Garage Stereo Systems

[Luckydevil]

What do you guys have for your tunes in the garage? I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to use so any feedback would be great also.

 

[braddman]

What do you guys have for your tunes in the garage? I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to use so any feedback would be great also.

I'd do a nice satellite sub system and build the subwoofer into something like a work table.

 

[byrdman]

I bought a receiver on eBay that will be hooked to 2 speakers mounted 10' off the floor and 28' feet apart. I've got an old PC with a big hard drive, I plan to run a wire from the sound card to my receiver. MP3 jukebox baby!

 

[killer305]

I'd do a nice satellite sub system and build the subwoofer into something like a work table.

Subwoofer, um ill skip on that , hows the tools and bolts hopping off the bench

 

[...dave]

i've got a Netgear MP101 wireless MP3 receiver hooked into a 600-watt Onkyo 5.1 surround system. Speakers at the 4 corners of the garage, subwoofer under the bench (it's an old computer desk, so there's some wasted space in the back). Next step is to set up the speakers at the front of the garage on brackets so that i can swing them out to face out into the driveway when i'm out there, but i've been too busy messing with the cars to get around to that.

The MP101 has access to the 3000+ MP3 tracks on my PC... i set up some playlists of 1-3 hours each on various themes, so i'm not constantly messing with it. The only trick is not losing or spilling something caustic on the remote.

It freakin' rawks, d00d!

...dave

 

[JohnLZ7W]

The previous occupants of my house left me with a Bose satellite system which I quickly relocated to the garage They're really too small for that amount of space tho and I think I'm going to add a second smaller sub to fill in. I've got a portable MP3 player hooked up to a cheapy Yamaha receiver. Eventually I'll have a wireless LAN setup in the house and then I'll be able to stream MP3s to either the house, deck or the garage.

 

[erok01]

Nice setup ...dave ! That does rock.

I plan on upgrading my home theater receiver shortly and the current one is going under the TV in the corner..

I then want some average in ceiling 6" speakers, a total of 4.

 

[tofer76]

i got a old aiwa shelf unit that all but the tuner has shot craps and its in one corner with a 5 disc cd changer 4 aiwa speakers are verrryyy loud and clear no sub but my new garage will have one i like the speakers so much that they will get re used in the new shop

 

[JohnHenrys48]

Hey erok01, I really like the way you made efficient use of you peg board by hanging your sockets. I think I'm going to borrow that idea...thanks.

 

[danski0224]

What do you guys have for your tunes in the garage? I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to use so any feedback would be great also.

I have an old Sansui 771 receiver connected to an MCS (Jc Penney) digital tuner.

For speakers I have a set of bookshelf size self powered Sony's with square drivers. They will use 120v or 12v DC and take an aux input.... or act like regular speakers.

Old stuff, but it works.

I used to have an old HK tube amp that I used, but I sold that (didn't have the chassis cover).

 

[sca037]

I've got a JVC combination CD/DVD/Receiver hanging under my arm-mounted TV, that is currently just hooked up to a pair of EPI 70 mains up high against the back wall and a AR sub on a shelf down next to my toolbox. Eventually, I might add center and surround speakers......but it does kick out the jams as is

Brian
(I've been a hifi 'junkie' for a long time, so here's a link to my home setup:
http://www.integracoustics.com/MUG/MUG/pix/BrianBennett/ )

 

[Wizard600RR]

You can see my setup on the top 2 shelves.

 

[AJ5Liter]

What do you guys have for your tunes in the garage? I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to use so any feedback would be great also.

I have the most awesome stereo system for my garage. It has car audio components and it bumps loud. It's called a PJimmy System. I bought it from this web site http://pjimmyaudio.weebly.com
It has TV, DVD, IPOD dock, playstation....everything. I also roll it into the back yard to watch games and fights with my bros while I barbecue. Check it out. Here's a tip........tell them that your friend refered you and give them his name and number and they will send him 100 bucks.

 

[jettago]

I have the most awesome stereo system for my garage. .....tell them that your friend refered you and give them his name and number and they will send him 100 bucks.

For costing anywhere from $2000-5000 it better be awesome!

 

[autoist]

Pumping music through a set of professional Bose speakers (not those tiny ones on top of the equalizer):

Look high on the corners of this wall & you'll see the Bose' on their little shelves:

 

[jettago]

Pumping music through a set of professional Bose speakers (not those tiny ones on top of the equalizer):

Is that a reel to reel up there?

 

[autoist]

Yep - good for a whole day of mellow tunes!

 

[senlow]

NAD CD player and an older Nakamichi Stasis receiver driving pair of JBL L100 speakers. It's not serious audio equipment, but it's a great garage system.

 

[JebNY]

I pickup cheap old tuner/amps at garage sales and throw them on a high shelf above the entrance door (makes it easy to turn on and off as I come and go. When it dies I pitch it and buy another, usually $5-20 range. Currently it is an old Sansui. I have a large pair of old speakers screwed to the wall up high that I have had for years. Not as good a sound as den but plenty good enough for the shop and not much invested. I think I'm on my 3 or 4th system in 35+ years and haven't spent $100 yet.

Jeb...

 

[kbs2244]

Boy:
Am I with Jeb on this.
It is a shop, not a studio.
Garage sale stuff (I am up to the cassette technology now) and 2 curbside speakers in the upper corners of place.
The dorm style players are so cheap and good enough for the job it just doesn’t make sense to spend money on stuff that is drowned out half the time with tool noise.

 

[cobymedic]

I put this together in an hour or two, has the stock 6-disc stereo out of my F150, couple rockford fosegate component speakers, Sirius radio, and aux jack. Plus some white leds in the speakers just because I had them.

 

[G-force]

I have a 1200 watt six zone Adcom system running out of my garage.

 

[justinmc]

A friend of mine was over helping me mess around in the garage a few weeks ago... as we're working on some stuff in relative silence she goes "Man turn on some tunes". Ummm I don't have any. She about smacked me.. "YOU DON'T HAVE A STEREO OUT HERE? The guy with 2000+ cd's, 500+ records, used to have a radio show.. photographs concerts and takes music with him everywhere doesn't have at least a radio in the garage??" Sigh... nope. I guess I never wanted to put anything out there. I'd hate to put a classic Marantz, Nak, etc out there only to have it get soaked in dust, maybe a lil grease, etc, etc.

So I got to looking around and I have this old Aiwa shelf system I got like 15 years ago. Works well.. smallish.. has aux inputs. I'll be installing it somewhere in the garage shortly. I don't know if I want to plug my ipod into it or build a cheap garage computer so I can put things like fsm's, etc on there as well. Main problem is my garage is only heated when I'm out there. Might nix that idea for the winter at least.

 

[sbarton]

Here's my setup:


Media Center PC with 22" HDTV/Moniter


160w dual 8" Sub


60w Speakers in each corner





It's basically a 400Watt Klipsch ProMedia 4.1 Audio System hooked up to a eMachines T5246 Media Center PC with a Vizio VO22L 22" 720p HDTV/Moniter.

I mostly just listen to Pandora, but I do have cable out there so I can watch cable TV if I want to. It's also connected to my Home Media Center PC which acts as a DVR, so I can easily watch any TV, movies, video, audio/MP3's, or pictures I have stored on any of my machines in the house.

The computer is also great for researching/downloading DIY How To articles and be able to see pics of what I need to do when working on the cars.

I already had the speakers, and I bought the computer and moniter refurbiushed. Total cost was around $500.

-Scott

 

[motox88]

Brian
(I've been a hifi 'junkie' for a long time, so here's a link to my home setup:
http://www.integracoustics.com/MUG/MUG/pix/BrianBennett/ )

You need a new TV!

 

[G1K]

You need a new TV!

Maybe he has one now, that post was made 2-8-2005, almost 4 years ago.


R

 

[kartracer55]

A buddy of mine has 2 "American DJ" speakers in his shop, got the pair, and an "american DJ" amp with cables for 500$ from some guy who was giving up DJ'ing. The small speaker,amp/tuner/cd player packages common to dorm rooms and smaller shops just doesn't cut it in a gymnasium sized shop, ya know?

 

[akdiesel]

I wanted somthing simple and I don't need to rock out in the shop, just to have somthing to listen too. So I went with a Sony car head unit that I made a corner box in the work out room of the shop with a couple of 6x9 in the upper wall of the room and a couple of Radio Shack speakers in the shop are above the the doors.

 

[Lookin4'67Galaxieconv]

I pickup cheap old tuner/amps at garage sales and throw them on a high shelf above the entrance door (makes it easy to turn on and off as I come and go. When it dies I pitch it and buy another, usually $5-20 range. Currently it is an old Sansui. I have a large pair of old speakers screwed to the wall up high that I have had for years. Not as good a sound as den but plenty good enough for the shop and not much invested. I think I'm on my 3 or 4th system in 35+ years and haven't spent $100 yet.

Jeb...

Mine is in this ballpark. Bought a pair of speakers several years ago for about $5 at the goodwill store...work great and plenty loud enough. Have an older Sony 5 disc cd player, tape player and receiver...cost about $50 for everything and is more than adequate for my 32 X 24 garage.

 

[burger]

My stereo is in the same league as Jeb, kbs2244, and the Galaxie guy who wonders what my escape plan is.

Put simply, it's nothing fancy.

Back in 1998 when I was a college freshman, I purchased a cheap Sony all-in-one unit. Following dorm life, the stereo got tucked into my parent's attic and then my basement. Most recently, it has been reincarnated as my garage stereo.

But.... let's say I didn't have this stereo laying around. I'd find the cheapest thing with speakers and rock it. My garage is more of a workshop than a "man lounge", so anything nice would just get ruined by grinder sparks and bondo dust in about seven minutes. Besides, who can hear the stereo anyway with earplugs in and a grinder singing?

Here's one thing that I did that's really nice: I pulled speaker wires to each corner of the garage prior to drywall... Really cleans the mess up and keeps the speakers out of the line of fire.



Ed

 

[vlpronj]

Up til now, I've been using whatever not-quite-ready-for-the-trash-heap CD boombox or clock radio I had on hand, replacing it with another from the "stockpile" when it finally dies or something heavy falls on it.

However, I just got a 30Gb refurb'd Zune, essentially for free (woot.com bag o' junk - an occasional special "grab bag" sale), and I've got lots of AC-powered PC speakers. I figure I'll just seal the Zune on it's dock in a Ziploc, duct tape the Ziploc seal so it's still good with the power and audio wires coming out, and put it all inside a small box to protect it from impacts (a shoebox would be more than enough room). I'll set it on shuffle, and let it play - if I want to , I can open the box and use the controls through the Ziploc. I don't care for the Zune, so it'll be as useful as it can be for me. I think it can play FM radio, too.

I'll set up a pair or two of PC speakers, and turn 'em on as needed. They'll be abused a bit, but I've got plenty of those. I don';t have the room a lot of people here do to need full-size speakers.

Eventually, I can see building a box to hold my older spare car audio compnents, and having it as a cart.

 

[bomber]

I connect the iPod to a set of computer speakers and set the lil thing on shuffle . . . . works great!

 

[nightrain00]

I use a shelf system one of the guys at work was throwing out because the speakers were blown. Hooked up a set of computer speakers I had lying around FM tape deck three CD and if i,m in the mood I hook up the satelite radio from my truck. works perfect for me.

 

[AJ5Liter]

For costing anywhere from $2000-5000 it better be awesome!

I guess it depends on what your looking for. I prefere a little better quality and versatility. I have machinery all over my garage. I can roll my system anywhere in or out of the garage to keep it out of my way. To you guys who think their bench grinders are too loud to hear your music, you guys need to upgrade to something a little better than that garage sale stuff. It really doesn't take too much to overpower a bench grinder. I spend a lot of time out in my garage and want to hear my music and enjoy it.

 

[NotEnough]

Probably a stupid question, but how do you power the car stereo systems? I've got an inverter to go from 12v to 110v, but how do you go the other way? I've got an old Alpine stereo, Fosgate amp and MB Quarter speakers just rotting away in the closet.

 

[Adrian1281]

Probably a stupid question, but how do you power the car stereo systems? I've got an inverter to go from 12v to 110v, but how do you go the other way? I've got an old Alpine stereo, Fosgate amp and MB Quarter speakers just rotting away in the closet.

A cheap way of doing it is to use a computer power supply. One of the rails on them is +12vdc. You can Google for this type of information, very easy to do.

 

[chrisrozz]

i put my computer in here and hooked it through a shelf system. I like it cause I can run Itunes and sulf the journal

 

[akdiesel]

Probably a stupid question, but how do you power the car stereo systems? I've got an inverter to go from 12v to 110v, but how do you go the other way? I've got an old Alpine stereo, Fosgate amp and MB Quarter speakers just rotting away in the closet.

I picked up an inverter from an electronic store locally. It connects the black (-) and the red (+) simply to the back and just plug it into the wall outlet for power.
I think it was about $80 but you can get them cheaper for less power needs.

 

[D KRAGER]

Probably a stupid question, but how do you power the car stereo systems? I've got an inverter to go from 12v to 110v, but how do you go the other way? I've got an old Alpine stereo, Fosgate amp and MB Quarter speakers just rotting away in the closet.

I used to just use a marine battery with the battery charger hooked up to it on low charge while I was using it. Worked good for me.

Just DON'T hook the battery charger straight to the radio without a battery.

 

[D KRAGER]

A cheap way of doing it is to use a computer power supply. One of the rails on them is +12vdc. You can Google for this type of information, very easy to do.

I thought about doing this, but do you get the full wattage out of the powersupply? Or would you only get about a third of the power? Because it generates three different voltages I think.

I'm sure it would work fine for a car stereo, but I would be hesitant to use it on an amp.