Garage music

[Old97]

You guys are smart. You know stuff, right?

I want some moderately good music in my garage. Is there a good-bang-for-the-buck way to do this that will tolerate dust and such? Just going to hook it up to an echo dot. I’m not enough of an audiophile to know what is currently available for reasonable cost.

If it matters it’s a 2-car garage!

 

[denverpilot]

Any older receiver off of any of the auction sites for a few bucks that has a decent amplifier in it and a tape input, plus some decent speakers hung on the wall... done. Plug the Dot into the tape input. Don’t overthink it.

I have an old Technics with a pair of Kenwood three way speakers that are both easily 30 years old. Blows anything you can buy for the same money today, out of the water.

 

[DaleB]

Amazon is awash with small, loud, nice sounding Bluetooth speakers with stereo input jacks. I bought a Doss Soundbox. I stream music from my phone, but it will take cable input or even MP3 files on a micro SD card.

My wife got me a Bose SoundLink a couple of years ago. It also sounds amazing and provides plenty of sound. It's also a bit more expensive.

 

[OkieFlyer]

Any older receiver off of any of the auction sites for a few bucks that has a decent amplifier in it and a tape input, plus some decent speakers hung on the wall... done. Plug the Dot into the tape input. Don’t overthink it.

I have an old Technics with a pair of Kenwood three way speakers that are both easily 30 years old. Blows anything you can buy for the same money today, out of the water.

My dad has a set of 25-ish year old cabinet speakers in his 30x30 shop along with a fairly cheap receiver/amp. Those old speakers rock the house with more than enough sound. No sense in spending much money if you don't want to.

 

[eman1200]

do u have a receiver in the house with an unused Zone 2? run some speaker wire out to the garage.

 

[Lachlan]

I’ve got 5000 watts of QSC gear pounding the air in my garage/shop. 28’x34’ with a full attic and it rumbles from over a 1/4 mile away. But I don’t fire it up all that often.

 

[cowman]

I have an old-ish pioneer amp and a pair of cabinet speakers in my workshop. More than loud enough. If you want big sound get big speakers... a couple of decent cabinet style 3-way speakers(I mean the big ones with 12" or bigger woofers) and a decent stereo amp will work wonders. No need to spend much, yard sales/craigslist/ebay are probably the best places to find this stuff. I would tend to avoid newer receivers designed to be used in home theater setups- they might be good for surround sound but they tend to have less watts/channel than the older receivers which isn't what you want for playing music over a 2-speaker stereo system.

 

[Matthew]

My 40 yr old 1-speaker not-quite-boombox AM/FM/cassette player sits on a shelf in my garage. It alternates between baseball games in the summer and the rock station the rest of the year.

 

[Anymouse]

Like Dale, I use a fairly inexpensive Bluetooth speaker in my hangar. I tend to keep my computer in the house, and run a playlist to it, I can do the same thing with my iPhone or iPad. Either way, it works great. Think it cost me less than $20. Definitely less than $30 a couple years ago. Got it at Walmart.

EDIT: Looks like it's currently out of stock, but this is what I have...

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Blackweb-MagnaBlast-Hands-Free-Bluetooth-Stereo-Speaker/10554815

 

[JCranford]

You guys are smart. You know stuff, right?

Got that half right at least...

Its probably not what youre looking for but I just picked up a Sony Bluetooth speaker and listen to that.

 

[SkyDog58]

Traditional stereo equipment can be had real cheap these days with everyone rushing to buy the latest iAmagoog device. Should not be difficult to find something at a local garage sale or off craigslist.

 

[Bill]

I have an old Technics with a pair of Kenwood three way speakers that are both easily 30 years old. Blows anything you can buy for the same money today, out of the water.

Perfect! When we moved there really wasn't a place in the new house for my old JBL 4312 monitors, so they're now in the garage driven by an old Yamaha receiver with the phone plugged into the audio in. Works well, sounds fantastic.

 

[FormerHangie]

I thought this was going to a thread about garage music, not music in a garage.

In any case, here's some garage music:

 

[SoonerAviator]

Any older receiver off of any of the auction sites for a few bucks that has a decent amplifier in it and a tape input, plus some decent speakers hung on the wall... done. Plug the Dot into the tape input. Don’t overthink it.

I have an old Technics with a pair of Kenwood three way speakers that are both easily 30 years old. Blows anything you can buy for the same money today, out of the water.

I'm not sure I'll agree with that, but I understand the sentiment. There are a lot of speakers that likely offer the same or better frequency response as the old cabinet speakers from the 60's/70's. Don't get me wrong, they put out great sound, but unless you're comparing a $50 set of used Kenwood cabinets on craigslist to what you can buy for $50 new today, there are a lot of good options out there. That said, cabinets are great for garage music if you have the space for them, as they usually have great low end due to the cabinet volume. If I wanted them for indoor music, there are better options.

Personally, for a 2-channel "garage" system, I'd find any decent receiver on craigslist and snatch it up. It doesn't need to have a bunch of fancy 4K HDMI passthrough and home theater codecs. Don't get caught up in wattage claims, either. 2CH audio will be at reference levels with less than 50W for almost any speaker set unless they are incredibly hard to drive (low sensitivity). I'd also look at finding some speakers with AT LEAST a 10" woofer if not larger (12-15") for your bass. The reason being, an area that large/open will be hard to fill with a decent full sound with small speakers. Small bookshelf speakers still play music just fine, it just won't sound as full. If you intend on putting on a shelf, you can always lay the speakers on their sides if ceiling clearance is an issue. You can always go with 2.1 systems if you prefer the smaller bookshelf speakers to help with the bass.

In our shop, we run an old Marantz 2220 tuner with Marantz 1060 amp/preamp. 70's tube amp still works great and does the job well for garage music.

 

[mscard88]

I have old Sansui equipment, hell the receiver (wooden case) I bought in Korea at the BX in -74 and still works. Couple old Sony receivers too. Something else I use is the Bose Revolve + Bluetooth. This little jewel puts out amazing sound. I have an older iPod Classic w/ all my music on it and can plug it in and carry it anywhere, garage, back yard, etc. Wife's iPod, she uses Bluetooth and likes it.

 

[denverpilot]

I should mention the Technics is just the garage “junk”. The good stuff is Pioneer and Kenwood inside the house.

There’s a couple of Yamaha “Natural Sound” receivers floating around, too. Different beasts from the late 80s for a different purpose but they work well too.

 

[Bill]

There’s a couple of Yamaha “Natural Sound” receivers floating around, too. Different beasts from the late 80s for a different purpose but they work well too.

Yup, the garage receiver is an older Yamaha natural sound. I also have a Nakamichi AV-2 that I need to put to good use somewhere.

 

[denverpilot]

Yup, the garage receiver is an older Yamaha natural sound. I also have a Nakamichi AV-2 that I need to put to good use somewhere.

Yeah I just realized the Technics developed a noisy volume pot, so the Yamaha is sitting on top of it in the garage. Ha. I keep spares.

Eventually I’ll get around to tearing open the Technics and cleaning it up.

 

[SoonerAviator]

I'll also add, that about the only benefit I can see to getting a more modern receiver (again, plenty of them on CL or eBay) is room correction software that may help a bit in a boomy/echo-laden room like a garage. However, there's debate on that as it messes with the sound frequencies which audiophiles abhor. It might also give you the option for a hdmi or toslink/optical audio connection if you have a source that needs it/supports it.

 

[Bill]

Ha. I keep spares.

The older receivers have very low distortion and are build like tanks. Yes, they don't do all the fancy new surround sound and DSP, but for critical 2-channel music listening they blow most of the new stuff away. Hence like you I never got rid of them.

 

[Sac Arrow]

Any older receiver off of any of the auction sites for a few bucks that has a decent amplifier in it and a tape input, plus some decent speakers hung on the wall... done. Plug the Dot into the tape input. Don’t overthink it.

I have an old Technics with a pair of Kenwood three way speakers that are both easily 30 years old. Blows anything you can buy for the same money today, out of the water.

Traditional stereo equipment can be had real cheap these days with everyone rushing to buy the latest iAmagoog device. Should not be difficult to find something at a local garage sale or off craigslist.

Yep. I wouldn't pour a lot of money in to top of the line stuff for a garage, which has poor acoustics. That said, you can get some decent sounding stuff for cheap these days.

 

[GRG55]

I have old Sansui equipment, hell the receiver (wooden case) I bought in Korea at the BX in -74 and still works. Couple old Sony receivers too. Something else I use is the Bose Revolve + Bluetooth. This little jewel puts out amazing sound. I have an older iPod Classic w/ all my music on it and can plug it in and carry it anywhere, garage, back yard, etc. Wife's iPod, she uses Bluetooth and likes it.

This sounds like me. I put my old Sansui in the shop. Mostly listen to FM in the background. I also have an old iPod that has no wireless. Can the iPod headphone jack be wired into the Aux input on the receiver (which has the shielded cable connections)?

 

[mscard88]

This sounds like me. I put my old Sansui in the shop. Mostly listen to FM in the background. I also have an old iPod that has no wireless. Can the iPod headphone jack be wired into the Aux input on the receiver (which has the shielded cable connections)?

Yes. I bought a cord at Best Buy that is set up that way. One end to your receiver, other end into the iPod jack. Works great.

 

[SoonerAviator]

The older receivers have very low distortion and are build like tanks. Yes, they don't do all the fancy new surround sound and DSP, but for critical 2-channel music listening they blow most of the new stuff away. Hence like you I never got rid of them.

Well, part of why they were "built like tanks" was because they were tube amps and Class-A/B amps. Newer class D models don't weigh nearly as much, and can use thinner metal/plastics for structural pieces. Weight used to be a layman's way to get a feel for the quality of an amplifier, but the newer Class D models have lower distortion and weigh a fraction of what the A/B models did.

 

[denverpilot]

This sounds like me. I put my old Sansui in the shop. Mostly listen to FM in the background. I also have an old iPod that has no wireless. Can the iPod headphone jack be wired into the Aux input on the receiver (which has the shielded cable connections)?

Yes. If it’s a standard 3.5mm headphone jack on the iPod you can get a Y cable to RCA jacks. Back in the day it’d be a quick trip to Rat Shack to grab one for $4 but nowadays I’d just order it from Amazon or Monoprice.

Turn the iPod down a bit, it’s “speaker” level for headphones going into “line” level (usually put it into the Tape In port) and hit play. Aux will be line level input also if it has an Aux.

You’ll find a level on the iPod that works well as a feed to the stereo that isn’t noisy or distorted then you can use the usual stereo volume control from there.

Other options are Alexa Echo Dots or Google Chromecast Audio devices with audio jacks. They’re nice if you leave them hooked up and the stereo on, since you can just “cast” from your iPhone or Android to whatever stereo you want music from at any time, and control it from your phone, or even create “groups” to play to multiple stereos simultaneously.

Sadly, Amazon has discontinued their “upload your own music collection” to Amazon Prime Music so they’ve shot themselves in the foot. The winner for streaming is either Google Play Music for these sorts of multi-room setups if you have your own music you want to upload.

If you want a monthly subscription it’s a toss up between Spotify and Google Play Music or MAYBE Amazon’s thing if you already have Prime. But I wouldn’t hook an Echo Dot to the stereos now with the changes at Amazon. I’d go Google Chromecast Audio.

Many people buy Sonos but they’re expensive and silly if you already have better stereos and speakers than their little things they offer. Better to feed the existing stereos with a streaming device. And Apple’s speaker is DOA before it even hit the market unless you are a total Apple user. They’re continuing their slide into oblivion. Useless and outrageously expensive.

 

[denverpilot]

Well, part of why they were "built like tanks" was because they were tube amps and Class-A/B amps. Newer class D models don't weigh nearly as much, and can use thinner metal/plastics for structural pieces. Weight used to be a layman's way to get a feel for the quality of an amplifier, but the newer Class D models have lower distortion and weigh a fraction of what the A/B models did.

A Class D amp *can* be designed properly to drive high power into speakers with low noise and distortion, but it is a space where a lot of manufacturers skimp pretty badly. Especially on total power. I’ve got speakers that are rated at hundreds of watts continuous without overheating or blowing themselves, finding modern amps that can drive them gets a LOT more expensive than using the old stuff.

I want to find some older Pioneer gear to replace the Kenwood in the living room. The Kenwood is too flat. Old Pioneer stuff would take a beating power-wise and not distort. Over-engineered.

Many of these older units also had switched power plugs on the back, so in the living room cabinet I added a tray of AC muffin fans sitting on top of the Kenwood that I put some foam tape on the frame they came in to keep the frame from vibrating, and plugged the string of fans into the switched power plug on the back of the Kenwood. Whenever it’s on, the fans spin up and keep air moving through the monster and it stays a nice solid temperature that’s nice and cool all the time.

Heat kills these old amps, dries out the capacitors and under heavy loads can trip their thermal cut-outs. Fans that automatically come on in a tight cabinet is a wonderful thing. You can hear them lightly if you leave the door open, but they move enough air that closing the door is fine all the time. And the fans were a hamfest grab already in their little frame taken out of some other gear. Five minutes of soldering a power cable on to them and putting the foam strip on the frame, and project done. Very nice.

 

[mscard88]

Yes. If it’s a standard 3.5mm headphone jack on the iPod you can get a Y cable to RCA jacks. Back in the day it’d be a quick trip to Rat Shack to grab one for $4 but nowadays I’d just order it from Amazon or Monoprice.

Turn the iPod down a bit, it’s “speaker” level for headphones going into “line” level (usually put it into the Tape In port) and hit play. Aux will be line level input also if it has an Aux.

You’ll find a level on the iPod that works well as a feed to the stereo that isn’t noisy or distorted then you can use the usual stereo volume control from there.

Other options are Alexa Echo Dots or Google Chromecast Audio devices with audio jacks. They’re nice if you leave them hooked up and the stereo on, since you can just “cast” from your iPhone or Android to whatever stereo you want music from at any time, and control it from your phone, or even create “groups” to play to multiple stereos simultaneously.

Sadly, Amazon has discontinued their “upload your own music collection” to Amazon Prime Music so they’ve shot themselves in the foot. The winner for streaming is either Google Play Music for these sorts of multi-room setups if you have your own music you want to upload.

If you want a monthly subscription it’s a toss up between Spotify and Google Play Music or MAYBE Amazon’s thing if you already have Prime. But I wouldn’t hook an Echo Dot to the stereos now with the changes at Amazon. I’d go Google Chromecast Audio.

Many people buy Sonos but they’re expensive and silly if you already have better stereos and speakers than their little things they offer. Better to feed the existing stereos with a streaming device. And Apple’s speaker is DOA before it even hit the market unless you are a total Apple user. They’re continuing their slide into oblivion. Useless and outrageously expensive.

Holy macaroni Nate! It's just a ****ing cord!

 

[denverpilot]

Holy macaroni Nate! It's just a ****ing cord!

Ha. I’ve seen people hook them up and then turn the iPod all the way up, and that sounds like ass.

The rest is all about how to dump the iPod and have a “whole house” music system for the price of a few streaming audio devices. I’m currently messing with Alexa/Echo stuff for home automation and TV stuff (FireTV sticks) but they’re a big disappointment as far as playing MY music collection goes.

I might set up Plex or Media Server to do it through the Echos, but it’s more likely the Google Chromecast Audio device’s handle the tunes, and Echo/Fire handles the TV and home automation gadgetry.

Too bad Amazon screwed everyone dumping their upload service. It would have been a no brainer to do it all with Echo Dots when they had that feature. Oh well. Bezos usually doesn’t screw stuff like that up. Bummer.

 

[denverpilot]

We could talk about “porch music” next @mscard88 — need high power good quality waterproof speakers next, and a way to feed them without needing a NEMA box outside with a bunch of electronics in it!

 

[Kelvin]

I just bought this kit....but I am a JBL Pro dealer...
L & R
Subs
They sound amazing.

 

[RyanB]

If you have a device such as an iPad or iPhone, the easiest way that I can think of would be to purchase a good quality Bluetooth speaker and pair the two.

 

[SoonerAviator]

Ha. I’ve seen people hook them up and then turn the iPod all the way up, and that sounds like ass.

The rest is all about how to dump the iPod and have a “whole house” music system for the price of a few streaming audio devices. I’m currently messing with Alexa/Echo stuff for home automation and TV stuff (FireTV sticks) but they’re a big disappointment as far as playing MY music collection goes.

I might set up Plex or Media Server to do it through the Echos, but it’s more likely the Google Chromecast Audio device’s handle the tunes, and Echo/Fire handles the TV and home automation gadgetry.

Too bad Amazon screwed everyone dumping their upload service. It would have been a no brainer to do it all with Echo Dots when they had that feature. Oh well. Bezos usually doesn’t screw stuff like that up. Bummer.

Not quite a cheap solution, but Denon (and subsequently Marantz) has a line of Heos receivers that can stream audio to something like 32 different speakers. They tie in with Alexa and about a dozen streaming services as well, so it's got a lot of Smart Home tech in it. You can pick up one of those AVR's for less than $400 and then just add Heos speakers as you desire.

 

[SoonerAviator]

A Class D amp *can* be designed properly to drive high power into speakers with low noise and distortion, but it is a space where a lot of manufacturers skimp pretty badly. Especially on total power. I’ve got speakers that are rated at hundreds of watts continuous without overheating or blowing themselves, finding modern amps that can drive them gets a LOT more expensive than using the old stuff.

I want to find some older Pioneer gear to replace the Kenwood in the living room. The Kenwood is too flat. Old Pioneer stuff would take a beating power-wise and not distort. Over-engineered.

Many of these older units also had switched power plugs on the back, so in the living room cabinet I added a tray of AC muffin fans sitting on top of the Kenwood that I put some foam tape on the frame they came in to keep the frame from vibrating, and plugged the string of fans into the switched power plug on the back of the Kenwood. Whenever it’s on, the fans spin up and keep air moving through the monster and it stays a nice solid temperature that’s nice and cool all the time.

Heat kills these old amps, dries out the capacitors and under heavy loads can trip their thermal cut-outs. Fans that automatically come on in a tight cabinet is a wonderful thing. You can hear them lightly if you leave the door open, but they move enough air that closing the door is fine all the time. And the fans were a hamfest grab already in their little frame taken out of some other gear. Five minutes of soldering a power cable on to them and putting the foam strip on the frame, and project done. Very nice.

I agree. The new Class D stuff is getting better and better now that some of the high-end manufacturers are on board. Crown, D-Sonic, NAD, etc. all offer audiophile-grade Class D amps, so the tech is there, and will hopefully trickle down to the lower-price point equipment.

The fans from AC Infinity are pretty nice at a low price-point. They can be set to kick on at whatever temp you desire, and you can set the fan speeds it runs to for each temp range.

 

[Lachlan]

Holy macaroni Nate! It's just a ****ing cord!

Nate- the olde Latin word for “There’s always more, LOTS more. Why stop at one page when one hour is better? I mean, if you don’t explain every single detail to people how will they have any idea what you’re talking about? If they already knew this stuff I wouldn’t have to tell them, so I’m really doing them a huge favor by helping them out with more trivial information than most Wikipedia pages have on any given topic, just in case they need a bit more info to make good decisions. Et cetera.”

 

[GRG55]

Ha. I’ve seen people hook them up and then turn the iPod all the way up, and that sounds like ass.

The rest is all about how to dump the iPod and have a “whole house” music system for the price of a few streaming audio devices. I’m currently messing with Alexa/Echo stuff for home automation and TV stuff (FireTV sticks) but they’re a big disappointment as far as playing MY music collection goes...

Well, you are waaaaay ahead of me on that second part Nate. But despite some detractors here, I appreciate it. Even if I don't understand all of it.

The iPod goes with me when I travel on biz, and that leaves Mrs GRG55 with the option of juggling CDs three at a time in the almost obsolete Nakamichi SoundSpace 5. She's tiring of that (as she has quite a few more than 3 CDs in the collection).

I am trying to figure out if there is an elegant way to rip the rather large CD collection to some storage media for selection and playback. Like you I have several old receivers and amps from way back, that work just fine. I especially like a Marantz amp I bought in the late 1970s that really delivers a sweet sound. In a perfect world she would be able to play the stored CDs through that in the living room, and it would be ideal if there was a wireless way to deliver same to some speakers in the kitchen around the corner?

 

[DaleB]

I am trying to figure out if there is an elegant way to rip the rather large CD collection to some storage media for selection and playback. Like you I have several old receivers and amps from way back, that work just fine. I especially like a Marantz amp I bought in the late 1970s that really delivers a sweet sound. In a perfect world she would be able to play the stored CDs through that in the living room, and it would be ideal if there was a wireless way to deliver same to some speakers in the kitchen around the corner?

For what it's worth...

Your PC can rip CDs to audio files. Linux or even, God help us, Windows if you must. Both do a bang-up job of ripping an entire CD collection to MP3 or some other format, if you want lossless. Stuff it all on a network shared drive. I have two; a 1TB external USB drive on my Linux box for movies and TV shows, and another 1TB USB drive attached to my wifi router. Both will serve up files to Windows, Linux or -- here's the important part -- a Raspberry Pi running OpenELEC. One of those connected to the stereo makes our entire CD collection available on the good speakers. Works great with Android or Apple devices streaming to Bluetooth speakers also, all you need is VLC or another DLNA/uPNP app. I have a Bluetooth speaker and an old Android phone set up to stream music in our master bath, so we've got tunes there too.

 

[SoonerAviator]

Well, you are waaaaay ahead of me on that second part Nate. But despite some detractors here, I appreciate it. Even if I don't understand all of it.

The iPod goes with me when I travel on biz, and that leaves Mrs GRG55 with the option of juggling CDs three at a time in the almost obsolete Nakamichi SoundSpace 5. She's tiring of that (as she has quite a few more than 3 CDs in the collection).

I am trying to figure out if there is an elegant way to rip the rather large CD collection to some storage media for selection and playback. Like you I have several old receivers and amps from way back, that work just fine. I especially like a Marantz amp I bought in the late 1970s that really delivers a sweet sound. In a perfect world she would be able to play the stored CDs through that in the living room, and it would be ideal if there was a wireless way to deliver same to some speakers in the kitchen around the corner?

As I mentioned above, look into a Heos Link. You can house all of the music files on a NAS and play them from any number of Heos-speakers or your old-school amplifier connected via RCA, Optical, or HDMI.

As DaleB mentioned, you can do similar feats with RasberryPi and some work setting up the programming/applications.

 

[denverpilot]

I just bought this kit....but I am a JBL Pro dealer...
L & R
Subs
They sound amazing.

Mmmm. Tasty. Doesn’t meet my “Less than $50 at Goodwill and at least 200W continuous” requirement, but I’m a cheapskate. Hahah. Maybe someday I’ll buy new but I hate wasting money.

If you have a device such as an iPad or iPhone, the easiest way that I can think of would be to purchase a good quality Bluetooth speaker and pair the two.

The problem is whether or not you call a 3” speaker “good quality”. Heh. I definitely don’t but I do like a tiny Bluetooth speaker for “easy and cheap” tunes that won’t exactly rock anyone’s world. Ha. One of the guys getting through Customs on our recent trip had a cool little Bluetooth speaker hooked to his phone and we were all enjoying him cranking tunes in the ridiculously long line. That’s a good use for those.

Nate- the olde Latin word for “There’s always more, LOTS more. Why stop at one page when one hour is better? I mean, if you don’t explain every single detail to people how will they have any idea what you’re talking about? If they already knew this stuff I wouldn’t have to tell them, so I’m really doing them a huge favor by helping them out with more trivial information than most Wikipedia pages have on any given topic, just in case they need a bit more info to make good decisions. Et cetera.”

Hahaha. If you want to talk about good tunes, it’s the price of admission. I LMAO when people say “Bose”. The old Doc has been selling junk for decades that pushes the low end and mids and generally colors music badly, and people think it’s all wonderful. It’s garbage. Not that I don’t have one of his gadgets. I have an old Bose sounddock that still has the original iPod connector on it. But I opened it up and shoved a Bluetooth receiver inside it. Ha. Works good. Circuit board from a guy in the UK who integrated it with the volume buttons for pairing it. Cost about $20 to upgrade it a few years ago as I recall. It sits on my desk at work and the Mac is paired to it for audio from the desktop machine. Works. Still sounds like Bose-ass but their lack of highs works well for an office environment.

Well, you are waaaaay ahead of me on that second part Nate. But despite some detractors here, I appreciate it. Even if I don't understand all of it.

The iPod goes with me when I travel on biz, and that leaves Mrs GRG55 with the option of juggling CDs three at a time in the almost obsolete Nakamichi SoundSpace 5. She's tiring of that (as she has quite a few more than 3 CDs in the collection).

I am trying to figure out if there is an elegant way to rip the rather large CD collection to some storage media for selection and playback. Like you I have several old receivers and amps from way back, that work just fine. I especially like a Marantz amp I bought in the late 1970s that really delivers a sweet sound. In a perfect world she would be able to play the stored CDs through that in the living room, and it would be ideal if there was a wireless way to deliver same to some speakers in the kitchen around the corner?

I’ve never found any way that doesn’t just flat out suck to rip an entire collection, and I’ve done it a total of three times now. Originally it was to early MP3 formats that were low bitrate. Then to Ogg Vorbis which never really took off. The master hard drive failed that had the Ogg version so there was one long weekend plus a couple of hours a day for a week that got everything into high bitrate MP3 the third time.

And I hope to never ever have to do that again.

Realistically I’d rather stick with my own copies of all the tunes in my chosen format, but the world is moving on to streaming subscriptions and it’s almost too tempting now to not have one. Problem is, who’s? Every one of them has a different licensed collection of millions of songs but none have ALL of the odd things I own in my own collection, so you’re losing something picking any of them. Sucks.

Google Play Music with their upload feature seems to be the route to go, especially with their family plan. But their app on iOS is buggy and freezes when you switch apps. Much better on Android, so I’ll probably stick with it since iOS is eventually getting banned from the house except for EFB tablets. Apple is dead and needs to die for their lack of keeping up with everybody else and massively buggy releases of everything lately.

But ripping it all, just sucks. No getting around that. Once you get it ripped, make sure to make a number of copies of it all so you never ever have to do that again.

 

[RyanB]

The problem is whether or not you call a 3” speaker “good quality”. Heh. I definitely don’t but I do like a tiny Bluetooth speaker for “easy and cheap” tunes that won’t exactly rock anyone’s world. Ha. One of the guys getting through Customs on our recent trip had a cool little Bluetooth speaker hooked to his phone and we were all enjoying him cranking tunes in the ridiculously long line. That’s a good use for those.

Doesn’t have to be 3”. They make some larger stereo type Bluetooth speakers that project great sound. In a small confined area such as a garage with what I’m assuming to be concrete walls, the sound will be great. -except for when it starts to echo!

 

[SoonerAviator]

Well, regarding driver sizes, you are fighting the laws of physics at some point. It's not that 3" drivers can't have powerful sound, it's that they simply can't recreate all of the frequencies efficiently in a one-size fits all package. There's a reason that tweeters, mid-range, woofers, and sub-woofers exist.

It's long been said in the audio community that Bose is a fantastic marketing company that also happens to make speakers. The old saying: Got no highs? Got no lows? It's got to be a BOSE! BOSE speaker systems were fairly revolutionary when they first came out with the cube systems and smaller bookshelves. Getting 5.1 surround sound into a lot of homes with designs that generated good WAF (wife approval factor). However, there are currently many systems out there that can best the BOSE systems for half the cost. They were particularly terrible in car audio as well, in my experience.