Another shop comfort: Sound

Netgear wireless media player in the clean part of the garage/shop.
Speakers mounted to the ceiling. 300 cds on a hard drive. I can make
a play list or just choose a genre to play.

Music in the shop is pretty important to me - at the very least you
need a radio for psycedlic sundays on Q107.
Anyway, its not completely finished, but my in progress shop has

- buried cable from the house for ethernet, satalitte tv, and phone.
- In the shop ive got a computer networked to my main house computer to
access for 20gb mp3 collection.
- Computer outputs to 200 watt kenwood reciever i no longer use since i
upgraded in the house.
- wired speaker cable in wall to all corners before drywalling so no
wire laying around.
- 4 paradigm speakers celing mounted on each corner of the shop.
- contemplating hooking up 10' 100watt sub as well, thgough dont want
the neighbours complaining.

not even close to what i used inside, but for the shop its probably
quite a bit more than most people would do, and sounds nice. All this
can be done relatively cheap - ie lower guage wire, average speakers,
etc.

for the computer im currently using an old 17' monitor. however im
considering doing a small built in between two wall studs. get a
flatscreen lcd (they have really come down in price), mount it in
there, and put a sheet of clear plexiglass around to keep out dust.
whole project could probably be done in a day and for a couple 100 and
would look pretty slick :).

As for the speakers, im not sure if im going to stick with the wall
mounted ones, instead i might pick up some in-ceiling types to get back
some wall space for storage.

As for boom boxes - i liked the dewalt, since its pretty rugged, and
charges/runs off their batteries to which is nice. the downside is no
cd player - which means no deal for me.

good luck!

I would do a combination of suggestions. The Duke has it right with
the media player, and XM is a must. I've had it in the car for about 4
months now and don't know how I lived without it. Anyway, I would find
an old PC, Get a wireless adapter for it and some decent speakers and
put that in the shop. That way you could stream music off the net, or
talk to us here. You can even stream XM, albeit with less quality. If
you do decide to rip the CD's somewhere, spend the extra $ for a second
hard drive and a RAID controller so you can mirror the drives. 300
CD's is a lot of rippin', if the drive goes you're back to square one.
For the ~$125 difference it's cheap insurance. I just built one of
these for a friend, so let me know if you want details. iTunes has
great radio, and it's free.

-jim

snip shop audio stuff....


> I do want a
> boom-box. I wrote off the iPod idea as on a previous occasion, I found
> the earbud wires were getting snagged all the time.

> Rob



I had a series of boom boxes which all died sawdusty deaths. now I have
an ipod. I have the earbuds tucked into the foam inserts of a cheap set
of hearing protectors, which seems to improve the sound quality a bit,
and the cables routed underneath my shirt, which seems to be enough to
keep them from getting snagged on stuff. the ipod mini is small enough
to not be too bulky in my pocket, but today I'd probably get a nano.

Wed, Nov 30, 2005, 5:25am [email protected] (Robatoy) burbled:
<snip> I would like some input for a durable boombox-type solution. What
are you guys using? <snip>

You've got to be joking, right? I go to my shop to relax.
Sometimes I even do some woodworking out there. It's a small shop, but
I've got the perfect sound setup. It's a small, used, portable radio,
hanging off a nail, with a power adapter plugged in. It's turned down
low, to either classic rock & roll (50s, 60s, 70s), or classical,
bluegrass on Sun evenings, when I remember to change it. Turn on a
machine, and it's drowned out - perfect. The only difference I'd make
with a bigger shop, is "possibly" turn it up a bit higher. It's the
replacement for the prior used radio, that died, and it'll get replaced
with something similar when it dies.

When I'm not doing anything out there, but just sitting, enjoying
the wood smell, watching the birds and squirrels outside, it's at just
the right volume. As far as I'm concerned, it's a perfect sound
"system" for my shop.

The first one lasted I don't know how long out there, and this
one's been out there at least 6 years probably.



JOAT
A rolling stone gathers no moss...unless it's a hobby he does on the
weekends.

On Wed, 30 Nov 2005 16:38:50 -0500, Robatoy <[email protected]>
wrote:

>In article <[email protected]>,
> "Don Dando" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> The Kansas City market does not support "Easy Listening" stations.
>
>Most of the time, background 'anything' will do, but when Offspring,
>Ramones or Idol come along, I want to be able to 'jack it'!
>
>When I sit down to listen, I'm a lot pickier than that..... truth is, I
>listen to anything done well. Wasn't it Glen Miller who said: "When it
>sounds good, it *is* good."? (punctuation is a bitch here...)

Speaking of Glenn Miller, have you heard the CD titled, "The Lost
Recordings"?

These were recordings of "The American Band of the Allied
Expeditionary Force" made to be broadcast into Germany. Miller is
even heard to announce some tunes in broken German.

The equipment was the best available at the time (they were using
multiple mics) and the studio was Abbey Road (of Beatles fame).

There are some vocals by Johnny Desmond and Ray McKinley (both
Sergeants at the time) and a very rare one by Dinah Shore. Great
stuff.

Miller was lost shortly after these were done.

--Yeah, I'm of the gotta-have-sounds tribe. I've been making do
with generic boombox with tape/cd/FM for years. Latest addition: Woot
had cordless rechargable headphones for sale for $39.- a pair the other
day. Now I'll be able to keep the beat when the power tools are turned
on.

--
"Steamboat Ed" Haas : Bummed to be living in the
Hacking the Trailing Edge! : Golden Age of Bullshit...
http://www.nmpproducts.com/intro.htm
---Decks a-wash in a sea of words---

Robatoy wrote:

> We have talked heating, lighting, storage, flooring for shops, and now I
> would like some input for a durable boombox-type solution.
> What are you guys using?

> Better sound for my shop. Needs to be loud, good low-end, preferably
> detachable speakers, so I can spread that image out a little. I have
> lots of speaker parts lying about, so I could cobble a few speakers
> together and go to the pawnshop and find me an old Technics receiver
> with 100 watts per side.....BUT... I don't have the
> time/will/inclination to go through that exercise. I guess I do want a
> boom-box. I wrote off the iPod idea as on a previous occasion, I found
> the earbud wires were getting snagged all the time.
> Bosch makes one, Milwaukee makes one, DeWalt makes one and I have seen
> others. None jump out at me. The Milwaukee sounded a bit better, but no
> CD, CDR or MP3. Bosch scored points, big time, when I found a video of
> them literally kicking the shit out that radio, throwing it down
> concrete stairs, no less.... but anemic sound--->no balls.
> Those job-site radios have stuff in them I don't need, GFI plugs and
> chargers, work lights and a 12-pocket tool pouch. *G*
>
> So help me out here, folks.... please

Speaking strictly for myself, if I put a system in the shop where I had
concerned myself with "image spread" I'd be listening to music into which I
was too involved.

That has happened to me a few times when I had a cassette player in the shop
- got so jazzed by the music I was playing that I lost my concentration and
screwed up.

So now I have a shoddy old AM/FM and I keep it on classical or sometimes a
little folk. I want to unwind, in the shop. Get in the groove. And do some
decent woodworking.

Just my opinion for myself.

Gregg

On Wed, 30 Nov 2005 10:48:11 -0500, Robatoy <[email protected]>
wrote:

>In article <[email protected]>, "Swingman" <[email protected]>
>wrote:
>
>> and for those golden eared wannabe
>> audiophile snobs
>
>lol....you've met some of my friends, have you?
>
>Klipsch, eh? What a blast (almost literally) from the past.
>One of my high-school teachers, I was buddies with his kid, had a single corner
>horn with a Radcliffe IIRC tube amp. Two big bottles (KT88's...again IIRC) on
>top of a box, glowing away, the filaments bouncing with the beat of the
>music...I was spell-bound.
>Unfortunately, all he listened to was military marching bands and German Miner's
>Choirs.
>
>Fast-Forward to my work at the National Research Council in Ottawa, where my
>mentor, Dr. Floyd Toole had a pair of horns with a DC 300 Crown pushing them.
>He extolled the virtues of horns every chance he had. High efficiency, Low
>Harmonic distortion.
>
>Indirectly, he was instrumental (no pun intended) in my interest in woodworking
>as I was a participant in the fabrication of a pair of folded horns made from
>marine ply and later a pair of British-style transmission-lines, IMF
>TLS-80-style.
>
>Thanks for the re-wind, Mr. Swing.

I once had a conversation with another ham operator who was located in
Tasmania. He was an elderly fellow who said that his career had been
in the motion picture business and that he had recreated a complete
historic movie theater at his home. He claimed to own a vintage
Edison projector S/N 2 or something like that.

For his "talkie" equipment he had a pair of huge horns that he said
would fill a theater with a few of watts of drive. To obtain one of
these he had driven (after sailing to the mainland) all the way to
Perth to bring it back.

Robatoy wrote:
> We have talked heating, lighting, storage, flooring for shops, and now I
> would like some input for a durable boombox-type solution.
> What are you guys using?


I've got an used stereo receiver I picked up on ebay for $25 along with some
older 10" 2-way speakers. I started out looking for a boombox solution but
after I priced them at the stores, realized that I could have much better
quality for less money by looking at used stereo equipment.



--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN

[email protected]

On Wed, 30 Nov 2005 05:25:30 -0500, Robatoy <[email protected]>
wrote:

>Bosch makes one, Milwaukee makes one, DeWalt makes one and I have seen
>others. None jump out at me. The Milwaukee sounded a bit better, but no
>CD, CDR or MP3. Bosch scored points, big time, when I found a video of
>them literally kicking the shit out that radio, throwing it down
>concrete stairs, no less.... but anemic sound--->no balls.
>Those job-site radios have stuff in them I don't need, GFI plugs and
>chargers, work lights and a 12-pocket tool pouch. *G*
>
>So help me out here, folks.... please

In the garage at home, I have a used $30 Ebay bookshelf style stereo.
The speakers are hung on the wall about 12' apart. The box is AM, FM,
cassette and CD/mp3. I bought it for the CD changer but rarely use
it. The whole unit is mounted high enough on the wall that it
doesn't interfere with anything so the remote is a very handy feature.

On the job I rarely use a radio unless I'm doing something that
doesn't require much thinking or if there's a Chiefs or KU game on. In
those cases I use a small walkman FM radio with earbuds.

I've worked around a lot of guys using the various portable job site
radios. I'd say 80% are the Dewalt but I think that's just because
they were the first ones around. They sound okay and are sure
portable enough to move around. Everytime I see one I have the urge
to toss it down the stairs to see if the commercials are true.:-)

Mike O.

On 2005/11/30 8:39 AM, "Saville" <[email protected]> wrote:

> Robatoy wrote:
>
>> We have talked heating, lighting, storage, flooring for shops, and now I
>> would like some input for a durable boombox-type solution.
>> What are you guys using?

>
> Speaking strictly for myself, if I put a system in the shop where I had
> concerned myself with "image spread" I'd be listening to music into which I
> was too involved.
>
> That has happened to me a few times when I had a cassette player in the shop
> - got so jazzed by the music I was playing that I lost my concentration and
> screwed up.

Yes, the music should be 'background" without being distracting. It is too
easy to screw up a project or have an accident when not paying full
attention.

That said, I listen to classic rock as background. Part of the reason to
escape to the workshop is so that I can listen to my music without my wife
complaining.

I use iTunes as my music source, running on a computer in the next room with
speaker wires passing through the wall and some indoor/outdoor speakers that
seem less bothered by saw dust. I have about 300 CDs ripped into my library
so I put iTunes on a random shuffle most of the time and let it do it's
thing.

Robatoy wrote:


> So help me out here, folks.... please
>
> TIA
>
> Rob
I use a 40GB iPod and Altec Lansing self powered speakers with a sub
woofer. It isn't the quality of my main stereo, but it's plenty good
for my shop. I placed a block of wood over the sub port to tighten the
bass. I paid $100 5 years ago. CompUSA now has them on sale for $49
and a Grand Opening of a CompUSA advertised them for $39 2 weeks ago.
My CD changer just gathers dust now. <g>

Dave

I'll second, third, or fourth the used equipment idea. Picked up a JVC
system off a local newsgroup with a 5 disc CD player, don't-know-how-many
watt receiver, couple of tower speakers, and a stand for $25. Works great,
the kids can open the garashop door and listen to the music when I'm not
around, life is pretty good. The neighborhood kids used it for an air band
at the street BBQ this fall, and it sounded not bad. The dust in the shop
may not be the best for it, but at $25, who cares. Blow it out once in a
while, and life goes on.

Clint

"Robatoy" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> We have talked heating, lighting, storage, flooring for shops, and now I
> would like some input for a durable boombox-type solution.
> What are you guys using?
>
> Heading into the Christmas season (SWMBO was in it back in April
> already) friends and family are all very busy trying to find out if
> anybody has any particular wishes.
>
> The kid? Easy. She would like a cell-phone. She'll be 12 a week before
> Christmas, and we're allowed to 'double-up' the gift in order for her to
> rationalize the concept of greed looking like need. She has confided in
> me that not all phones are created equal. Although her mother is
> perfectly capable to set her own VCR, swap video cards, string ethernet
> cable through the house, and other technical high-wire acts, the kid
> still prefers to discuss those matters with me as I have a better idea
> of 'toy-value'. She has arranged a folder on my business computer with a
> whack of bookmarks all set to take me to the sites which feature all the
> latest phones. "Well, dad," (whilst rubbing my shoulders) " The one I
> listed with FIVE asterisks, will need a bigger memory card, otherwise
> all you get is about 20 seconds of 1.3 megapixel video, and if you
> already have 100 iTunes downloaded, well, you get the picture, right
> dad?" *squeeze, rub, and hug and a kiss* "Oh, by the way, is there
> anything YOU would like?" I heard a snicker from up the stairs. Little
> Shit's visit in my office had a dual purpose...she was on a spying
> mission. "I want better sound in the shop" I said without any part of
> that utterance having gone through my brain.
> She lit up: "Like a Blaster Boom Box??"....."COOL!!" She was gone, in
> two strides, up 13 steps to where she had heard her mother snicker
> earlier.
>
> When you want to know what's on sale in Hong Kong, my trusty Grundig
> will dial in a SW radio station that will tell you. As is the trouble
> with so many geek-radios, they'll suck in a walky-talky discussion from
> two scientists swimming under the South Pole ice-cap, but the sound
> quality invariably sucks. Mine has a tone control, which changes the
> sound from awful/screech to awful/grumble. It is, however a capable
> piece and built like a tank, it just has a rough time setting my foot to
> tappin'. Music is in my blood. I have the bruises to prove it. Just a
> few days ago, Little Shit and I were in the mall walking past a store
> which sells things you can poke through your skin/lip/ears. The music,
> at that particular moment was Joey Ramone's version of Wonderful World,
> I automatically switched into headbanger mode and made a few dance steps
> culminating into a sharp pain on my upper right arm. Looking to where
> the punch had come from, I saw Little Shit, with her eyes bigger than I
> had ever seen them, hands on hips: "DAD, somebody here might recognize
> me!!"
>
> Better sound for my shop. Needs to be loud, good low-end, preferably
> detachable speakers, so I can spread that image out a little. I have
> lots of speaker parts lying about, so I could cobble a few speakers
> together and go to the pawnshop and find me an old Technics receiver
> with 100 watts per side.....BUT... I don't have the
> time/will/inclination to go through that exercise. I guess I do want a
> boom-box. I wrote off the iPod idea as on a previous occasion, I found
> the earbud wires were getting snagged all the time.
> Bosch makes one, Milwaukee makes one, DeWalt makes one and I have seen
> others. None jump out at me. The Milwaukee sounded a bit better, but no
> CD, CDR or MP3. Bosch scored points, big time, when I found a video of
> them literally kicking the shit out that radio, throwing it down
> concrete stairs, no less.... but anemic sound--->no balls.
> Those job-site radios have stuff in them I don't need, GFI plugs and
> chargers, work lights and a 12-pocket tool pouch. *G*
>
> So help me out here, folks.... please
>
> TIA
>
> Rob

The Kansas City market does not support "Easy Listening" stations. I have a
stereo receiver in my shop with 4 ceiling mounted 10 speakers. I subscribe
to XM Radio and my receiver transmits on any of several frequencies on the
FM Broadcast band and has enough power to cover my house and detached garage
that is about 50 ft from the house. I then have Channel 24 easy listening
music at any radio or stereo receiver in the house or shop and really enjoy
it.

Don Dando


"Swingman" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> "Robatoy" wrote in message
>
> > Better sound for my shop. Needs to be loud, good low-end, preferably
> > detachable speakers, so I can spread that image out a little.
>
> Besides a radio for general background, I have two music setups for when I
> am in that mood:
>
> An single unit "iBoom" that holds and charges my iPod, and a pair of small
> Klipsch self powered speakers, to which I can also plug the iPod, either
> directly or through a dock.
>
> The iBoom was a gift and is light on both volume and bottom end, and only
> has an FM radio reception with two channel presets ... I would not
recommend
> one.
>
> Those two little plastic Klipsch suckers are loud, have an amazing bottom
> end for their size, and sound good enough that we picked up two extra
pair -
> one for the TV in bedroom, and one for the island in the kitchen, the
latter
> to which the whole family danced this past week at Thanksgiving.
>
> Interestingly, both retail for the same $99.00 price.
>
> Anyone contemplating something for an iPod, particularly in shop setting,
> should definitely check out the Klipsch before springing bigger bucks for
> Bose et al at four times the price ... and for those golden eared wannabe
> audiophile snobs, don't bother with your self-delusional guffaws... this
is
> for shop/casual listening environments.
>
> --
> www.e-woodshop.net
> Last update: 11/06/05
>
>

One word: DirecTV

I live in the midst of numerous trees, no yard at all. Still could put up
the satellite antenna and get a fine picture.

Steve

"Wes Stewart" <n7ws*@*yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Wed, 30 Nov 2005 05:25:30 -0500, Robatoy <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
>>We have talked heating, lighting, storage, flooring for shops, and now I
>>would like some input for a durable boombox-type solution.
>>What are you guys using?
>
> My receiver used to be in my wife's PU truck. It had tape instead of a
> CD player so I found a CD version on ebay and swapped them. It sits
> on top of the beer fridge and is powered by a 12V supply I already
> had.
>
> The speakers are a pair of old 10" Fishers that came with a packaged
> "hi-fi" rack system many years ago. They were in the living room
> before we spent $6K on an Ethan Allen entertainment center that isn't
> going to hold a modern wide-screen TV when the US Gummit forces the
> changeover to DTV that I won't be able to receive in my fringe
> location.

I use an older radio receiver (Kenwood I think) and its hooked to the
old style wire antenna and a pair of 14x28 speaker boxes which are set
up in the pitched part of the roof on the back wall above the ceiling
joists (no ceiling). Works great, low or loud, and its outta the way.
Receiver sets on a small shelf along that back wall. I've a thin cheese
cloth over it so no problem with sawdust.
John

Robatoy wrote:
> We have talked heating, lighting, storage, flooring for shops, and now I
> would like some input for a durable boombox-type solution.
> What are you guys using?

I do what JT does in the sound department. I just have an old used
radio that I put on a shelf. I don't have it turned up very loud.
When I start a machine, the music gets drowned out, as it should. I
want to hear what is happening when I am cutting, routing, drilling,
etc, not what is on the radio.

Make more sawdust,

Woodworkerdan
Dan Harriman
Orange, Texas

[email protected] (J T) wrote in
news:[email protected]:

> Wed, Nov 30, 2005, 5:25am [email protected] (Robatoy)
> burbled:
><snip> I would like some input for a durable boombox-type solution.
>What
> are you guys using? <snip>
>
> You've got to be joking, right? I go to my shop to relax.
> Sometimes I even do some woodworking out there. It's a small
> shop, but I've got the perfect sound setup. It's a small, used,
> portable radio, hanging off a nail,
> snip.....
As far as I'm concerned, it's a perfect
> sound "system" for my shop.
>
> JOAT
>

[email protected] wrote in news:1133378351.001919.134440
@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com:

>
> snip shop audio stuff....
>
>
>> I do want a
>> boom-box. I wrote off the iPod idea as on a previous occasion, I found
>> the earbud wires were getting snagged all the time.
>
>> Rob
>
>
>
> I had a series of boom boxes which all died sawdusty deaths. now I have
> an ipod. I have the earbuds tucked into the foam inserts of a cheap set
> of hearing protectors, which seems to improve the sound quality a bit,
> and the cables routed underneath my shirt, which seems to be enough to
> keep them from getting snagged on stuff. the ipod mini is small enough
> to not be too bulky in my pocket, but today I'd probably get a nano.
>

The Nano works great! The days just flew along, working in the shop.

Then I had to go back to work. At work.

Patriarch

On Wed, 30 Nov 2005 05:25:30 -0500, Robatoy <[email protected]>
wrote:

>We have talked heating, lighting, storage, flooring for shops, and now I
>would like some input for a durable boombox-type solution.
>What are you guys using?

My receiver used to be in my wife's PU truck. It had tape instead of a
CD player so I found a CD version on ebay and swapped them. It sits
on top of the beer fridge and is powered by a 12V supply I already
had.

The speakers are a pair of old 10" Fishers that came with a packaged
"hi-fi" rack system many years ago. They were in the living room
before we spent $6K on an Ethan Allen entertainment center that isn't
going to hold a modern wide-screen TV when the US Gummit forces the
changeover to DTV that I won't be able to receive in my fringe
location.

"Don Dando" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> The Kansas City market does not support "Easy Listening" stations. I have
> a
> stereo receiver in my shop with 4 ceiling mounted 10 speakers. I
> subscribe
> to XM Radio and my receiver transmits on any of several frequencies on the
> FM Broadcast band and has enough power to cover my house and detached
> garage
> that is about 50 ft from the house. I then have Channel 24 easy listening
> music at any radio or stereo receiver in the house or shop and really
> enjoy
> it.



I have a used cd walkman, power is 2 AA batteries, connected line out to a
set of old computer speakers powered by an ac adapter.
I burn my music from computer to disc and use the discs in the shop. This
way I can listen to what I want.

Dan J

In article <[email protected]>,
Wes Stewart <n7ws*@*yahoo.com> wrote:

> On Wed, 30 Nov 2005 16:38:50 -0500, Robatoy <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
> >In article <[email protected]>,
> > "Don Dando" <[email protected]> wrote:
> >
> >> The Kansas City market does not support "Easy Listening" stations.
> >
> >Most of the time, background 'anything' will do, but when Offspring,
> >Ramones or Idol come along, I want to be able to 'jack it'!
> >
> >When I sit down to listen, I'm a lot pickier than that..... truth is, I
> >listen to anything done well. Wasn't it Glen Miller who said: "When it
> >sounds good, it *is* good."? (punctuation is a bitch here...)
>
> Speaking of Glenn Miller, have you heard the CD titled, "The Lost
> Recordings"?
>
No I haven't, but I will. Thanks.

In article <[email protected]>,
"Don Dando" <[email protected]> wrote:

> The Kansas City market does not support "Easy Listening" stations.

Most of the time, background 'anything' will do, but when Offspring,
Ramones or Idol come along, I want to be able to 'jack it'!

When I sit down to listen, I'm a lot pickier than that..... truth is, I
listen to anything done well. Wasn't it Glen Miller who said: "When it
sounds good, it *is* good."? (punctuation is a bitch here...)

In article <[email protected]>,
Larry Blanchard <[email protected]> wrote:

> On Wed, 30 Nov 2005 05:25:30 -0500, Robatoy wrote:
>
> > We have talked heating, lighting, storage, flooring for shops, and now I
> > would like some input for a durable boombox-type solution. What are you
> > guys using?
>
> I can always tell when people are yonger than me by their atitude towards
> silence :-).
>
> One of the nicest things about hand tools in the workshop is their low or
> non-existent sound levels.
>
> P.S. I love to listen to music, assuming that it fits my
> musical preferences. But when I'm working with tools that can hurt me, I
> don't want to be distracted by music - I want my attenion where it belongs.

I appreciate your response. I'm a bit surprised that it wasn't mentioned
earlier because it is a legitimate viewpoint. Distraction of any kind
can be dangerous. For instance, when I do a full 1-1/2" bullnose (That
bit is 'captive'..i.e. no wiggle room) around an island top for
somebody, I concentrate to the point where I will lock the shop-door
before I start, lest I be startled by somebody's arrival. I'm pretty
diligent when it comes to safety. I will NEVER play air guitar with a
router in my hands..but I have been known to do that with a sander.

My silent pieces come in big chunks in the summer at the shore of the
Bay Of Fundy. 3 days to de-compress before opening that first Keith's
beer of the season (I do not consume any alcohol during the rest of the
year) and no sounds other than the diesel of a fisherman setting out his
lobster traps, a bit of surf, and the fluffing up of the duvet because
it's bed-time.

In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] (J T) wrote:

> You've got to be joking, right?

Dude...I *never* joke around...

In article <[email protected]>,
"Duke of Burl" <[email protected]> wrote:

> Netgear wireless media player in the clean part of the garage/shop.
> Speakers mounted to the ceiling. 300 cds on a hard drive. I can make
> a play list or just choose a genre to play.

Mmmmm...wireless..... that got my attention. My shoppe is approx 180 feet from
my house... doable. Self-powered speakers..no muss no fuss.

RealAudio radio... stations from the Caribbean/Netherlands/Detroit/BBC/CBC via
the net..ohhhkay!

Do I leave the laptop at the house..or stick it in a bag at the shoppe? These
days, I have to go home to check my mail/messages..and I always raid the fridge
doing so.

Thanks Duke!

Search is ON!!!

In article <[email protected]>, "Swingman" <[email protected]>
wrote:

> and for those golden eared wannabe
> audiophile snobs

lol....you've met some of my friends, have you?

Klipsch, eh? What a blast (almost literally) from the past.
One of my high-school teachers, I was buddies with his kid, had a single corner
horn with a Radcliffe IIRC tube amp. Two big bottles (KT88's...again IIRC) on
top of a box, glowing away, the filaments bouncing with the beat of the
music...I was spell-bound.
Unfortunately, all he listened to was military marching bands and German Miner's
Choirs.

Fast-Forward to my work at the National Research Council in Ottawa, where my
mentor, Dr. Floyd Toole had a pair of horns with a DC 300 Crown pushing them.
He extolled the virtues of horns every chance he had. High efficiency, Low
Harmonic distortion.

Indirectly, he was instrumental (no pun intended) in my interest in woodworking
as I was a participant in the fabrication of a pair of folded horns made from
marine ply and later a pair of British-style transmission-lines, IMF
TLS-80-style.

Thanks for the re-wind, Mr. Swing.

In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] wrote:

> at the very least you
> need a radio for psycedlic sundays on Q107.

Any more 'live' Stones concerts lately? <EG>

Come ON! Without joking too much, I built my shop so I could make
sound things (speakers). My first projects were speakers. I ended
up buying bre-built JBL theater speakers (15" + horn) for $125ea, new.
The amp is a Klipsch (for computer speakers) 4 ch, 60w per amp that
drives these babies in bi-amp mode, home made active X-over, etc.
It used to be the loudest thing in the house (evil grin) 'til the
last speaker project was finished.

Chris

--
Chris Richmond | I don't speak for Intel & vise versa

PC with Creative audigy card and ATI all in wonder 9600. 65 GB of High
quality recording. Outputs to Pioneer surround hand me down from the house.
Ancient set of 4 Sansui 12" speakers that still rock. Dishnetwork feed
including Sirius and cd quality music, DSL for streaming and s-video output
to an old 20" TV for watching the Packers. Or are you referring to the Strat
and the 1965 Fender twin reverb to which comfort would you be referring ;-)
I guess you could say the shop is media enabled....

Yep, got radiant heat too. Full time out there starting 1-3-06


"Rudolph Wilhelm" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
E, so you finally upgraded that junk rack mount. Guess I'm gonna have
to stop out with my chisels and fire up that tormek. b


On Wed, 30 Nov 2005 13:04:28 -0600, "Knothead" <[email protected]>
wrote:

>PC with Creative audigy card and ATI all in wonder 9600. 65 GB of High
>quality recording. Outputs to Pioneer surround hand me down from the house.
>Ancient set of 4 Sansui 12" speakers that still rock. Dishnetwork feed
>including Sirius and cd quality music, DSL for streaming and s-video output
>to an old 20" TV for watching the Packers. Or are you referring to the
>Strat
>and the 1965 Fender twin reverb to which comfort would you be referring ;-)
>I guess you could say the shop is media enabled....
>

Larry Blanchard wrote:
> On Wed, 30 Nov 2005 05:25:30 -0500, Robatoy wrote:
>
>
>>We have talked heating, lighting, storage, flooring for shops, and now I
>>would like some input for a durable boombox-type solution. What are you
>>guys using?
>
>
> I can always tell when people are yonger than me by their atitude towards
> silence :-).
>
> One of the nicest things about hand tools in the workshop is their low or
> non-existent sound levels.
>
> P.S. I love to listen to music, assuming that it fits my
> musical preferences. But when I'm working with tools that can hurt me, I
> don't want to be distracted by music - I want my attenion where it belongs.

I've gotta seriously wonder about this argument. I mean, how much time
(percentage-wise) are you guys actually working with tools when you are in
your shop? For me, that amount is relatively small (10% ?), with the rest
being taken up by cleaning, assembly, planning, organizing, laying out,
marking, etc.

I've got an old boom box that I sometimes plug my iPod Shuffle into right
now, with plans to move an old unused laptop (with a dead display) out there
for MP3/AAC/whatever access (side note... check out http://pandora.com). But
right now, I usually leave it on the one FM station I can pick up that isn't
absolute crap. When I'm running the ROS or another noise making tool that I
feel comfortable semi-zoning out with, I use those ear-muff type things with
the built-in radio (GREAT for mowing the lawn, BTW). When I'm using any tool
that could be slightly dangerous, the ear-muffs still go on, but I leave the
radio in them turned off.

-John in NH

I tried the boom box and was disappointed, so I installed four high end 6
inch ceiling speakers and a self powered sub-woofer in the outer wall. Now I
can blast the windows out if I want,seriously now I get great sound in any
part of the shop and as I move around.


len

So I heard, congratulations on the big change.

On Thu, 1 Dec 2005 05:59:49 -0600, "Knothead" <[email protected]>
wrote:

>Yep, got radiant heat too. Full time out there starting 1-3-06
>
>
>"Rudolph Wilhelm" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...
>E, so you finally upgraded that junk rack mount. Guess I'm gonna have
>to stop out with my chisels and fire up that tormek. b
>
>
>On Wed, 30 Nov 2005 13:04:28 -0600, "Knothead" <[email protected]>
>wrote:
>
>>PC with Creative audigy card and ATI all in wonder 9600. 65 GB of High
>>quality recording. Outputs to Pioneer surround hand me down from the house.
>>Ancient set of 4 Sansui 12" speakers that still rock. Dishnetwork feed
>>including Sirius and cd quality music, DSL for streaming and s-video output
>>to an old 20" TV for watching the Packers. Or are you referring to the
>>Strat
>>and the 1965 Fender twin reverb to which comfort would you be referring ;-)
>>I guess you could say the shop is media enabled....
>>
>

On Wed, 30 Nov 2005 05:25:30 -0500, Robatoy wrote:

> We have talked heating, lighting, storage, flooring for shops, and now I
> would like some input for a durable boombox-type solution. What are you
> guys using?

I can always tell when people are yonger than me by their atitude towards
silence :-).

One of the nicest things about hand tools in the workshop is their low or
non-existent sound levels.

P.S. I love to listen to music, assuming that it fits my
musical preferences. But when I'm working with tools that can hurt me, I
don't want to be distracted by music - I want my attenion where it belongs.

On Wed, 30 Nov 2005 05:25:30 -0500, Robatoy wrote:

> We have talked heating, lighting, storage, flooring for shops, and now I
> would like some input for a durable boombox-type solution. What are you
> guys using?


An old clock radio turned low to 90.9 FM (in Detroit) WRCJ, I think ...
classical radio all day, classical jazz all night.

It is background to my thinking, not competition. In fact, it's seldom
even turned on.

I can ignore it when I need to think clearly but it's 'there' when I have
an idle moment not requiring any sort of focus. When I'm doing any sort of
concentrated thinking (figuring flow rate in fpm of my DC, for instance),
it gets turned off.

I don't go to the basement to listen to music. I go there to make shavings
and dust.

Bill

E, so you finally upgraded that junk rack mount. Guess I'm gonna have
to stop out with my chisels and fire up that tormek. b


On Wed, 30 Nov 2005 13:04:28 -0600, "Knothead" <[email protected]>
wrote:

>PC with Creative audigy card and ATI all in wonder 9600. 65 GB of High
>quality recording. Outputs to Pioneer surround hand me down from the house.
>Ancient set of 4 Sansui 12" speakers that still rock. Dishnetwork feed
>including Sirius and cd quality music, DSL for streaming and s-video output
>to an old 20" TV for watching the Packers. Or are you referring to the Strat
>and the 1965 Fender twin reverb to which comfort would you be referring ;-)
>I guess you could say the shop is media enabled....
>

Pioneer receiver $100 (or cheaper)
KLH indoor/outdoor speakers $65 a pair

You should be able to rock the neighborhood with that.


Robatoy wrote:
> We have talked heating, lighting, storage, flooring for shops, and now I
> would like some input for a durable boombox-type solution.
> What are you guys using?

On Wed, 30 Nov 2005 05:25:30 -0500, Robatoy <[email protected]>
wrote:

>We have talked heating, lighting, storage, flooring for shops, and now I
>would like some input for a durable boombox-type solution.
>What are you guys using?
>
>Heading into the Christmas season (SWMBO was in it back in April
>already) friends and family are all very busy trying to find out if
>anybody has any particular wishes.
>
>The kid? Easy. She would like a cell-phone. She'll be 12 a week before
>Christmas, and we're allowed to 'double-up' the gift in order for her to
>rationalize the concept of greed looking like need. She has confided in
>me that not all phones are created equal. Although her mother is
>perfectly capable to set her own VCR, swap video cards, string ethernet
>cable through the house, and other technical high-wire acts, the kid
>still prefers to discuss those matters with me as I have a better idea
>of 'toy-value'. She has arranged a folder on my business computer with a
>whack of bookmarks all set to take me to the sites which feature all the
>latest phones. "Well, dad," (whilst rubbing my shoulders) " The one I
>listed with FIVE asterisks, will need a bigger memory card, otherwise
>all you get is about 20 seconds of 1.3 megapixel video, and if you
>already have 100 iTunes downloaded, well, you get the picture, right
>dad?" *squeeze, rub, and hug and a kiss* "Oh, by the way, is there
>anything YOU would like?" I heard a snicker from up the stairs. Little
>Shit's visit in my office had a dual purpose...she was on a spying
>mission. "I want better sound in the shop" I said without any part of
>that utterance having gone through my brain.
>She lit up: "Like a Blaster Boom Box??"....."COOL!!" She was gone, in
>two strides, up 13 steps to where she had heard her mother snicker
>earlier.
>
>When you want to know what's on sale in Hong Kong, my trusty Grundig
>will dial in a SW radio station that will tell you. As is the trouble
>with so many geek-radios, they'll suck in a walky-talky discussion from
>two scientists swimming under the South Pole ice-cap, but the sound
>quality invariably sucks. Mine has a tone control, which changes the
>sound from awful/screech to awful/grumble. It is, however a capable
>piece and built like a tank, it just has a rough time setting my foot to
>tappin'. Music is in my blood. I have the bruises to prove it. Just a
>few days ago, Little Shit and I were in the mall walking past a store
>which sells things you can poke through your skin/lip/ears. The music,
>at that particular moment was Joey Ramone's version of Wonderful World,
>I automatically switched into headbanger mode and made a few dance steps
>culminating into a sharp pain on my upper right arm. Looking to where
>the punch had come from, I saw Little Shit, with her eyes bigger than I
>had ever seen them, hands on hips: "DAD, somebody here might recognize
>me!!"
>
>Better sound for my shop. Needs to be loud, good low-end, preferably
>detachable speakers, so I can spread that image out a little. I have
>lots of speaker parts lying about, so I could cobble a few speakers
>together and go to the pawnshop and find me an old Technics receiver
>with 100 watts per side.....BUT... I don't have the
>time/will/inclination to go through that exercise. I guess I do want a
>boom-box. I wrote off the iPod idea as on a previous occasion, I found
>the earbud wires were getting snagged all the time.
>Bosch makes one, Milwaukee makes one, DeWalt makes one and I have seen
>others. None jump out at me. The Milwaukee sounded a bit better, but no
>CD, CDR or MP3. Bosch scored points, big time, when I found a video of
>them literally kicking the shit out that radio, throwing it down
>concrete stairs, no less.... but anemic sound--->no balls.
>Those job-site radios have stuff in them I don't need, GFI plugs and
>chargers, work lights and a 12-pocket tool pouch. *G*
>
>So help me out here, folks.... please
>
>TIA
>
>Rob

yard sale 20 bucks detached speakers am fm cassette. cheep sealed unit
keeps dust out ok. if it quits i will throw it out and find another
yard sale. a nice reciever like you mention will have vents in it to
allow heat to escape and will allow dust ti get in. IE it wont last
too long. the cheep ones have no vents because they dont have enough
power to build up heat. but they sound fine for the shop.

skeez

Robatoy wrote:
> We have talked heating, lighting, storage, flooring for shops, and now I
> would like some input for a durable boombox-type solution.
> What are you guys using?
>
G'day Robatoy,
I have a cheap $100.00 CD, Radio, Tape deck. The unit is in an overhead
Cabinet with the two speakers hung on the wall.
Good sound and no dust in the workings. Clean the speakers, just crank
up the volume :)
regards
John

Robatoy wrote:
> We have talked heating, lighting, storage, flooring for shops, and now I
> would like some input for a durable boombox-type solution.
> What are you guys using?

It's not a boom-box, but I'm nicely set up in that dept.

I have a tag sale stereo with four Wharfdale speakers. Receivers that
don't have surround or AV capabilites, but still have decent sound and
power are a dime-a-dozen at yard sales. {don't these people have
garages? <G>} Attached to the receiver is an XM tuner and a $3 yard
sale CD Walkman.

The sound system is located at the cleaner end of the shop, in an area
with little air flow, and it gets surprisingly little dust on it. When
I remember, I blast everything out with dry compressed air. The
speakers are simply hung from j-hooks driven into the ceiling.

Not counting the XM capability, the whole rig was less than $100. Did I
mention that it included a remote? <G>

Out of the shop, the XM and CD player connect to a DeWalt
charger/boombox that I literally found on the side of the road.

Barry

Robatoy <[email protected]> writes:
>We have talked heating, lighting, storage, flooring for shops, and now I
>would like some input for a durable boombox-type solution.
>What are you guys using?

Line-level audio run from the primary system (via 75-ohm RG6/U) room-2
output to a 25 year old Kenwood 35 wpc integrated amp (KA-3500)
feeding a pair of Yamaha bookshelf speakers.

Feeding the main system is a pair of Sony CDP-400 changers
configured for random-play alternating between players for
no delay between songs. 700 discs at approx 10 songs per
for a 7000 song random play catalog (30% jazz, 70% rock).

"Robatoy" wrote in message

> Better sound for my shop. Needs to be loud, good low-end, preferably
> detachable speakers, so I can spread that image out a little.

Besides a radio for general background, I have two music setups for when I
am in that mood:

An single unit "iBoom" that holds and charges my iPod, and a pair of small
Klipsch self powered speakers, to which I can also plug the iPod, either
directly or through a dock.

The iBoom was a gift and is light on both volume and bottom end, and only
has an FM radio reception with two channel presets ... I would not recommend
one.

Those two little plastic Klipsch suckers are loud, have an amazing bottom
end for their size, and sound good enough that we picked up two extra pair -
one for the TV in bedroom, and one for the island in the kitchen, the latter
to which the whole family danced this past week at Thanksgiving.

Interestingly, both retail for the same $99.00 price.

Anyone contemplating something for an iPod, particularly in shop setting,
should definitely check out the Klipsch before springing bigger bucks for
Bose et al at four times the price ... and for those golden eared wannabe
audiophile snobs, don't bother with your self-delusional guffaws... this is
for shop/casual listening environments.

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 11/06/05