SHOP RADIOS, what are you using?

[nafterclifen]

The real question is for those of you listening to FM (over the air) stations and you have fluorescent lighting- how do you do it?

 

[619DioFan]

I have an old school boom box that has a cd player and a cassette player ( yes , I do have cassettes ) I never listen to the radio because they never play DIO. I just listen to cd's.

 

[Empty Pockets]

I use a DeWalt charger/radio. It serves the purpose

 

[Banjorear]

I got a Sony blaster boom box that sound great and is loud enough the family tells me to turn it down when I'm rockin' out. Aux in and a 160 gig Ipod classic, I've got all the music it need. Bonus is I can take it out in the yard when I'm working on landscaping projects and such.

 

[senlow]

I'm kind of old school. I'm currently using a Nakamichi Stasis receiver driving a pair of JBL L100 speakers.

 

[DFB]

That's really where I'm standing now. Do I spend the $200 for the Milwaukee M18 charger radio, or do I buy an alternate bluetooth radio from best buy for the hell of it.

As for the other comments, I've got a bunch of old stereo equipment. But none bluetooth.

Just settling back in from long workday here but to answer your early query I have found my preference for removable rechargeable batteries like the power tools use as I'm on the go all the time with my tools.

I use a few different BT speakers and its a let down when some of those built in rechargeable batteries run out (of course if your hooked up VAC its most all a moot point.)

A few years back woodworkers journal did a review on most of the available power tool manufactures options for radio and /or BT speaker. There is world of difference in some of them for sure.

I always found it interesting

For a non power tool BT speaker over in the Milwaukee thread a while ago some felt the UE Boom was good one though I have no experience with it personally

If you are never going to leave the garage with it or stray away from AC power there are a lot of options.

Some BT speakers also have a built in FM. The little Sunex Socket speaker I have is one of them. Its a novel idea and just personal speaker but the magnetic base is really great. Pretty rugged too I accidently knocked it off my roll away. It hit a floor jack, bounced off that then hit the concrete floor and went rolling under the lower cabinet. Was none the worse for wear and that really surprised me...I thought for sure is was a goner. Battery life on that is just so so but it still can be used while charging via USB. Not all of them can.

Cheap dongles work pretty good I have two the one for my laptop is USB powered and the one with for the older Milwaukee radio has rechargeable battery its good for up to about 12hrs at time if remember right. Haven't used it a while now though with all the other speakers I have acquired in my travels

I have had component stereo systems for a good part of my life over the years and always enjoyed them but its funny with todays sound options I couldn't even give that stuff away when I decided to make some lifestyle changes a while back go figure

 

[dwasifar]

In the garage, I have a Roku connected to a stereo receiver and ceiling-mounted speakers. It streams music from my collection on a server in the basement.

 

[GRX]

The real question is for those of you listening to FM (over the air) stations and you have fluorescent lighting- how do you do it?

Properly grounded class B (consumer level) ballasts.

 

[Sawdustmaker]

I am really low tech and behind the times. I have an old Sony AM/FM/Cassette box. Listen to FM for music and baseball on the AM. The cassette player doesn't work. Have no trouble with FM and the flourescent lights.

 

[Falcon67]

The real question is for those of you listening to FM (over the air) stations and you have fluorescent lighting- how do you do it?

Never noted any problems. And the "antenna" is just some 300 ohm nailed to the wall.

 

[DGersic]

The real question is for those of you listening to FM (over the air) stations and you have fluorescent lighting- how do you do it?

I switched all my fixtures to LED. Prior to that, I don't recall any problems, but there's only one station I listen to, and their transmitter is only a couple of miles away.



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[RVDan]

I have one of these in each building

 

[James-W]

I have a boom box that I listen to PBS with. The thing is, when I am using the table saw or the planer and the dust collector is running, I use hearing protection earmuffs so I can't hear the radio anyway.

 

[Kevkx125]

Early 2000's K-MART Boom box with cd player

 

[poppinjohnnies]

Milwaukee radio with bluetooth. It charges my drill batteries and is equipped with a bottle opener, too. I used to use an old console stereo with a record player & 8 track. I finally parted with it when I went "clean-up crazy" a few years ago. 3 months later, the shop was trashed again...

 

[buildyourown]

I just snagged a Marantz home theater receiver from the thrift shop. Its amazing how cheap they are when they arent HD and have no HDMI. An old laptop from the same thrift shop provides streaming and Internet. Again, laptops with broken screens can be found CHEAP and they are easy to fix.

I did pay $200 for a fancy router so I can get strong wifi all the way in my shop

 

[sctattooer]

I picked up a 100 watt PA system off Craigslist for 50 bucks. Connect my phone and use Pandora or my phone playlist, and I'm also known to plug the guitars into it from time to time.

 

[Unruh]

I went to Goodwill and picked up a pretty good Yamaha Receiver and speakers. Sounds great and was $15 on half price green ticket day!!!

 

[rockettgpw]

I am running a vintage Pioneer SX 400 receiver with its original speakers with an RCA switch and cable to plug in my phone and the TV .Stereo was recovered for free from a customers garbage bin. He had been using them as his starter mixer desk and they all work beautifully, Loud rich and clear, loud enough that the neighbours know when I'm in a good mood for AC/DC or Johnny Cash. I love the times when I can crank some tunes.
Just streaming some Hank Williams on apple music at the moment. Buying music has changed a bit since my high school days skipping school sports to hang at the music store to buy a vinyl 45.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

I use an old TV I got for free from a friend (doesn't matter on the specs, but has to have an HDMI port), mounted on the wall, with a chromecast plugged in. Chromecast is cheap, around $30, works over WiFi, and allows me to send my internet radio to the TV for free. On occasion when I need to watch a YouTube video to refresh myself on how to do something, I can "cast" YouTube right to that same TV and watch what I need.

For better sound, you can output your TV to speakers, or a receiver, or whatever, but IMHO it's a better solution than an old school radio or boom box.

 

[PhysicsDude]

I have an older "boombox" type stereo that I've had for 20 years, but is pretty loud. Just wanted any type of decent stereo with an aux cable.

I used to use an Aux cable with Pandora on my phone, now I use Amazon Alexa exclusively. Alexa natively works with the popular music streaming services(including IHeartRadio if you like traditional radio), as well as you can play almost any popular song you want directly. I have found Alexa to be EXTREMELY useful in the garage as its all voice activated. When I'm working on something I can change the song, adjust volume, pause, play etc. by voice instead of stopping what I'm doing, taking off gloves, etc. to adjust the stereo. The voice recognition is spectacular. Even from 30+ feet away with ambient noise Alexa recognizes commands almost perfectly.

"Alexa, play Pandora Station Classic Rock"
"Alexa, I don't like this song"
"Alexa, next. Alexa pause. Alexa play"
"Alexa, volume 6"

I really enjoy listening to music while working, so I've really enjoyed it. Only downside is you have to have a good wifi signal.

 

[hard12catch33]

I'm currently using my old (bachelor pad days) pioneer receiver and two MTX floor standing speakers that I hung up on the ceiling.

Way more than I need for the garage but if I'm out washing the cars in the driveway I have enough power to throw it out there too.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

I have an older "boombox" type stereo that I've had for 20 years, but is pretty loud. Just wanted any type of decent stereo with an aux cable.

I used to use an Aux cable with Pandora on my phone, now I use Amazon Alexa exclusively. Alexa natively works with the popular music streaming services(including IHeartRadio if you like traditional radio), as well as you can play almost any popular song you want directly. I have found Alexa to be EXTREMELY useful in the garage as its all voice activated. When I'm working on something I can change the song, adjust volume, pause, play etc. by voice instead of stopping what I'm doing, taking off gloves, etc. to adjust the stereo. The voice recognition is spectacular. Even from 30+ feet away with ambient noise Alexa recognizes commands almost perfectly.

"Alexa, play Pandora Station Classic Rock"
"Alexa, I don't like this song"
"Alexa, next. Alexa pause. Alexa play"
"Alexa, volume 6"

I really enjoy listening to music while working, so I've really enjoyed it. Only downside is you have to have a good wifi signal.

I hadn't thought of that. Awesome use case, might have to pick one up now

 

[V8Reverb]

I use an old pc with Pandora streaming through some decent home speakers. The pc has a lot of manuals on too and I can look up specs on tinternet if I need to as well

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[d.mcfarland]

I have just a regular stereo system with an aux cord so I can stream music from my phone.

 

[mcfly107]

Free 32" tv, free cheap speakers, $20 wall mount, $30 roku. I can stream YouTube, pandora, sports, movies. But my garage is only 40 feet away from the house so I still have a good wifi signal out there.


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[jd_1138]

Bluetooth is not that good. I just plug my smart phone into a little battery powered speaker via a standard AUX 3.5 mm cable. I listen to Pandora or podcasts (Pocket Casts) on it.

I also have a Ryobi speaker radio which I use if I want more power/volume. It was only about $50 and it came with a lithium battery and charger. If you don't want to pay $200 for the Milwaukee radio, the Ryobi might be a good purchase. And it'd open up the options to acquire tools in the Ryobi lineup. I have Makita and Ryobi.

It has Bluetooth, AUX in, and AM/FM radio.

 

[dirtbikingdad]

I built this for my son to take to college for tailgating and frat parties, but I do admit I love the heavy base in the garage. Football is back in season, as is school, so it will be going back sooner than later. I may have to build another one for me. What I also like about it is that I can take it out in the yard and the 12V battery will last about 8-12 hours.

The blue light you see is a cooling fan. Not really necessary unless the amp is really pushing. I've added some sound activated lighting under the speaker grid that adds some fun, but at the cost of playing time. It uses bluetooth or you can connect your phone/player via a cord too. I also included a volt meter that operates when the "mood" lighting is running so you can see how the battery is holding up or use the accessory outlet for cigarette outlet adapters for charging phones, etc.

Fun to make, fun to use, not necessarily fun to pay for.

 

[Trainfever]

I have an old guitar amp that has an aux input that I just plug my phone into whenever I want music.

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[exranger06]

I have a Panasonic "bookshelf" stereo that my sister gave to me for free. The CD player is broken, I hate listening to AM/FM radio, and I don't even own a single cassette tape, so the only thing I use on it is the AUX input, which I plug my iPod into.

 

[thejunkmanadv]

I have a $3 thrift store book shelf stereo as well. I did seek out one with multiple RCA aux inputs so I could use it as an amp for external sources. External sources are a computer for streaming. Did a little junkyard PC build for my garage since I also run a Live Stream of my own out of there sometimes. I also have 4 speakers (again thrift store) wired up in the 4 corners. And a thrift store powered sub for some low end.

 

[Punchwood]

Laptop-> Tidal-> Dragonfly Red-> Yamaha AX592 -> Ashly FET 500 -> Cerwin Vega 300SE and Polk Monitor 10.

 

[Jon_E]

Bluetooth is not that good. I just plug my smart phone into a little battery powered speaker via a standard AUX 3.5 mm cable. I listen to Pandora or podcasts (Pocket Casts) on it.

I also have a Ryobi speaker radio which I use if I want more power/volume. It was only about $50 and it came with a lithium battery and charger. If you don't want to pay $200 for the Milwaukee radio, the Ryobi might be a good purchase. And it'd open up the options to acquire tools in the Ryobi lineup. I have Makita and Ryobi.

It has Bluetooth, AUX in, and AM/FM radio.

This ^^^ little critter is what I use in my shop too. I don't bother with the radio part, I just stream Pandora over Bluetooth. It's adequate until I get a better system set up, as it just doesn't have the sound quality I'd like at the volumes I want to listen at. My listening preferences are all over the place, but usually is some variant of hard rock or heavy metal. Need volume and sound quality (not to mention some decent bass) and the little Ryobi has its' limitations.

 

[NUTTSGT]

A Sony receiver that my daughter bought me last year, some 50 year old Sansui speakers and another par of cheaper book shelf speakers.

 

[rmmiller]

I have my choice as I set up the new garage, a Bose 321 (hate it) and old JVC that the power button is hit or miss with and a Visio sound bar. I like the Bose for the DVD capability if I want to put on a movie while I'm dinking around but I really dislike the system. Probably end up using the sound bar and plugging in my lap top if I want a movie, would make the most sense.

 

[Schurkey]

My garage system: 1980 JVC 35-watt entry-level receiver. Bose speakers hanging from the ceiling. 5-disc CD player. I can't be bothered to listen to broadcast radio, but I have the capacity for that in the JVC.

Any thrift-store Japanese receiver, any half-adequate shelf speakers are likely to do better than tiny powered speakers.

 

[Citation]

Unless you are looking for mobility I would suggest getting some decent, used speakers and an amp of some sort. An old receiver or perhaps one of those all in one stereos.

Another option are some of the better computer speaker systems. Something like the Klipsch THX computer satellite-subwoofer systems are great. All of this assumes you want to use something like a phone, MP3 player or computer as a source.

I've got this setup in my kitchen
Dayton Audio speakers.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002RMPHMU/?tag=atomicindus08-20

And this amp Lepai
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009IJTMOE/?tag=atomicindus08-20

It appears that the current design of the above amp no longer uses the Tripath chip and the complaint rate has gone up on Amazon (but not on Parts Express)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071FJF4FF/?tag=atomicindus08-20
https://www.parts-express.com/lepai...le&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=pla#lblReviews

Anyway, this setup is very cost effective for the sound quality. Not super loud or powerful but likely better than most portable radios. Then again, if you have an old receiver, that will have more power than the Lepai.

The biggest thing I recommend avoiding is getting some fancy new soundbar, bluetooth speaker or the like if your intent is good sound for the money.

 

[skulldrinker]

I use the laptop and stream some great oldies from KESO. Best oldies playlist I've ever listened to.
Farout chick DJ is Cheree Carter

Texoma's Good Time Oldies
http://streamdb6web.securenetsystems.net/v5/KSEO

 

[panchohughes]

I am using a Yamaha mini-system that was given to me years ago. I just plug my iPhone into it and stream Pandora. The speakers are up high on shelf and are Klipsch that I didn't need in the house.
I love going out there and turning on some tunes and tinkering.

I just applied for my building permit today for my new garage, so I will need to figure out what i want to do out there. I liked the Amazon Alexa idea... but not really crazy about Amazon getting to listen in on me.

 

[JABgj]

Have a freebie bookshelf stereo with AM/FM, CD and cassette. Cassette is toast. Freebie bookshelf speakers up in the rafters and Radio Shack (Minimus?) speakers at the bench hooked up with scrounged zip cord. Found a FM adapter for the Ipod so I am good until something poops out.