# stereo system in shop



## j_ls (Nov 22, 2010)

I don't know if this is the right place to talk about installing a stereo system in the shop, but I'm sure many of you might have one. My old system finally bit the dust, so I'm gonna get another one. I'd like to keep the system from accumulating too much sawdust if possible. I do have a dust collection system, but we all know that they are not 100% effective.
I was wondering if any of you that do have a music system in the shop, how you keep the residual dust from collecting in the system ?

Thanks,


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## MarkE (Jan 29, 2014)

I have a stereo receiver in the shop. It is sitting on top of one of my wall cabinets. I haven't done anything to protect it from dust. I do occasionally take a look at it to see how much dust is on the top, but so far I haven't seen enough there to concern me.

If I do see an accumulation of dust on the top of the unit, I will probably just hit it with some compressed air to blow all of the dust out of the case and off of the top.


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## Steven W. (Dec 27, 2012)

I have a receiver and 5 disc changer in my shop. I built a small cabinet with a plexiglass door to house the components. Works great.


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## Civilian (Jul 6, 2013)

*Heat from components?*



Steven W. said:


> I have a receiver and 5 disc changer in my shop. I built a small cabinet with a plexiglass door to house the components. Works great.


I know from my home stereo system in a closed in cabinet it gives off a lot of heat. So I don't close the door when operating it. However, for the shop, I have a small wall cabinet that the stereo is in. My plan for it is to cut 2 holes into it. The first is for the 4" exhaust fan to pull the heat out. And the second hole will have some type of filter over it to keep the dust out. The first choice of filter was the rectangular humidifier pads. Maybe something finer would have to be found. Just some ideas.

Jon
Northern Michigan


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## rrich (Jun 24, 2009)

Steven W. said:


> I have a receiver and 5 disc changer in my shop. I built a small cabinet with a plexiglass door to house the components. Works great.


Not a door but rather a window held in place with 8 screws. The box also contains a small CRT type of TV and cable box.

The whole thing is "vented" to allow the heat to escape. The vents are 2" holes. The trick is to use material to cover the holes. LOML tried to cover the forced air vents in the house with this material. (We have an electrostatic air filter on the system and I kept telling her it wasn't needed but that is another story.) I used the material on the box in the shop. The speakers are just out in the dust of the shop but about 7 feet off the floor.

The only thing that I have noticed is that the dust collects on the Lexan window if I use the TV.


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## H. A. S. (Sep 23, 2010)

Y'all could go all out and build cabinets for your stereos, but you can also use furnace filters, cut up to size; for dust protection.

Doesn't hurt the sound quality one bit.:yes:


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## sawdustfactory (Jan 30, 2011)

My shop tunes are located inside the house. Just ran some wires through the crawl space under the stairs into the garage. Only thing I have to worry about is how dusty my speaker covers get.


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## Fred Hargis (Apr 28, 2012)

In my last shop I built a dust proof cabinet to hold the components (receiver, cable box, CD changer, and (yep) a cassette deck). The door had weather seal around it, and the bottom had a small ultra allergen filter. A muffin fan on the top of the cabinet kept everything cool. Worked well for 9 years, though in all honesty I only kept it closed with the fan running when I was making dust (my shop is also my man cave). We moved and now I have a different shop. I just set all the stuff (cable box replaced with a computer) on shelves as high as I could....no enclosures. That was 4 years ago, and things are still going good. I did have to replace my 22 year old receiver, but I think it was old age and not dust that caused the problem. The stuff with moving parts (CD, cassette) still work just fine.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

It probably has more to do with the junky way they build everything today rather than wood dust. Mine finally quit last year. Now I don't have anything to play 8 tract tapes on anymore.


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## burkhome (Sep 5, 2010)

My 8 track finally died. Might have been the dust but I rather think that it was because it was nearly 40 years old. Bought a blue ray amp/speaker and use my iphone with Pandora. I have several stations set up so I can get a fix of whatever type of music I am in the mood for. Works well.


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## Maylar (Sep 3, 2013)

Mine's just a "boom box" sitting on a shelf. I only use it for FM, so dust doesn't matter.


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## w1pers (Nov 27, 2013)

Maylar said:


> Mine's just a "boom box" sitting on a shelf. I only use it for FM, so dust doesn't matter.


Yea.. mine is a small portable cassette am/fm..not sure the tape player even works anymore. Probably 25 to 30 years old. Works great when the tools aren't running. I am thinking about bringing in a TV... Just need to track down the coax running into to ceiling and get it hooked into the system.


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## jigs-n-fixtures (Apr 28, 2012)

Mine is one of the Dewalt boom box/chargers, with the iPhone feeding it tunes. Everything is pretty sealed up. 

If I were going to install a more traditional system I would probably install the stereo system in a dorm fridge. They are sealed and will more than handle the cooling needs, while keeping all the dust out.


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## MT Stringer (Jul 21, 2009)

I have a pair of bookshelf speakers left over from a decade or two ago. The old stereo cratered - the turntable wouldn't work and the cassette player quit! 

What I have now is a Pyle 75 watt 2 channel amplifier hooked up to those old speakers. A Samsung 7 inch tablet with 4000 songs on it is connected to the amplifier with an adapter cable (earphone plug on one end; two stereo plugs on the other).

That is what I play mostly. However, the tablet is wi-fi so it is connected to my home wireless system. I can easily switch over to Pandora or iheart radio if I need a change in tunes.

You could use an ipad, ipod, or any android phone or player as long as it has the earphone jack to plug into.

And the tablet is sealed so no dust problems to worry about. I do clean the amp every so often.

I can select a folder with several hundred songs and just let it play. Sooner or later it will start playing them over so I will select another folder.


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