Garage Stereos

[trayson]

So, Newty's thread about sticker bombs got me thinking about garages. I was curious what some of you have done for your garage stereos.

The garage kind of gets the hand-me-down stuff, but I still like to have music while I work in the garage or while washing the cars.

I have an old Kenwood digital receiver (free hand me down from my sister) that powers a pair of vintage JBL 3-way speakers that I replaced the 12" subs with 8 ohm Rockford Fosgate Punch subs.

The speakers are mounted up on the walls and out of the way. Here's a pic from when I was building the setup (before I put shelving next to the speaker).
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-SAER-jMuMiU/Svedu5b4wkI/AAAAAAAAJno/_EjaDi-xuyo/s800/DSCF3616.JPG

I had an extra wall mount TV stand, so I used that to mount the receiver up above my garage sink out of the way. I've got a 3.5mm input for either plugging my phone in or I also plug in my tablet and stream internet radio. I connected an external antenna to get good reception on FM radio stations as well.

So the garage had good coverage, but since building the carport for the boat, the sound wasn't getting back to the boat as well (without making it crazy loud in the garage). So I ran some RCA's to a 3.5mm extension cord that goes to a Logitech 4.1 THX certified speaker system. I connected it to the "tape monitor" output of the receiver so I can control the volume of the garage and carport zones independently, but still run one source of music for both zones.

The Logitech system has an 8" subwoofer and 4 satellite speakers.
http://ak1.ostkcdn.com/images/products/P916500.jpg
right now, I have a pair of the satellite speakers mounted at the top of each side of the rear garage door that opens up into the back carport. In the future, I'll mount the other two speakers on the rear carport braces aiming back towards the boat and Jeep. The controller for the Logitech speakers is cool in that it has a fader for the satellites and a sub level control as well as a master volume control. So perfect for that space. I just put the sub on the ground just outside of the rear garage door.

Yeah, I could just use an ipod dock or something, but it's really nice to have a hardwired stereo system for when you're out working on projects.

My system isn't anything that would win the approval of people on the AVS forums, but ALL the components were FREE, so my only cost into the system is the wires...

So, what kind of stuff have you guys done for stereo systems in your garage? post up details and pics if you have them.

[sivs1]

I don't have any pics, but basically same as you, free hand me down stuff. Right now rocking a great KLH system with 5.1 surround sound.....

[trayson]

I don't have any pics, but basically same as you, free hand me down stuff. Right now rocking a great KLH system with 5.1 surround sound.....

Yeah my Freebie receiver is old enough that it's "Pro Logic"!!! But honestly I only ever play it in stereo because I'm listening to music, not a movie soundtrack. All it really needed for me was digital tuning for the radio and a remote control to do presets, volume, and change input sources--so I haven't been able to come up with a reason to upgrade.

I suppose sourround sound in the garage could be fun. Mine has one speaker towards the right side of the garage firing out, and the other speaker is on the left side of the garage firing left. so it covers the garage pretty well. And I can crank it up loud enough to easily have enough tunes for washing the cars out in the driveway.

And somehow my wife doesn't hate me for the music that resonates through the house when I am out in the garage!

[jmvotto]

bose soundock with Blue tooth.... the old stuff is boxed up the garage.

[bergermaister]

Garage= iphone + hidden Logitech 2.1 setup.... ROCKS plenty

Boat area= exile!!!!!

Anywhere else= iphone + jawbone jambox

****I gave up the 5ft tall Cerwin Vega's, 5 disc changer, dual cassettes, turntable and receiver amp back when I sold off the camaro. I kept the mustache though****

[trayson]

bose soundock with Blue tooth.... the old stuff is boxed up the garage.

I wouldn't think something like that would be loud enough for washing the cars out in the driveway...

[zabooda]

I use the Bose Soundlink and it is loud enough from the garage but portable to place it anywhere. There isn't the speaker separation that you have with a standard stereo system. I take it everywhere, camping, motels etc.

[trayson]

I use the Bose Soundlink and it is loud enough from the garage but portable to place it anywhere. There isn't the speaker separation that you have with a standard stereo system. I take it everywhere, camping, motels etc.

That's cool. I use my Logitech Ipod dock when tailgating from the Audi at the ski resort. When we are gearing up in the morning we do it out of the back of the Wagon. Instead of leaving the car running burning gas and killing brain cells with carbon monoxide, we just use the dock. Yeah, I could just use the car stereo, but that would require the key to be on, and would also risk draining the battery. I even got a cig lighter adapter for the car dock so I can keep it charged off the car while we're tailgating for lunch. (car has a trunk 12v plugin).

So I'm def a fan of the portable speaker docks, but I guess for me I needed (wanted) a solution where I could play music from a single source and have it cover the 3 car garage, the driveway, and the 21x40' carport as well. The two big speakers did fine for the garage and driveway, but sound didn't do as well going around the corner to the carport/boat unless I cranked it in the garage.

When I'm working on the boat, I'm back and forth between the boat and the big toolbox and my workbench.

Even with a cordless/wireless Bluetooth speaker, I'd have to have an assistant just to follow me with the speaker! So MORE SPEAKERS was a great solution. :-) Cost me a whopping $3 to get a 25' 3.5mm extension cord to connect my two systems. :-)

And yesterday using the tablet as my source worked great because it gets the house wifi and was able to play internet radio leaving my phone free for text messages and to take pics of my progress.

[sandm]

I'm lazy. have some extra gear, but it's in the basement collecting dust.

I use this:
charges batteries and it's portable. not the greatest sound but works.

http://www.toolsnob.com/pictures/dewalt_radio_hero.jpg

[trayson]

I'm lazy. have some extra gear, but it's in the basement collecting dust.

I use this:
charges batteries and it's portable. not the greatest sound but works.

http://www.toolsnob.com/pictures/dewalt_radio_hero.jpg

The battery charging would definitely be a plus.

I can't help myself. I mod the stereos in my cars, my boat, my bedroom, my family room, the garage, and now my carport!

[Andy Digital]

Trayson, it appears to me that you are going to run into problems with your zoned setup described above. Have you tested this yet? Aside from the "echo effect" you are bound to run into with a signal wire run of wire that length, that is quite a bit of load to put on the tape output of an old receiver. I have seen shops burn to the ground from overtaxing old equipment.

[trayson]

Trayson, it appears to me that you are going to run into problems with your zoned setup described above. Have you tested this yet? Aside from the "echo effect" you are bound to run into with a signal wire run of wire that length, that is quite a bit of load to put on the tape output of an old receiver. I have seen shops burn to the ground from overtaxing old equipment.

Seems to work just fine. I don't have any echoing that is perceptible, and trust me, that would drive me NUTS if it was present.

Would a 25 foot long run of low level preamp output really be a problem? It's not like I'm running speaker wire that long.

I've never really heard about voltage drop on low level inputs and that being an issue.

[Andy Digital]

Look back at your chart for running ballast pump wire - same concept, the longer the run heavier the wire you need.

Based on your description it sounded like you were going further than 25ft. I would just be very cautious as your garage is filled with nice toys.

Do you have rotating pods on your tower? Why not just turn on the stereo in the boat if you're out near it.

[trayson]

Look back at your chart for running ballast pump wire - same concept, the longer the run heavier the wire you need.

Based on your description it sounded like you were going further than 25ft. I would just be very cautious as your garage is filled with nice toys.

Do you have rotating pods on your tower? Why not just turn on the stereo in the boat if you're out near it.

No, they don't rotate. And again, It's nice to have two zones because that way I can have volume at moderate levels in each and not be blaring in one to hear it in the other. And I don't usually run my boat stereo at home. I keep my batteries on low amp float chargers. And why deplete the boat batteries when I don't need to? Makes more sense to use the stuff hardwired into the house.

Here's a rough sketch of my property. I tried to keep it to scale, but a lot of this is me giving it my best idea.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-9cg1fBnhd2I/VOu0_HRMz7I/AAAAAAAAYEA/MJ2uBS16jT4/s800/House%2520Property%2520Layout.jpg

Like I said, it's a 25 foot 3.5mm extension to connect the receiver to the Logitech system. From A to B on the diagram. So far so good.

[KG's Supra24]

http://cdn.meme.am/instances/55287952.jpg

[trayson]

That pic creeps me out.

[KG's Supra24]

lmao ... i couldn't pass it up.

I get what you mean wanting low volume in multiple places. I've looked at Sonos for a couple years now. Anyone have it and is it worth the price?

I just picked up a couple Outdoor Speaker Depot 6.5" outdoors speakers. Looking forward to getting them setup and seeing how they perform.

Dusty did a clean install in his garage, where ever he is ...

[Andy Digital]

Trayson, in that case you will probably be fine. Just be cautious about repurposing old equipment. There's a reason it's been tossed out in most cases.


It appears that your carport has roughly the same footprint as your house? You must not see any wind in your area. That looks to be one big metal sail / lawsuit waiting to happen in many states. The framing may be anchored but those little sheetmetal screws holding the panels are no match for strong gusts in the right amplitude.


KG, Sonos is very nice. Highly recommended.

[jmvotto]

My buddy has a sonus and it's really cool, but I don't care for radio stations all over the world, xm, pandora, spotify and my iPhone have as much as I need, plus it's pretty spendy . Bose has a multiple speaker sound dock that runs throught your wifi that is really cool. Just add a new dock where ever you want.

[KG's Supra24]

Joe, I was looking at the sonos for purpose of whole house audio. You can purchase multiple speakers, place wherever, just needing a power source, and control them all as independent zones from your phone, tablet, etc. All works over wifi.

It is spendy, though ....


KG, Sonos is very nice. Highly recommended.

... hasn't been enough to talk to me into spending the extra money. LOL

Is the interface crisp? Which of their speakers do you have experience with?

[trayson]

Trayson, in that case you will probably be fine. Just be cautious about repurposing old equipment. There's a reason it's been tossed out in most cases.


It appears that your carport has roughly the same footprint as your house? You must not see any wind in your area. That looks to be one big metal sail / lawsuit waiting to happen in many states. The framing may be anchored but those little sheetmetal screws holding the panels are no match for strong gusts in the right amplitude.


KG, Sonos is very nice. Highly recommended.

Fair enough. At least I know where this one came from, my sister. :-)


The carport is 40' long and 21' wide with 12' supports on the sides. I got it installed just before we had a big windstorm. we were having 50 to 60+ mph winds IIRC and it actually held up great. But I was NERVOUS and pulled my boat/jeep/motorcycle out from under it just in case. It swayed but nothing came loose.

It's open on the front and back and has 1/2 sides. Yeah, I can imagine the concern from the sheet metal screws. that makes sense.

But the VAST majority of the time, we get little to no wind in my area.

Here's an actual pic of the carport to give you an idea:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-3ZxE8ffK4Go/VIOW10e0FuI/AAAAAAAAW60/1frb-UpXnqQ/s800/20141206_113430.jpg

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-kBOMc_rT7c8/VIOW0XWXUII/AAAAAAAAW6s/miTJtrGls_4/s800/20141206_112542.jpg

From the street:
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-wSL8w1ieqGQ/VIOWyeHLpAI/AAAAAAAAW6k/7_JCAk8mZxY/s800/20141206_113453.jpg

[jmvotto]

Joe, I was looking at the sonos for purpose of whole house audio. You can purchase multiple speakers, place wherever, just needing a power source, and control them all as independent zones from your phone, tablet, etc. All works over wifi.

It is spendy, though ....



... hasn't been enough to talk to me into spending the extra money. LOL

Is the interface crisp? Which of their speakers do you have experience with?

KG, I only have experience with the sounddock and the Bluetooth sound link and it works great. The wifi system I looked at but did not bite yet.

Here's a link
http://www.bose.com/controller?url=/shop_online/wifi_music_systems/soundtouch_music/soundtouch_portable/index.jsp

Got any Bose stores near you?

[viking]

When I built my shop I wired it for 5.1 surround as well as external zone out to the back yard. Figured since it was a shop I wasn't going to splurge for high end equipment like it did in my house. I bought in-walls and outdoor speakers and sub all from Mono-Price and I have to say I'm pretty impressed given the little amount of money I spent. I also ran conduit (1.5in PVC) behind the sheetrock so I could hook up HDMI, optical, whatever to my TV. When I trenched in the power I laid in cat5 and cable as well. Also ran a separate coax into the rafters for hi-def antenna should i need one. I have an older Sony receiver as the brains with dual zone. So summers kids and wife can listen to tunes in back yardand or kickin it at the fire pit with a cold one. Also have a Blue Ray player and directV mini. It's kinda cool to watch movies in the shop, from the boat, in surround :)
I can stream pandora, spotify, amazon, play from my galaxy s5 or ipad so really covered on just about anything I would need!

http://i1218.photobucket.com/albums/dd401/briankelli/20150221_212713.jpg (http://s1218.photobucket.com/user/briankelli/media/20150221_212713.jpg.html)

http://i1218.photobucket.com/albums/dd401/briankelli/100_1436.jpg (http://s1218.photobucket.com/user/briankelli/media/100_1436.jpg.html)

http://i1218.photobucket.com/albums/dd401/briankelli/100_1433.jpg (http://s1218.photobucket.com/user/briankelli/media/100_1433.jpg.html)

[viking]

Couple more pics

http://i1218.photobucket.com/albums/dd401/briankelli/100_1418.jpg (http://s1218.photobucket.com/user/briankelli/media/100_1418.jpg.html)


http://i1218.photobucket.com/albums/dd401/briankelli/100_1359.jpg (http://s1218.photobucket.com/user/briankelli/media/100_1359.jpg.html)

[Jason05216]

I've got the Sonos Soundbar and also the Play:3. I also use the Bridge from Sonos. After a few issues initially when I was trying to get the system going I've been pleased. The router that I plugged the Bridge into had a bad port that I didn't know about. It worked just enough to allow things to show as connected but when the Sonos gear was trying to download the current updates it would fail. I couldn't figure out why it was failing, it just gave a timeout error. I contacted Sonos customer support and they quickly figured it out and I was up and running in no time. The Soundbar works great with my TV and is easily changed to another source if I want to listen to music in that room. I have the Sonos app on my iPhone and iPad but I usually control it from the iPad, the screen is larger so it's easier for me to work with. I typically listen to my Spotify playlists through the system. But you can access other sources as well including iTunes. The app is pretty slick, you can control all the speakers separately or you can group them.

The Play:3 speakers are nice. You can move them around wherever you want as long as you have power. Once you plug them in it takes a couple of moments and they will show up on the system again and you are ready to send music to them.

They are pretty spendy. I would love to have the sub to go along with the Soundbar but for $700 I'm going to wait for now. I think I'd rather put that money in the boat.

[tarheelskier]

The Bose Soundlink has the best sound for such a small, portable speaker. Rechargable so no power necessary and for 200 bucks, its hard to beat. 21446

[newty]

I've got the Jawbone Jambox. Awesome sounds and very portable. About a 12 hour battery life.
People that see it and hear it are blown away at the size vs sq.
(Not the mini)

[Jason05216]

I've got the JBL Charge 2 and for what it is it's pretty good. Sounds OK, portable, charges from a mini USB so I don't have to keep up with another charger, it's bluetooth so the connectivity is easy. But, it's completely different than the Sonos system.

[kaneboats]

Wife's old Pioneer receiver from college and a pair of outdoor speakers out by the pool.

Craigslist receiver and a pair of old bookshelf speakers in the garage.

[moombadaze]

Hijacked my kids little bom box, pretty sad state in the garage tunes dpt

[mmandley]

I run a hand me down style system.
Receiver in its day was the Shizz, I bought it 22 Years ago..WOW and it was 1700 then. Now its on Ebay for 127 bucks lol.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Yamaha-RX-V870-Natural-Sound-Stereo-Receiver-Dolby-Surround-/331472069243?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4d2d46627b

For Speakers I just have a Sony knock off brand bookshelf pair. They got nice sounds for the garage and get r dun.

Honestly though most of the time if I am working in the boat, on the boat, or want serious tunes, I just crank up the boat LOL.

[trayson]

I run a hand me down style system.
Receiver in its day was the Shizz, I bought it 22 Years ago..WOW and it was 1700 then. Now its on Ebay for 127 bucks lol.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Yamaha-RX-V870-Natural-Sound-Stereo-Receiver-Dolby-Surround-/331472069243?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4d2d46627b

For Speakers I just have a Sony knock off brand bookshelf pair. They got nice sounds for the garage and get r dun.

Honestly though most of the time if I am working in the boat, on the boat, or want serious tunes, I just crank up the boat LOL.

and your neighbor lady LOVES you for it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[mmandley]

and your neighbor lady LOVES you for it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are not going to talk about that B**** LOL Good thing no one told me who it was that night. I was out in the street checking volume levels though LOL.

BTW just dropped some cargo nets in my Amazon cart lol.

[trayson]

We are not going to talk about that B**** LOL Good thing no one told me who it was that night. I was out in the street checking volume levels though LOL.

BTW just dropped some cargo nets in my Amazon cart lol.

I ordered my cargo nets from Home depot. Free store pickup and no tax made it the better choice for me.

In theory, ordering the white ones directly from EZNet would have been cheaper since they were on clearance, but their website is all sorts of messed up and I couldn't input an order from my laptop or desktop at home or from my work computer. So screw them. I went black from Home Depot and it didn't cost me much more since I got free shipping.

[New Guy]

Im my dad's 30X40 man cave we installed 6 of these:
http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=108&cp_id=10837&cs_id=1083703&p_id=6816&seq=1&format=2

They sound great! Really Really impressed for the price.

We are powering them with this amp, which has performed pretty flawlessly.
http://www.outdoorspeakerdepot.com/high-power-stereo-amplifier.html

In my garage I am using this
http://i368.photobucket.com/albums/oo121/2005r6rider/20140617_141331_zps91ebff6c.jpg

[viking]

Im my dad's 30X40 man cave we installed 6 of these:
http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=108&cp_id=10837&cs_id=1083703&p_id=6816&seq=1&format=2

They sound great! Really Really impressed for the price.


I agree 100%. I was extremely skeptical when I bought and during install, but impressed/surprised with the end result