Wood Shop Stereo

[Rob Will]

This may seem a bit off topic but let's say for a moment that a nice sounding FM stereo system is an intregal part of your wood shop and something that "enhances" your creativity. That makes it a tool right? ......and since it consumes power....it's a power tool .

Anyway, what have you members done for "shop tunes" and have you been able to find a "simple" FM receiver that is fairly small? My shop walls are wired for two speakers and the receiver will go in the office to avoid some dust. It would be nice to have a remote power switch and volume control out in the shop area (without having to open the office door).

I've got my eyes on a pair of indoor/outdoor Yamaha speakers that have glowing reviews at Amazon for about $70.

Tonight, I dug into the attic closet to retrieve a couple of old stereo systems and promptly hooked them up in the shop........yikes! how did I listen to this stuff back in the college days? It sounds like, well.....it sounds like it's been in the attic for 20 years. My el cheapo shop radio is not much better.

Any suggestions?

Rob

[Randal Stevenson]

Since my shop is small, and I have an OLD ham radio (one channel on it, would contain several now), it has a power supply that people used to buy/make? and place on hams and cb radio's so they could be used from home.

I was thinking of hooking it up to a reasonable car stereo, and place the speakers in the ceiling out of the way. Mount the radio next to the beam that runs the length of the basement, next to the phone jack (in case of a call or emergency).

Just one option. Another, ahem, an EXCUSE to buy one of those tool charger radio's that are also portable, maybe.

[David DeCristoforo]

Got one word for ya....iPod. I have a 4th gen 20G iPod with a dock that connects to the reciever's "Aux" input. Got over 2,000 cuts on it. Punch the "shuffle" button and it will play for days without repeating. And it's only 1/4 full! Cheapo outdoor speakers are fine...not worried about "accurate reproduction" or anything...just some low level tunes. No CDs to mess with or get ruined or lost. So far, no issues with dust but if you have an office where it can live, even better.

[Pat Germain]

I'm currently using the proverbial "boom box" and I listen mostly to public radio in the shop. (I can't stand commercial radio!)

Anyway, if I was going to buy a receiver, I'd go to Sam's Club or Costco. They often have very nice receivers for very good prices because they are last year's models being cleared out. I'm assuming you aren't particular about having the latest model.

Some electronics stores also clear out old models and floor models at a discount. Although, the discounts in these cases typically aren't much. Be careful of signs reading "$200 off!". It's unlikely that item was ever actually priced at the "regular" price.

I would suggest not buying anything by RCA. My parents kept buying RCA junk for years against my advice. It would fail again and again while my Sony gear just kept on going. They finally got the message.

Panasonic equipment is typically of surprisingly good quality. Most people don't think of Panasonic as being "high end", but it's consistently top-rated by Consumer Reports and I've had good experiences with their gear. Unlike the high-end stuff, Panasonic gear is reasonably priced.

I have a Kenwood 5.1 receiver I bought at Sam's about 5 years ago for an amazingly low price. It's still the hub of my home theater system.

[Pat Germain]

Got one word for ya....iPod. I have a 4th gen 20G iPod with a dock that connects to the reciever's "Aux" input. Got over 2,000 cuts on it. Punch the "shuffle" button and it will play for days without repeating. And it's only 1/4 full! Cheapo outdoor speakers are fine...not worried about "accurate reproduction" or anything...just some low level tunes. No CDs to mess with or get ruined or lost. So far, no issues with dust but if you have an office where it can live, even better.

Hey, that's a good idea, Dave. Another, less expensive, option would be an MP3 player from Creative Labs. They make multiple models and they're priced far below an iPod. However, they are not iPods.

[Gary Benson]

I have both the cheap boom box, left over from when it was "state of the art". I recently picked up a pair of powered computer speakers from Goodwill ($7!), and they have an 1/8" mimi jack that fits in the headphone jack of the Ipod. Sounds great, and can be placed anywhere handy.

[Gary Keedwell]

I'm currently using the proverbial "boom box" and I listen mostly to public radio in the shop. (I can't stand commercial radio!)

Anyway, if I was going to buy a receiver, I'd go to Sam's Club or Costco. They often have very nice receivers for very good prices because they are last year's models being cleared out. I'm assuming you aren't particular about having the latest model.

Some electronics stores also clear out old models and floor models at a discount. Although, the discounts in these cases typically aren't much. Be careful of signs reading "$200 off!". It's unlikely that item was ever actually priced at the "regular" price.

I would suggest not buying anything by RCA. My parents kept buying RCA junk for years against my advice. It would fail again and again while my Sony gear just kept on going. They finally got the message.

Panasonic equipment is typically of surprisingly good quality. Most people don't think of Panasonic as being "high end", but it's consistently top-rated by Consumer Reports and I've had good experiences with their gear. Unlike the high-end stuff, Panasonic gear is reasonably priced.

I have a Kenwood 5.1 receiver I bought at Sam's about 5 years ago for an amazingly low price. It's still the hub of my home theater system.

David ...I have a nice old Onkyo receiver. Can I hook this Ipod thing to it and run a couple of old speakers from the receiver? I have a home theater setup but still a few years behing in the electronic field. I-pod? I heard about them but never seen one.
Gary K.

[Bill Fleming]

Old "boom box" plugged into an Apple AirTunes that plays music from iTunes on my computer including a great collection of Internet Radio Stations.... which is why I call my shop the "Salsa Workshop"

Cheers Bill

[Bruce Page]

Rob, I built a cabinet to house a small shelf system – it’s about the 6th post down ( http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=9742 ) I don’t think I would like a remote system. I’ve been running this system for several years without problem, I just blow out the filter every few months. Later, I added an iPod to the mix, ( http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=11952 ). I can’t remember the last time I listened to the radio…

[Todd Jensen]

I use a $50 sony boombox in the field and they generally last a year or two, and thats with getting banged around in the back of the truck, and the ipod plugs right into it. While I try and keep the dust off of it to some degree, fat hope of that happening, and they seem surprisingly resilient. My shop stereo is also an old boombox that sits out in the open in a fairly dust-free area - its older and still works great after a number of years; even the cd player still works. I've got remotes for both and I love them, particularly in the field. Phone rings, the general or homeowner walks in, whatever, and I can instantly turn it down. I keep the remote in my bags and once again, is amazingly resilient despite the heavy dust that fills them. Happy stereo hunting and happy 4th!

[Christof Grohs]

The music just plays in my head by itsef



I actually use one of these little digital amplifiers with a built in volume control from Amazon for $30!!!

Amp

The amp is connected to a small iPod with a pair of DIY speakers I build from free plans here.

Very easy to build speakers

The whole thing will fit into a cigar box, does not generate heat like an old stereo and has no moving parts that can be damaged by dust. The whole thing cost me under $300 and sounds wonderful...better than any system you can buy under $500 and that is probably an under estimate.

[Mike Heidrick]

I use the Dewalt digital tuner charger/radio and an Ipod tapped into its aux port. Also have a DVD player in the shop that I plug into the aux port. Works great.

Yes you can use the Onkyo with the Ipod - get a mini-stereo to RCA cable (they sell them everywhere - Walmart has them for example) and plug the ipod into one of the Onkyo's input channels, select that channel on the receiver, select shuffle on the ipod and rock out all you want!

[craig caldwell]

I don't care which mp3 player you use, it all comes down to the headphones.
I use a set of Shure e3s and next to my felder kf 700 they are the best tools I own. They act as hearing protection while giving me uninterrupted tunes while I work. I don't know about you guys but I like to listen to a lot of stuff and there is nothing less productive than waiting to finish listening to something before firing up the saw or planer. With a set of in-ear headphones you can work hard and not miss a single word of you favorite song or podcast/netcast.

craig

[Jude Kingery]

Hey Rob,

You've got lots of great suggestions; just to add my two cents, we have an Onkyo receiver; it's probably about 10 years old, but the speakers wired into the shop I picked up at Goodwill and they serve well, then we have a set of outdoor speakers on the deck and a little box you can set to where you want the radio delivered: house, shop, deck, all three, or just two or one. Works out great for us! It was a bit of a chore running wire through the attic, but once done, no problems since. But now you do have to come into the house to shut it off, turn it on, change channels or whatever. So might traipse some dust in if you're not careful. We enjoy it, though, every great shop has to have some great music!!!! Let us know what you decide and how it works out for you. Jude

[Rob Will]

What do I have to do to install a remote volume control in the speaker wires?

Rob