Vintage/Used HiFi for workshop

[Storer]

A bit of advice needed if you please.

I have a 1200 cubic metre workshop that I want to fill with good quality loud sound (I’m a bit deaf!).

I would prefer older kit (to match my age) and will need amp, cd, phono, and the ability to add Bluetooth from my phone. I have some speakers but am willing to upgrade.

I suppose I am talking about more power than the normal lounge hifi. So amp and speakers need to reflect that. Btw. I don’t have near neighbours.

No silly expensive stuff, it is a workshop/playroom not my house! Some of the 1970’s/80s kit might fit the bill.

Any help would be great.

[drab]

Sounds like a fun project!

Speakers will be the key to making it all hang together... there's loads of options here depending on positioning options and where you'll be listening from. Assuming you're not keen on a DIY speaker build I'd be looking out for some tannoy 12" models - not necessarily the domestic models though unless you want spend quite a bit more! I have a pair of tannoy lynx speakers which are a commercial model but sound really great - not your typical PA speaker. They're also very sensitive (as are most tannoys) so aren't fussy about amplification at all. Other options which might fit the bill :

Linn isobariks (need a fortune for amps here)
Any big old Kefs
TDL transmission lines
Old JBLs
Naim DBLs

You would need to be careful with the condition of drivers on any old speakers... may need a re-foam and even if your hearing is compromised you'll want working tweeters!

In terms of the electronics, by far the best value and most reliable separates I've had have been rotel. Unless you end up with speakers with a very difficult load then a rotel model 970 and upwards will drive almost anything. They typically come equipped with good phono stages as well. Their CD players are typically excellent too - hard to beat a 965bx model.

Turntable - any rega or pro-ject will do the job with aplomb

[Murph7355]

I posted on here a while ago about where to sell old kit.

I think there may have been some links given (if you can find the thread), but I ultimately ended up putting the gear in my workshop Presumably yours is ~ 3m x 5m footprint?

I have the following and it would readily fill a room much, much bigger

- Kenwood 3020SE amp
- TDL RTL2 floor standing speakers

I do have an old CD player (Technics), tuner (Denon), tape deck (Technics) and a portable minidisc player plugged into it, but mainly for nostalgia/showing the kids. I mostly use an old phone connected to it that can run Plex and TuneIn radio

All of the above can be had on eBay pretty cheaply. if you can't find the old link, and it still sounds great IMO.

[silentbrown]

Murph7355 said:

Presumably yours is ~ 3m x 5m footprint?

OP said 1200 cubic metres... A 3mx5m footprint makes it 80m tall!

[Crackie]

drab said:

Sounds like a fun project!

Speakers will be the key to making it all hang together... there's loads of options here depending on positioning options and where you'll be listening from. Assuming you're not keen on a DIY speaker build I'd be looking out for some tannoy 12" models - not necessarily the domestic models though unless you want spend quite a bit more! I have a pair of tannoy lynx speakers which are a commercial model but sound really great - not your typical PA speaker. They're also very sensitive (as are most tannoys) so aren't fussy about amplification at all. Other options which might fit the bill :

Linn isobariks (need a fortune for amps here)
Any big old Kefs
TDL transmission lines
Old JBLs
Naim DBLs

You would need to be careful with the condition of drivers on any old speakers... may need a re-foam and even if your hearing is compromised you'll want working tweeters!

In terms of the electronics, by far the best value and most reliable separates I've had have been rotel. Unless you end up with speakers with a very difficult load then a rotel model 970 and upwards will drive almost anything. They typically come equipped with good phono stages as well. Their CD players are typically excellent too - hard to beat a 965bx model.

Turntable - any rega or pro-ject will do the job with aplomb

Great post..........agree with all of that including the Rotel amplification and Turntable suggestions. I'd add some some lesser known but high efficiency speakers to that list. Cervin Vega speakers were the first thing that came to mind but Klipsch and Triangle make very loud, loudspeakers too. For the CD I'd also look at a Technics SL-PG520A or SL-PG620A

Speakers are certainly the key to getting it all to work...........a good method of working out how loud a system will play is to look at the amps's power rating in dBw. 200watts is 23dbW, 100watts is 20dBw, 50watts is 17dBw. If you add the speaker's sensitivity to the amp's dBw rating then you'll know the max output for one speaker measured 1m away.

For example a 95dB speaker will play at 115dB when fed with a 100w amp............you then add another 3dB because you have a pair of speakers rather than just one. 118dB is certainly extremely loud but people don't listen 1m away ( It's hard to get 1m away from 2 speakers )...........so....things get more complex when you factor in listening distance. Sound pressure drops by 6dB every time you double the listening distance ( Inverse square law )

118dB at 1m drops to 112dB at 2m.........106dB at 4m distance and is back down to 100dB at 8m away.

I would suggest listening in the nearfield as much as possible i.e. place the speakers close to where you'll be working, if practical. Firstly, this will limit the sound level reduction as a consequence to the inverse square law mentioned above. Secondly, sound quality will improve because what you hear will be influenced more by the direct sound from the speakers and far less by the reflections from the workshops walls etc. An additional advantage of listening in the nearfield is that the amp can be run at a lower volume setting, consequently the speaker's crossover coils, caps and resistors won't receive the thermal punishment they would if having to dissipate higher wattages...........also the speaker's voice coils will be operating at lower temps reducing the possibility of severe power compression. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_compression

Might also be a good idea to fabricate some stands or brackets to get the speakers away from the floor our of harms way; it does depend upon what you'll be doing in the workshop but they might be vulnerable to knocks and dings if used on the floor or convention speakers stands.

I'll have a look at some S/H options see what's about.........Do you have a budget in mind?

Edited by Crackie on Tuesday 22 February 12:37

[silentbrown]

Most "workshops" of the size the OP is talking about (15m by 20m, at a guess??) are likely to be pretty challenging acoustically. Lots of hard echoey surfaces. Also, if it's a single big space you'll need more than a couple of speakers, at which point stereo imaging etc becomes something of a moot point.

Floorplan and intended use would help!

[Murph7355]

silentbrown said:

Murph7355 said:

Presumably yours is ~ 3m x 5m footprint?

OP said 1200 cubic metres... A 3mx5m footprint makes it 80m tall!

Oops.

He never said it wasn't a 25 storey den of iniquity

(Think I must have thought feet. But who measures their workshop in volume anyway ).

I still wouldn't bet against my set up, judging by how frequently my OH tells me to turn it down despite being in another building 20m away

[Crackie]

silentbrown said:

Most "workshops" of the size the OP is talking about (15m by 20m, at a guess??) are likely to be pretty challenging acoustically. Lots of hard echoey surfaces. Also, if it's a single big space you'll need more than a couple of speakers, at which point stereo imaging etc becomes something of a moot point.

Floorplan and intended use would help!

Agreed, the room is likely to be challenging, with a big RT60 but I don't agree regarding the bold. A pair of reasonably sensitive 92dB speakers driven by a simple 100w amp will be able to deliver SPLs, everywhere in the room, that exceed the HSE's safe noise limit thresholds i.e. The law would require a worker to use ear defenders if working in that room.

The level at which employers must provide hearing protection and hearing protection zones is 85 dB(A) (daily or weekly average exposure) and the level at which employers must assess the risk to workers' health and provide them with information and training is 80 dB(A). There is also an exposure limit value of 87 dB(A), taking account of any reduction in exposure provided by hearing protection, above which workers must not be exposed.

[silentbrown]

Crackie said:

A pair of reasonably sensitive 92dB speakers driven by a simple 100w amp will be able to deliver SPLs, everywhere in the room, that exceed the HSE's safe noise limit thresholds i.e. The law would require a worker to use ear defenders if working in that room

That's rather my point. With a single pair of speakers it's likely to be unbearably loud anywhere near them, or too quiet elsewhere. More speakers would let you balance that.

If the OP's going to be sat/stood at one place "working" in this workshop you can optimise for that, but given the size of the space I 'd expect they'd be moving about inside it.

[Crackie]

silentbrown said:

Crackie said:

A pair of reasonably sensitive 92dB speakers driven by a simple 100w amp will be able to deliver SPLs, everywhere in the room, that exceed the HSE's safe noise limit thresholds i.e. The law would require a worker to use ear defenders if working in that room

That's rather my point. With a single pair of speakers it's likely to be unbearably loud anywhere near them, or too quiet elsewhere. More speakers would let you balance that.

If the OP's going to be sat/stood at one place "working" in this workshop you can optimise for that, but given the size of the space I 'd expect they'd be moving about inside it.

I'd not given the idea of multiple speakers too much thought because Storer mentioned wanting good quality sound..........multiple speakers are a step in the wrong direction if sound quality is part of the brief.

As you mentioned previously a floorplan and intended use would be helpful.

[vx220]

My worry with multiple speakers in the same large room are those areas of out-of-phase awfulness you find sometimes in shops.

I'm considering bluetooth ear defenders or wearable speakers for this reason

[Storer]

Thanks for the replies.

This is for my general workshop / playroom.
Concrete floor and walls to 2m and metal thereafter and roof, so lots of reflective surfaces. It is 30% full of machines (lathes, mill, metal shear, press etc) plus benches etc with a 10m x 8m clear working area.

I tried a cheap old 80’s hifi but it distorts before it is at a volume I like (and can still hear if a machine is running).

Speakers will be wall mounted and I had considered having 4. Because I am moving around the space quite a bit I am not expecting the “stereo experience” but it would be nice to have a “clean”sound. I don’t want to wear ear plugs or headphones. This is for Classical and 70s rock music.

Budget probably £400 - £800.

I realise the speakers are probably the important bit. Not too worried about tuner. Don’t want tape, but CD, phono and ability to connect Bluetooth important.

PS. Don’t get too technical as it is all sorcery to me!!!!

[Spanglepants]

My local ( Bletchley Milton Keynes ) CEX or equivalent has a pair of Tannoy floor standers , possibly called S95, Waist high with what looks like twin 8" or 6.5" + tweeters. Also full Technics seperates system. Maybe 90s, no turntable and multi cd. Looks really good condition. Think both were £199 each.

[Jammez]

I managed to pick up some Bang & Olufsen RL's for the workshop, cost £80 off Gumtree and to be honest are in far too good condition to be used in my workshop! I run them from an old Denon PMA 350 II amp I picked up from work when we did a refurb.


They're up high on the wall to stop me from smacking them accidentally so not an ideal position but they're plenty loud enough, I can hear them above the planner!

Have a hunt about on Gumtree FB marketplace it's amazing what you can find