I have yet to make the jump to computer/streaming/etc. and paying for it. I'm frugal and intelligent, (make that cheap and stubborn), but I took two methods to this, for various needs and the combined cost is next to nothing. The sound quality and abundant power makes the typical boom boxes/and computer speaker setups pale in comparison. A lot of my son's bandmates pass through my shop and these setups have elevated me to McGuver like status in their circles. This is the iPod generation that's getting impressed here and musically practicing ones at that, so here goes. Everybody has seen or has a discarded home component stereo laying around in a garage it seems... that works extremely well, why change it? I hadn't thought of streaming a laptop through it and I am definately going to look into that but this stuff can be bought at pawn shops for peanuts these days. Hang those huge speakers from the rafters, juice 'em with a big 'ol '80's era amp fed by a CD changer and rattle the roof off the sancturary that is the shop. I plan on hanging onto the CD for many years to come. I remember a time when boxes of 8-tracks were carried about like luggage, and now CD's are inconvienient....right. I can sacrifice a bit of space for sound quality, thanks. The youngsters are seemingly blown away that all this "ancient" stuff can turn a fairly large space into a headbanger heaven. Score a point for the old dogs. When the need came for something "portable", maybe not easilly so, but still available to be moved about... every so-called, currently available "BoomBox" just left me cold. Using stored crap laying around the shop I screwed together a unit that floors everybody that hears it. Most follow the sound to the source and stand slack-jawed in the presence of my Rock Cooler. Average sized, 48quart, plastic cooler with a hinged lid. Installed an old Pioneer, high-power, in-dash, CD head-unit in the front, this was flanked by a pair of 4" Sony Xplode door speakers. The sides of the cooler got a pair of 6" Pioneer door speakers, and the cooler drain plug got a rubber 12" fm antenna. The antenna base inside the cooler serves as the grounding location for the system wiring. Tossed a small cased automotive 12V battery in there with some L brackets and a bungie cord or two for a mount and wired it up. I added a cheap volt gauge to monitor the battery condition, (this was on a toggle switch so it wasn't on continously), and fired it up. This stuff NEVER sounded this good in a car! The bass hits so hard the disc won't track in the player with the cooler lid closed ! Propping the lid open about an inch fixes the problem and nobody can believe that that much volume, (and clarity), is coming out of, a, a cooler?!? To give you an idea of it's capability...in a backyard BBQ setting, the neighbors will call the cops to pay you a visit. It worked so well, eventually I'm going to do this again with one of those 150quart marine jobs...using 4 three-way 6x9's, a deep-cycle marine battery, and a four channel amp. Might even block off about a third of the interrior space for a single 8" or 10" enclosed subwoofer. My current version has casters, but this planned behemoth is going to have to have some type dedicated wheel setup to move it around. You've probably got the parts in the shop right now, put one of these together just for a conversation piece, you'll probably be amazed at the results. Just make sure to use a good sized cooler to house the components needed and provide plenty of airspace to yield good bass response. John Hammond ----- Original Message ----- From: "Gary Pavlovich" <glpavlovich@xxxxxxx>
To: <1962to1965mopars@xxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Wednesday, March 09, 2011 1:08 PM Subject: Re: music in the garage
Jim,You are right on! I thoroughly enjoy ALL the vintage tunes in my garage via Pandora. This is the secret jewel of entertainment for us man-cave types that need oldies stimulation while we work.Gary P.----- Original Message ----- From: "Jim Altemose" <jaltemoose@xxxxxxxxx>To: "1962to1965mopars" <1962to1965mopars@xxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Wednesday, March 09, 2011 7:43 AM Subject: OT: music in the garageOff -topic. This is OT, but we all spend time in the garage and I'm pretty pleased with the music setup I just put in If you hate computers or don't care about music, you can stop reading. I used to use a 5 CD boom box, but my new setup is way better. There's many free Internet music services, but one I like is Pandora (www.pandora.com). You simply type in the name of an artist you like and it then continually streams music of similar artists to the computer. For instance, I like rockabilly and typed in Reverend Horton Heat, and got Fabulous Thunderbirds, Stray Cats, Johnny Cash, etc. So, I had an old crummy laptop that my son had plucked a bunch of keys off back when he was 3. I reinstalled Windows to freshen it up and connected it to a stereo amp. Being out in the garage, the wireless signal was too weak. So, for $25 I got a Linksys wireless extender and plugged it in in my house close to the garage. This gave me a good strong signal. Now I don't have to worry about CD's, and I hear bands and songs I never heard of before. I also ran speakers to my backyard patio so we'll have music out there. With Pandora, I can just put on any music anyone wants and don't have to play DJ. - Jim Jim Altemose, Long Island, NY '63 Polara 500 (Max Wedge) '63 Polara 500 (383) '65 Belvedere I (Street Wedge) '71 Bronco ----Please address private mail -- mail of interest to only one person -- directly to that person. I.e., send parts/car transactions and negotiations as well as other personal messages only to the intended recipient, not to the Clubhouse public address. This practice will protect your privacy, reduce the total volume of mail and fine tune the content signal to Mopar topic. Thanks!1962 to 1965 Mopar Clubhouse Discussion Guidelines:http://www.1962to1965mopar.ornocar.org/mletiq.html and http://www.1962to1965mopar.ornocar.com/general_disclaimer.html.----Please address private mail -- mail of interest to only one person -- directly to that person. I.e., send parts/car transactions and negotiations as well as other personal messages only to the intended recipient, not to the Clubhouse public address. This practice will protect your privacy, reduce the total volume of mail and fine tune the content signal to Mopar topic. Thanks!1962 to 1965 Mopar Clubhouse Discussion Guidelines:http://www.1962to1965mopar.ornocar.org/mletiq.html and
---- Please address private mail -- mail of interest to only one person -- directly to that person. I.e., send parts/car transactions and negotiations as well as other personal messages only to the intended recipient, not to the Clubhouse public address. This practice will protect your privacy, reduce the total volume of mail and fine tune the content signal to Mopar topic. Thanks! 1962 to 1965 Mopar Clubhouse Discussion Guidelines:http://www.1962to1965mopar.ornocar.org/mletiq.html and http://www.1962to1965mopar.ornocar.com/general_disclaimer.html.
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