What’s Up Phys Ed Fam!
With this post I will be giving you a breakdown of how I’ve got my Sound System setup to play Music through my stereo via bluetooth and also run my wireless mic through the system as well.
I’ll also show you a couple of options for Battery Powered Speakers as well if you are teaching outside.
Hope it’s helpful!
Back in My Day
When I started my first year teaching, the stereo at my school only played CDs, had no remote and was on a cart that we had to roll into the closet everyday because we share a gym with the after school program at my school.
You think I’m telling one of those “back in my day” stories, but no kidding – we didn’t have a remote control… it was crazy town. It was a big issue because it kept me glued to the stereo and prevented me from being mobile and getting around the room to all of my students.
So one of my first purchases when I got the job was to get a new stereo with and iPod dock and a remote. It was a pretty big upgrade and made teaching a lot easier since I didn’t have to run over to the stereo every time I wanted to stop the music.
Also, having the iPod was a huge plus because instead of burning new CD’s all the time I could simply change a playlist or add a song in the middle of a lesson if I needed to. No more skipping CD’s… it was honestly pretty amazing.
It seems so archaic to me now that we were even using CD’s in the first place… but this was before bluetooth had really come onto the scene and bluetooth tech wasn’t really available in most stereos
The Wall Mounted Cabinet
My next upgrade I got was this awesome wall mounted cabinet with a plexiglass front, it’s taken quite a few hard hits from basketballs, soccer balls and dodge balls and has held up quite nicely.
I never wanted to have to roll that stereo cart out again and I also didn’t want to have the stereo take up floor space in the gym – the wall mount was a perfect solution and the plexiglass front protects the stereo and allows the remote to work fine, also it just looks cool. I mounted the cabinet high enough that kids wouldn’t run into it, but low enough for easy access.
Now instead of rolling out a cart each day, I just turn on the lights and my music setup is ready to go – a huge time saver.
How much of a time saver?
Rolling a cart into the gym, plugging it in and powering on the stereo, powering off and rolling it back into the equipment closet each day = 5 minutes a day
(5 minutes a day) X 180 days of school = 900 minutes… 15 hours…
15 HOURS… That’s no joke peeps!
The box was pretty easy to install, we just put 4 concrete anchors into the wall behind it. I also mounted the speakers on top of the box with some small corner brackets. Another really nice benefit of this cabinet is that it locks and also swings out on a hinge so that you can hook up all the wires in the back of the stereo without pulling it out of the cabinet – huge plus in my opinion.
While it is pricey, if you can afford it I think it’s a worthwhile investment that will last a long time and be beneficial to your teaching. This box even outlasted my stereo system as you’ll see in the video below.
If you’re on a tight budget, just build a box yourself and put it up on the wall with some shelving brackets.
Either way, anything you can do to minimize the amount of setup you have to do in the morning will give you more freedom to prepare an awesome lesson for your students.
I added a link to the cabinet to the technology section of our Amazon Store if you want to check it out.
My New Stereo Setup
Eventually after 12 years of daily use the Stereo in wall cabinet from the pictures above died …
At first it seemed like a huge bummer, but was actually a huge blessing, because we were able to update our sound system to a much more quality system and it sounds awesome!
See the speaker comparison below: Out with the Old, in with the New!
Here all the gear when they first delivered it to the gym, I was so excited to get it installed and get my jams pumping again!
In the video below you can see a walkthrough of the new system and speakers
View this post on Instagram
I’ve also included links to everything and listed what the prices were when we bought everything below (although they keep fluctuating so they won’t be very accurate)
- 2 JBL Speakers EON 700 series 10” – bought at $389 a pc – roughly $800 total (These have gone up in price since we purchased)
- Heavy Duty Cedar Link Wall Mount for Speakers – $140 for the pair (seems they’re currently unavailable)
- Here’s a another similar mount option or you can simply google “Pole Speaker Wall Mount” to browse lots of options
- Newer 4 Channel Mixer: $50 (Currently Unavailable) The Wireless Mic and Bluetooth will both go into this and output to the speakers
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- Here’s another similar mixer that does the same thing
- Cords and Cables:
- Surge Protector: $20
- 2 – 20 ft XLR Speaker Cords$16 each – $32 (To go from the Mixer to Each Speaker)
- 3.5mm to XLR Cable$6 to go from Bluetooth Receiver to Mixer
- Wall Channel for Hiding Speaker Cable Our district install guys had wall channel already, but this should work or anything similar
Total spend for us was $1,140, but we already had the bluetooth receiver, wireless mic and the wall mount box as well, so you’ll have to run your own numbers on what the price would be based on what you need.
Those above items are listed in the technology section of our Amazon Store if you’re interested in checking them out:
I am well aware that this system is super nice and many schools won’t have the budget for this, after all we used a shelf system that was around $400 for 12 years before upgrading to these, there are some cheaper options below.
Need Cheaper Option?
You can cut the price if you go with less expensive speaker like the Rockville 10″ for example or get a PA system like this Samson System which also normally comes with a mixer.
I don’t have any experience with these 2 options, but they were on my list for plan B in case my original proposal got denied and I had to come up with a cheaper option
An Awesome Wireless Mic
One of my favorite tech tools that I also keep in the Stereo Box is my Wireless Mic Receiver. When I finally got a wireless mic, I couldn’t even believe how long I taught without one.
It not only saves your voice and your energy levels when teaching all day long, but also allows your students to stay more engaged and hear you no matter where they are throughout the gym while you talk in a normal tone of voice.
The Mic Receiver plugs into my stereo so I have my Music and Voice coming from the same place, which makes it more simple and gives me less to think about when getting setup to teach each day.
Here’s s a link to the specific model wireless mic I have
You can also see an overview of the mic below and see more info in this post if you’re interested.
Outlet Cover
One last thing, I did get one of these outlet covers for my power cord. It might not seem like a big deal, but during one of my Pacer Assessments, a student who was already finished accidentally pulled the power cord last year, it pretty much wrecked my assessment and also ruined the student’s that were still taking the test’s assessment. Not to mention their dream of getting into the Fitness Hall of Fame. They made it up later, but it just wasn’t the same… Now with this guy, it won’t happen again.
Need a Battery Powered Speaker?
If you’re looking for a good battery powered speaker to take outside and are in the $100 – $200 range for your budget, I would recommend checking out the ION Block Rocker or one of their comparable models.
We had one that’s lasted for years and I grab it to have tunes on the go when we head outside for a lesson or for big events like Field Day.
I also used it every Friday Morning out on the Car Line to pump some motivational jams to celebrate all students favorite day of the week… FRIDAY!
When our Ion Block Rocker died recently (after about 5 years) we upgraded our Battery Speaker to the JBL Party Box on the Go and it’s a great choice as well!
My Old Stereo Setup Below:
The video below gives a walkthrough of my old stereo system, if you have a shelf stereo system like I did, I thought it might help give you some ideas on how to upgrade it with bluetooth and get it mounted on the wall.
Related Posts:
Check out the related posts below for some more ideas to help awesome music take your teaching to the next level.
Liz Maher says
When I started teaching I used records lol. Great stuff and teach on.
Marcus says
Throwback with the records!
Glad you’re enjoying the resources!
Monica Chavez says
I love how you point out that installing a nice sound system in the gym can be pricey, but it’s also a worthwhile investment that can be beneficial to teaching. My brother is a gym teacher and he’s interested in installing something like this so that he can play music while his students run or play basketball. I wonder how difficult it would be to install a durable sound system throughout the entire school.