinese unit that came as a set. Antenna, cable and small box with a couple of dials.
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I bought a new system especially for the shop when I had it rebuilt from ground up a few years back. The system is hifi separates with 100 watts RMS per channel into some hefty speakers. I think they are 10" diameter with the usual tweeters and mid range drivers. Believe me that is plenty loud enough even when all the dust collector and loud machinery is running. It has regular audio connections in (phono RCA sockets) and bluetooth using an adapter. So iPad, iPod, PC, CD, TV (not that I have a TV in the shop - yet...) etc can all be put thru it.

I built a cabinet for it, hung from the ceiling, with an acrylic window in the front door for the remote control and it has filters on the ventilation slots to keep the dust out. It doesn't get hot at all in operation.

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