What makes a good shop stereo system for 60x60x20 area?

[josephk]

There is a lot of details in speakers and usually you can only roughly compare 2 brands even with the same specs,
was it tested in free field or half space, how long was the sample file, what is the crest factor of it, and much more.

If you can afford it get a Danley Sound Labs box and never look back...

 

[cosmos_275]

Seriously, the Roland Keyboard amps sound great and put out more than the wattage would seem to indicate. I'd probably buy this one: KC200 new Behringer in kinda bottom feeder quality from what I remember (haven't bought pro audio gear in a while). I'm probably put my money on Mackie or Yamaha. Like so: new mackie

I wouldn't worry about THD. You're talking about a signal coming from Pandora which is crap mp3 quality. Stock PC sound card are usually so-so as well. I run one of these off my PC: presonus and I upload my tunes in CD quality most of the time.

 

[josephk]

I would also not place on 4 corners, you will have more phase cancelation issues like that, the less speakers the better unless the roof is to low or you have a multicellular array..

 

[josephk]

Seriously, the Roland Keyboard amps sound great and put out more than the wattage would seem to indicate. I'd probably buy this one: KC200 new Behringer in kinda bottom feeder quality from what I remember (haven't bought pro audio gear in a while). I'm probably put my money on Mackie or Yamaha. Like so: new mackie

I wouldn't worry about THD. You're talking about a signal coming from Pandora which is crap mp3 quality. Stock PC sound card are usually so-so as well. I run one of these off my PC: presonus and I upload my tunes in CD quality most of the time.

The "old" thump used to be junk hardware, the SRM was better(6-8 years ago I did not follow up with the small stuff since)

 

[Garwood]

Guy with the JBL's just texted back he'd take even less if I buy today.

Boy this is tough...

 

[richard newman]

I have a pair of really old (40+yrs) Altec Lansing 15" coaxial speakers mounted in shop made ported enclosures along with bullet tweeters. Powered with a vintage NAD 7100 receiver, sounded great in my old 5000' shop with 14' ceilings, really loud but clean. Moving 6 yrs ago, some clod put his foot thru one of the paper cones (okay, it was me) so I'm getting by with smaller hifi stuff in a 3000' space. Big let down.

Maybe you should look for a pair of Altec Lansing A-7 "Voice of the Theater" speakers, those things were legendary, huge and super efficient. In the 60's in college a friend had one of them in his bedroom, with a hot 400 watt amp.
We would all get together and crank it up to listen to new records when they dropped, I still remember "Sergeant Pepper's", holy shit!

 

[sheys]

Guy with the JBL's just texted back he'd take even less if I buy today.

I don't think you'll be disappointed with the EON15's. I'm not sure how I got by without mine!

 

[Rob F.]

Guy with the JBL's just texted back he'd take even less if I buy today.

Boy this is tough...

Get in the truck and go get them, the 12" might be good and 4 of them might be hard to get to sound good but the two 15" will be good and way less worries about canceling each other out and tuning the locations. Bring him cash and offer $300, just have enough small bills to make up any amount to $400.
Also two is less wires to run and 1/2 the chance of being damaged in the shop.
Maybe ask the guy if you pay full price will he deliver them?

 

[plastikdreams]

Bose soundtouch...more than enough for that size space.

 

[Greg Menke]

craigslist bottom-feeder JBL's are handy- the 2x00 series is light & small, very common, sounds decent, cheap to buy and fix or just toss and get another when the old cones tear. Amps are cheap too, I like the simple old silver-face amp's of the 70's; super easy to fix, real knobs and buttons etc. Its easy to hit the wrong buttons on the the 80's and later plastic units with the junky low contrast buttons. Easy enough to hook up to the computer audio port or a bluetooth receiver. Theres a good alternative FM station in town- which makes a nice change to messing with playlists.

For my shop I use an old Nikko 6065 that I restored w/ 4 of the aforementioned JBL's which sit on shelves I made at about head height to get them up out of the way. There is a couple foot square sweet spot over near the hacksaw where they all balance out and sound really nice.

Alternatively some of the new T class amps are really small and sound way better than the design suggests they should.

Its fun watching millenials mess with old stereos, they <love> the real buttons and knobs

 

[Chip Chester]

When buying older speakers, try to stay away from foam surrounds (the flexy bit between the cone an the frame). That stuff deteriorates over time, and quality replacement foam surrounds may not be around when you need them. Plus they're tedious to install.

Old-school rubberized fabric surrounds last a good long while, and stay pretty flexible.

There are other tests to make sure you're getting something that will work well, but the best is listening, of course. If they can't demo them, take your own amp. You can also gently and evenly push down the woofer cone, and listen for scratching. Recone is in order if you hear it.

There's an interesting thread here:
Foam panel speakers | Audiokarma Home Audio Stereo Discussion Forums
...about speaker drivers that are used to turn large panels into speakers. Panels like 4x8 sheets of 2" blue foam insulation, for instance. A couple of them flying in the rafters could be interesting...

 

[10 fingers]

I resist reading, and may have never responded to an OT post. However, have been down the same path. Listen to commercial free, internet radio broadcast in FLAC. Play thru Klipsch Pro Media 2.1 computer speakers with sub woofer.(Available on Amazon.) Visitors are always impressed with the fidelity. Owe it to yourself to hear music broadcast in streaming, FLAC.

 

[Garwood]

Bought the JBL's for $220 with a bunch of cables.

It was pretty awesome to plug my phone into one and get that kind of sound.

 

[Rob F.]

SWEET!!

 

[wheelieking71]

For my shop I use an old Nikko 6065 that I restored w/ 4 of the aforementioned JBL's which sit on shelves I made at about head height to get them up out of the way.

Did someone say Nikko?! LOL



If you look real close, you can see my Nikko Alpha-II in that pic (and, the Beta pre-amp). Super awesome old gear!

 

[richard newman]

Speaking of cables, what does one really need for a 40' run? I know some guys insist on 2 gauge micro-braided solid gold, but what is really reasonable?

 

[wheelieking71]

Speaking of cables, what does one really need for a 40' run? I know some guys insist on 2 gauge micro-braided solid gold, but what is really reasonable?

Depends how much power. I know 14ga is plenty to send 150watts 60ft.
Whatever you do, if you are using speaker cable that is way longer than needed? And, don't want to cut it?
Do not coil the extra up. You will create a giant inductor. And all kinds of weird stuff will happen! LOL

 

[Garwood]

I don't know what to say. These things are incredible!

This forum rocks, thanks again!!!

 

[wheelieking71]

This forum rocks, thanks again!!!

And, so does your shop now!

 

[josephk]

And, so does your shop now!

Now we need ear protection