Speakers good for garage

Heavy-D

Heavy-D

Restore n00b
In all honesty I'm looking for a receiver and speakers to set-up in my garage. The speakers will be placed high by the ceiling. Looking for something tough enough for a garage with no climate control generally a good all around performer.
 
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Try the Bose 101 - don't laugh. They are climate - proof and sound pretty good for their size. I had a pair in a screen porch in MN for over 5 years and I still have them. I'll be putting them in my garage in the spring - mounting brackets and all.

A quick check of that auction site shows that they can be had for between $50 and $100.

I'll probably use my SX-450 to drive them.
 
specialidiot said:
Try the Bose 101 - don't laugh. They are climate - proof and sound pretty good for their size. I had a pair in a screen porch in MN for over 5 years and I still have them. I'll be putting them in my garage in the spring - mounting brackets and all.

A quick check of that auction site shows that they can be had for between $50 and $100.

I'll probably use my SX-450 to drive them.
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I won't laugh, I remember back in the day Bose was used in Sound Warehouse and sounded pretty good. There are ANTI-Bose people here so it might be time to duck and cover.
 
Heavy-D said:
There are ANTI-Bose people here so it might be time to duck and cover.
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I initially avoided buying mine in the first place - but they did sound good enough for their intended purpose and at a fair price. I'm not sure if there is anything else around that is appropriate for your use.

FWIW, I now use them in my basement now and then, like the first speaks to be used with a new amp or receiver. . Last night I received a new to me pair of Minimus 7's. My impression is that the M7's may be more accurate in the mids and highs, but overall I liked the B101's better. Bigger sound, better lows. The M7's sounded fragile in comparison.

I don't know all of the technical terms like staging, imaging, etc, but I know what sounds better to me.

So Flame Away!!!:pistols: :lazer: :twak:
 
id say most any of the outdoor speakers. bose, jbl, ratshack. since it doesnt really matter that much.

steve
 
Now we're into an area I know fairly well. What kind of walls do you have in the garage? If it's something you can cut into without guilt then the in-wall speakers available pretty much everywhere will do a great job without getting in the way. Get some with poly cones/rubber surrounds and a non-metal dome tweeter and you should be fine in the garage. You can find them at RS, Parts Express, even Home Depot.

There are also indoor/outdoor boxes available at the same joints. There are millions of them out there, most sounding pretty similar because they come from about 3 factories in China. I haven't done any real listening in a little while but OWI makes some really nice ones.

If you're looking for vintage, then stay away from foam surrounds! You may be able to get by with paper cones and cloth surrounds but you probably won't get a long life out of the paper if it's very humid where you are.

If you want omnidirectional sound you could always try these:
http://www.atlassound.com/products/partNumber.cfm?pn=ATS183GS8
I know they sound pretty decent as I have a set sitting in my garage. And I know the designer.

Ray
 
spkrdood said:
SNIP

If you're looking for vintage, then stay away from foam surrounds! You may be able to get by with paper cones and cloth surrounds but you probably won't get a long life out of the paper if it's very humid where you are.

SNIP.

Ray
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Agreed to the humidity concerns, but the new breed foam shouldn't be as big a problem. It is not supposed to be the type foam that gets the bug that eats the foam. If they are vintage, then they probably need re-foaming anyhow...

You are in Texas, but which part? the humid part or the dry part?

I have a set of cheap Panasonic speakers that I bought new in the late sixties, went into my shop in the mid seventies, and have been in a succession of 4 shop/garages since. still going strong. No clue about cone or surround construction. I'm in CA, and while not very humid, it’s not dry either. it can go either way where I live.

I really don't think it is an issue unless the humidity is very high consistently.
 
spkrdood said:
Now we're into an area I know fairly well. What kind of walls do you have in the garage? If it's something you can cut into without guilt then the in-wall speakers available pretty much everywhere will do a great job without getting in the way. Get some with poly cones/rubber surrounds and a non-metal dome tweeter and you should be fine in the garage. You can find them at RS, Parts Express, even Home Depot.
Ray
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The walls are sheet rock so cutting into them is no biggie except for the room next to the garage. My kids might not like dads music invading their room. Going to a thrift today for speaker recon, wish me luck. :thmbsp:
Omni directionals would be nice, thanks for the link. :D
 
MitsuMan said:
I have a pair of Niles Audio OS-10's on our 3-season porch that I've been very happy with. :yes:
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Where do you put the porch during the other season?:scratch2:

Heavy D: How close are you to Ennis, Tx? That's where those Atlas omnidirectional Garden Tumors are made. I was actually 20 minutes from getting those in the catalog as GT138 (standing for Garden Tumor) but the project manager caught up with me just before they finalized the print. Bummer.

Ray
 
I came across a pair of Realistic Minimus speakers the other day. Durable aluminum cabs painted black, rubber surrounds and mounting hardware comes stock. The down-side is that they are fairly small, bookshelf-sized and I'm not sure how much power they can handle. Many times small speakers up at ceiling height get lost. If you want to open the garage door and still hear the system outside, you might want to find some larger speakers.
 
I've pretty much always had speakers in my garages and never noticed them being bad or good for it. Maybe someone with a garage full of speakers will have more data.
 
I live in North Central Texas summer temps avg 100°+ with winters usually in the lower 30s. Humidity is all over the place but we get our fair share.

spkrdood: I live 60 miles north of Ennis.
 
Heavy-D said:
spkrdood: I live 60 miles north of Ennis.
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I doubt if many of the people I used to work with are still there but it might be worth a drive to check out the plant and see if they have any 2nds or something they might be willing to get rid of cheap. I have a set of in-walls sitting here that were giveaways because the storage area they were in got flooded and the packaging got wet and pretty well trashed.

However, as I was leaving Atlas they were beginning to source drivers from afar so they might not be doing speakers at that plant anymore. They do folded metal there (equipment racks, etc) and used to do driver assembly and things like the garden tumor. I think their inwalls and indoor/outdoor speakers are now sourced from MTX (same parent company) but they may have some onhand.

Ray
 
receiver - look no farther

Waajobu is sellign a very nice Yamana cr420 down in the classifieds. I would have bought it but already have all I can use.

Insignias are OK for low money but you can get a better speaker.
 
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