Stereo setup suggestions for a shop?

rbmopar

New Member
Hi ya'll, I'm new to this site, and it seems like you guys know what you are talking about, so I'll run this buy you. I just built a 32'x46' shop with 12' sidewalls. There is a 10' back room, so the main room dimensions are 32'x36'. I wired in 14ga wire to all four corners 2' from the ceiling for the speakers. They are all seperate runs. I listen to rock and metal. I have been looking at receivers for a couple of weeks now and I need a little direction. I want to keep total of the system under $1000. I have been thinking about a 2325 Marantz, or possibly 2 2270's. I have also thought about 2 Onkyo tx-8511's. I don't know, is it dumb to run two receivers to push four speakers? Are the Onkyo's junk? For speakers I have been looking at 12" vega's; ls-12's, d-5's re-30's. I figured I should run at least 12" speakers because the bass is going to get lost in a room that size. Are there other speakers in this price range that would fit my needs? Any suggestions or criticizms you might have would be greatly appreciated. Thanks,Randy
 
I first started with a pair of speakers and a receiver. More speakers and receivers and amps follow me home. Then I learned daisy-chaining receivers/amps through their Pre-out/Main-in jacks and the next thing you know, this happened... click here. :yes: :banana:
 
rbmopar - welcome to AK! You've landed in the right place for opinions. Think there are about 5200 members, so that works out to around 50K opinions, as we all generally have several. And they are all good. Well....maybe some of them are. Or, at least a few.

When looking for a receiver and/or speaks, check the classifieds on AK and see what's listed. Also, once you decide, you can post a WTB ad of your own. Rather than two receivers, as bolly mentions, you may want a receiver with pre-outs and a power amp. Use the receiver to drive the top end of the speakers and an amp to drive the bass.

bolly - do you still have the STR-7800 available? If so, that would be a good place for rbmopar to start. 120wpc and an excellent tuner.
 
I've got a small one-car shop with a 20 watt vintage Harman Kardon receiver, 2 Paradigm Atom speakers, and a $100 KLH sub. It sounds pretty damn good. For a place your size, I'd get that Marantz 2270 and 4 Paradigm Titans, and a sub-or 2. You can find Titans used on eBay. No way will you have to spend $1000 to have a good sounding system in there.
By the way, I've got a '72 Charger and a '66 Town & Country. Welcome aboard!
 
As far as equipment goes, that's up to your ears & wallet and Lady Luck. There are lots of people here better versed to suggest particular models to buy/avoid. I recently converted my workbench into a more component friendly bench by covering the top with hallway (no nap) carpet I got free from a local carpet installer. I also added some hi/lo carpet to to the wall to absorb some of the standing waves you'll encounter in a shop usually. In the underneath picture you can see the piece almost touched the floor but not quite :) Hey, it was free. So now I can plug equipment in without trouble and without scratching things up on the benchtop.
 
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I think you should get a powerful reciever for the big room of yours. An sx1250 would do the job for about $400. Then I would get four pair of pardigm mini monitors. This system would noit only sound great but it would totally kick some ass. Rockin' the walls, yeah baby!
 
What are the walls constructed of? You put Cerwin-Vega's inside a room with very reflective walls, and the blood will be flowing out your ears like you won't believe.

Onkyo amps are where its at.
 
Mike Gibson - What type of gun is that on the left side of your workbench top in the second photo? Looks pretty lethal. Oh, yeah.....love the carpet.
 
It took me a while to see what you were talking about B-2. Actually it's the handle of a vice I have mounted to an old blank flange. I keep the guns in the house in a safe :)
 
Darn.....that's not much fun. I thought it was some sort of ray-gun to zap space invaders with or something interesting like that. But then, not many people use Mc gear on a bench with a vise. I'm saving for one of those metal legged benches with the butcherblock top. Want 36" x 72". But, I like what you've done and it will probably be less than half the cost. Thanks for the idea. Carpet gets shitty then rip it off and replace with another. And when I drop that little screw it is less likely to bounce and end up with me crawling around on the floor cursing about where the hell it got to.
 
I'd stay away from a 2270, they get real cranky with anything under an 8 ohm load.
Best bang for the buck, and a great receiver, is the Kenwood KR-9600. 160 wpc and an excellent tuner section.
Bolly's Sony would be a nice unit, too.
An SX-1250 would be great. Tremendous guts in that big puppy.
I would tend to avoid Cerwin-Vega, sure they play loud, but may not be the best sounding speaker system available.
Shoot, as far a separates go, I've got an unused pair of nice Onkyo's, 150 wpc and 105 wpc, that would be great with bi-ampable speaker systems.
For a great value, the Realistic Mach One or Mach Two pack some serious bass punch and nice overall sound. Yes, from Radio Shack years ago. They both are nominally 15-inch woofers and a horn mid and tweet on the One's and a cone mid and bi-radial horn tweet in the Two's.
Anyway, a great vintage system can be put together for less than your proposed budget.
 
bolly said:
I first started with a pair of speakers and a receiver. More speakers and receivers and amps follow me home. Then I learned daisy-chaining receivers/amps through their Pre-out/Main-in jacks and the next thing you know, this happened... click here. :yes: :banana:
Yipes! I only needed half a page to get the picture :lmao:
 
Hunt up a restored 70s Quadraphonic preamp and get a couple of good grunt amps like Onkyo. Otherwise just stick with stereo, any good 2 channel system will impart the same decibles probably for less money, or if equal at a higher quality.

Efficiency of the speakers will actually have a greater effect on how loud you can play distortion free than the wattage of your amps. A hard to grasp truth. Also you need to make sure that you have more power than you need because if you blow your transistors not only will you amp be fried, but it will cook your speakers too.
SPL before watts, get quality (doesn't mean big bucks) and enjoy the tunes!

Did "Fragile Yes" last night and wished I had something to smoke.......it sounded great!
 
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