Workshop sound wiring

[Phil S]

Need some help from some of the audiophiles out there.
I am getting ready to prewire for speakers in my shop and hoping to gain direction from the vast expertise of the members. My shop is 24 x 28 with a vaulted ceiling starting at 9' and rising to 13'
I will be driving the system with a Sony STR-DE445 receiver. I will most likely be using new speakers as my old studio monitors are sort of whooped.
Any ideas on type and placement of speakers?

Happy Holidays
Phil

 

[Tarhead]

Replace the drivers in your old speakers or build some new ones. These vendors all have great service and low prices:
http://www.parts-express.com/ (They have a great forum)
http://www.madisound.com/index.php
http://www.mcmelectronics.com/

 

[DanR]

Hi Phil,
If you want to put in-ceiling speakers in then these are good:

http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10837&cs_id=1083703&p_id=4104&seq=1&format=2

and this is the wire I am using:

http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10239&cs_id=1023901&p_id=2817&seq=1&format=2

 

[Phil S]

Hi Phil,
If you want to put in-ceiling speakers in then these are good:

http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10837&cs_id=1083703&p_id=4104&seq=1&format=2

and this is the wire I am using:

http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10239&cs_id=1023901&p_id=2817&seq=1&format=2

Do you think those will work in a suspended acoustical ceiling? How many would you use and how far apart? all four corners?

 

[DanR]

Do you think those will work in a suspended acoustical ceiling? How many would you use and how far apart? all four corners?

Sorry Phil, I have never worked with a suspended ceiling. Is there a standard amount of weight that suspended ceilings will support?

 

[kommon_sense]

Take a look at the emotiva products. www.emotiva.com . They are making a real name for themselves in the budget audiophile community. Look at their in-wall and in-ceiling speakers.

 

[NCTurner]

Personaly I would look for a nice set or two of Polks. Check ebay and CL.

Link

Link

 

[eyekode]

Phil, ideally you want the tweeters at ear level. That could mean lots of things. If you need them high angle them down. If you need them low angle them up.

But I wouldnt stress it. I just got finished hooking up my garage tonight. My wife excercise out there and my "shop" is in the other half of the garage. You wont reach audiophile level in a non dedicated room anyway. That being said I am very happy with my setup. I bought a cheap class-D amplifier, and airport express and reused an awsome sub and some bookshelf Boston Acoustics. I can stream music to it from my phone. My wife can stream from the iPad and all components are relatively sealed and free from dust issues. Since the amp is sow power i dont even need to turn anything on/off. Fun!!

Salem

 

[kooshball]

The answers to this thread could get expensive...how much are you willing to spend?

 

[Phil S]

Thanks for the help and suggestions. My current plan is: run 10 gauge wire to each corner of the room about 7 feet up and run a center speaker wire plus a sub wire in the center of one wall. For speakers I will most likely go with Bose, but I am going to do some more research to ensure they can withstand the shop environment and a temp swing of probably 45 to 80
Merry Christmas

 

[toolferone]

The pair of these I built was my 1st project with my biscuit jointer about 14 years ago. It is a 5" woofer and a 1" soft dome tweeter from Radio shack. Nothing fancy. They have been my shop speakers their whole life and they still sound great.

 

[eyekode]

Don't get caught up in audiophile cables. I buy all mine from monoprice and couldn't be happier. I don't see how you will need more then 14ga.

Bose are typically not high on the value scale (to put it nicely ). And room acoustics will pretty much dominate the sound quality. So I would not advise you spend too much. Don't get me wrong, you can still have "great sound" in your shop. It just doesn't take huge bucks!

I recommend some used speakers from craigslist. Expect better then 50% off retail.

Salem

 

[Phil S]

Don't get caught up in audiophile cables. I buy all mine from monoprice and couldn't be happier. I don't see how you will need more then 14ga.

Bose are typically not high on the value scale (to put it nicely ). And room acoustics will pretty much dominate the sound quality. So I would not advise you spend too much. Don't get me wrong, you can still have "great sound" in your shop. It just doesn't take huge bucks!

I recommend some used speakers from craigslist. Expect better then 50% off retail.

Salem

Thanks for the advice. I am using 10 gauge because I have a bunch of scrap leftover from my electrical wiring - assuming it will work fine for audio. I will be on the prowl for some cheap/good speakers

 

[TBone]

Thanks for the advice. I am using 10 gauge because I have a bunch of scrap leftover from my electrical wiring - assuming it will work fine for audio. I will be on the prowl for some cheap/good speakers

If you're going to use 10 gauge wire, I suggest making sure the speaker connections will handle wire that heavy before you run it. My personal opinion is that Bose are overpriced for what you get. Polk will give better (to me) sound for less money.

 

[FredP]

might wanna PM sapwood. he may have a few spare speakers for short money laying around. I think you should rethink the 10GA wire though. I use 12ga [stranded] wire and thats about all my connectors will handle.

 

[kooshball]

+1...Bose are not necessary and almost never sound as good as quality setups often costing less.

Craigslist polks (older ones) or craigslist Definitive Technology speakers will impress you and keep some money in the tool budget. Also, don't neglect the source...the same $500 speakers will sound much different when powered with a $200 receiver vs. a $1000 one. All things are relative though, good sound in the shop vs. no sound in the shop is much prefered in my book to blowing a bunch of money on true audiophile gear that could cut into the tool budget :wsmile:

Don't get caught up in audiophile cables. I buy all mine from monoprice and couldn't be happier. I don't see how you will need more then 14ga.

Bose are typically not high on the value scale (to put it nicely ). And room acoustics will pretty much dominate the sound quality. So I would not advise you spend too much. Don't get me wrong, you can still have "great sound" in your shop. It just doesn't take huge bucks!

I recommend some used speakers from craigslist. Expect better then 50% off retail.

Salem

 

[fergy]

There's absolutely no reason for 10g wiring. In fact, that can be harder on the amp to drive. We seldom use that in professional applications for monster concert loudspeakers. 12g is about as large as we get.

Take a look at JBL Control 25 speakers. They'll handle outdoor weather applications, are relatively inexpensive, and sound good. I'm using 4 of them on my home theater system. For a workshop, they'll rock. The best thing is that they are professional speakers, not home audiophile speakers, so they're priced much better. You have no need for high-fidelity speakers, ESPECIALLY if you are just listening to the radio, MP3s or CDs. You'll never hear the difference.

Honestly, I'd suggest a pair of good Shure or Westone in-ear headphones or "in-ear monitors". You can get custom ear molds from a hearing aid place and you'll never hear a sound around you. I use mine when running my planer and can hear myself chewing gum.

 

[FlyingRon]

+1...Bose are not necessary and almost never sound as good as quality setups often costing less.

Gosh, I've not thought about Polks in decades. I actually worked on their inventory control system back in the seventies (my real first computer programming job).

 

[WoodRose]

My two cents are specifically around placement.

When I hung speakers in all four corners of my 24x24 shop I later realized that I was only hearing one speaker... the one directly in front of my primary work bench. When at my table saw (in the middle of the shop) all is fine but it is a little hard to hear with the saw running and wearing hearing protection:icon_scra. Nutshell! Be very aware of not only the quality of the equipment or the speaker placement but also where YOU will be in relation to (at a very minimum) a pair of the speakers.

Sam