Home audio suggestions?

maulcruiser

maulcruiser

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 13, 2005
Location
Bladenboro/Wilmington, NC
I would like to add a stereo to my shed for when I'm working out in the yard or entertaining guests. I would like it to either be able to stream music or have an input for something like my phone. I'll have external weatherproof speakers and possibly a small sub. I've browsed some, and there are so many different ones, I have no clue which to go with. What can you suggest?
 
So you have speakers, and just need an amplifier?
The first question is whether you want to just use your phone (e.g. plug it in) or want a device that can work on its own. That narrows it down a bit. The former you can get away w/ almost any old amp.
 
Probably don't want to do a bluetooth-only solution, unless it has a way to plug the phone in for power.
 
I've got a cobbled up mess that rocks in my shed. I've got an older big receiver that I either listen to radio or plug in my phone. Back of shed is two huge house speakers and some standard speakers up by the door that point to the back. It's like a concert inside. My problem is I almost always work outside so I wired all the internal stuff up to "a" and added weatherproof speakers outside to "b" on th receiver. Now I can choose either or both.

I literally have no money in the setup but I could have a block party with the sound it kicks out.

Bluetooth, subs, amps...in the shed....outside my priorities.
 
I guess what I'm looking for is a receiver that I can plug a phone or mp3 player in. I have an ancient stereo out there now that the sound doesn't work on all the time and I'm not going to continue to burn CD's just to listen to something other than the two radio stations that I keep having to tune in all the time. I just want something simple, no real frills.
 
Does the stereo not have any kind of auxillary input? Typically it should at least have the old L & R RCA plugs. For a $4 adapter you could run your phone audio out jack into that. That's what I do in the garage, I'm using a radio that is probably older than many African countries.
 
No, it's ancient. Still has twin tape decks on it and no inputs, just a headphone out jack. I've thought about a simple old car stereo on a convertor just to keep it cheap.
 
Car stereos work great. You can buy a 5 or 7 amp power supply on Amazon that will run it competently for around $8. There's also a rash of Chinese small amps on the market now that have Bluetooth capabilities. Small, cheap, and often sound surprisingly good.
 
catfishblues said:
Car stereos work great. You can buy a 5 or 7 amp power supply on Amazon that will run it competently for around $8. There's also a rash of Chinese small amps on the market now that have Bluetooth capabilities. Small, cheap, and often sound surprisingly good.
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You can also use a computer power supply if you have an old pc around. They will usually handle about 15-20 amps. I run my garage off one. I have 2 10" subs some shelf speakers and a set of 6x9's running off an old JL amp. You can also use an 1/8th to RCA adapter for input. Its really loud. Also as an added bonus you have a 12v supply for testing.

Links....
http://www.amazon.com/Hosa-Cable-CMR206-Stereo-Adapter/dp/B000068O33


http://www.instructables.com/id/Car-Amplifier-and-Subwoofer-Powered-By-a-Computer-/
 
RobMcBee said:
You can also use a computer power supply if you have an old pc around. They will usually handle about 15-20 amps. I run my garage off one. I have 2 10" subs some shelf speakers and a set of 6x9's running off an old JL amp. You can also use an 1/8th to RCA adapter for input. Its really loud. Also as an added bonus you have a 12v supply for testing.

Links....
http://www.amazon.com/Hosa-Cable-CMR206-Stereo-Adapter/dp/B000068O33


http://www.instructables.com/id/Car-Amplifier-and-Subwoofer-Powered-By-a-Computer-/
Click to expand...
Yeah, I've converted several. The problem I found is the output is often on the low side. 11.5v or less sometimes, and didn't stay real stable under load. I've found a couple of brick supplies that are actually rated at 13.8v, and car audio prefers that. Honestly, though, the convenience of the $8 supplies is their biggest selling point. If I'm buying one for a project, I'll usually order 2 or 3 because I know I'll use them somewhere eventually. I'm about to shove one in an old game sign to drive some LED strips to light it.
 
I haven't had that problem with mine yet. It definitely doesn't put out the 13.8, but it was free. I think when I tested it was a lil over 12v. Can you share a link to the $8 supply?
 
RobMcBee said:
I haven't had that problem with mine yet. It definitely doesn't put out the 13.8, but it was free. I think when I tested it was a lil over 12v. Can you share a link to the $8 supply?
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Gladly. http://www.amazon.com/LCD-AC-Adapte...d=1436881608&sr=8-2&keywords=12v+power+supply

If you need to run a little more wattage, this is a great option. http://www.amazon.com/Universal-Reg...d=1436881608&sr=8-3&keywords=12v+power+supply
It's adjustable, too. You can get 14v out of it, which will give car audio a little more headroom. I haven't used one of these yet, but I think I'm going to pick one up for a home subwoofer project.
 
catfishblues said:
Gladly. http://www.amazon.com/LCD-AC-Adapte...d=1436881608&sr=8-2&keywords=12v+power+supply

If you need to run a little more wattage, this is a great option. http://www.amazon.com/Universal-Reg...d=1436881608&sr=8-3&keywords=12v+power+supply
It's adjustable, too. You can get 14v out of it, which will give car audio a little more headroom. I haven't used one of these yet, but I think I'm going to pick one up for a home subwoofer project.
Click to expand...


Now that I see that I think I have 2 or 3 of these. I'll have to check the I/O on them.
 
maulcruiser said:
No, it's ancient. Still has twin tape decks on it and no inputs, just a headphone out jack. I've thought about a simple old car stereo on a convertor just to keep it cheap.
Click to expand...

Buy one of those tape adapters people use to use in car stereos! lol
 
I run an old receiver that has A & B speaker outputs and I run an apple airport express on it. I can control Itunes, volume, etc all from my phone to both my speakers in the garage and on the back patio. It works great and didn't cost a ton. Also then lets me push any music from my iphone to it as well if I don't want to use iTunes.
 
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Do you have wifi?
Do you have pandora or similar?

If yes, one word... Sonos.



We have Sonos in most of the rooms in our house and love it. Can stream all speakers with different stations or group them however you want. Can control them via our smart phones and both my wife and I can do it at any point in time. It streams via your wifi and not blue tooth so it won't cut out if you move around, etc. just need to link the speakers and phone to your home wifi and you are golden.

The more I use it, the more I love it.

It's not cheap but even the small speakers are very powerful.
 
rockcity said:
Do you have wifi?
Do you have pandora or similar?

If yes, one word... Sonos.



We have Sonos in most of the rooms in our house and love it. Can stream all speakers with different stations or group them however you want. Can control them via our smart phones and both my wife and I can do it at any point in time. It streams via your wifi and not blue tooth so it won't cut out if you move around, etc. just need to link the speakers and phone to your home wifi and you are golden.

The more I use it, the more I love it.

It's not cheap but even the small speakers are very powerful.
Click to expand...
Beat me to it by 45 minutes. Sonos is great, you can control it from your phone and it's inexpensive. You can buy Sonos about anywhere now, but I am a dealer if you want to save a little on it, let me know !
 
I just hit up goodwill and pick up a $20 receiver and some speakers usually. When it dies I go get another one. I've seen everything from Onkyo to Yamaha in their places. The new receivers will stream Pandora and Spotify alone. I use a dock on my ipod.
 
DSM Turbos said:
Isn't a sonos speaker like $200 MSRP?
Click to expand...

That's about the price for the small ones but they put out a ton of quality sound.

Look around, I got most of mine as "open box" discounts at best buy. Usually save about 10-15% that way.


The good thing about Sonos is that you don't need to dock your player to play music so you can keep your phone with you for calls or whatever. It's not linked via Bluetooth so you don't worry about the music cutting out if you run inside the house to take a leak or get beer, etc. hell, it will keep playing even if you drive to the store miles away!

The speakers are small enough to hide easily and have surround sound in your house easily and relatively affordable.

You can also set up an alarm or sleep timer on any of the speakers individually or as a whole or whatever.

With the big bar speaker, you can hook your TV or current A/V system to it and expand it even more.

There may be cheaper systems out there or even better systems, but from my uses on it, Ive been very pleased
 
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rockcity said:
That's about the price for the small ones but they put out a ton of quality sound.

Look around, I got most of mine as "open box" discounts at best buy. Usually save about 10-15% that way.


The good thing about Sonos is that you don't need to dock your player to play music so you can keep your phone with you for calls or whatever. It's not linked via Bluetooth so you don't worry about the music cutting out if you run inside the house to take a leak or get beer, etc. hell, it will keep playing even if you drive to the store miles away!

The speakers are small enough to hide easily and have surround sound in your house easily and relatively affordable.

You can also set up an alarm or sleep timer on any of the speakers individually or as a whole or whatever.

With the big bar speaker, you can hook your TV or current A/V system to it and expand it even more.

There may be cheaper systems out there or even better systems, but from my uses on it, Ive been very pleased
Click to expand...

Sounds pretty nice, no wonder people love them. My crapple stuff works much of the same way and already paid for but was wondering what else is out there.
 
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