I was in Costco today and they have the 10 gal Stealthsonic shopvac on sale for $99 Cdn. I know there’s been lots of chatter on the forum about these and just wonder if I should pick one up and use it instead of my current old noisy 10 gal Mastercraft which has been working fine. Other than a fairly stiff 7ft hose which may or may not be an issue $99 it seems too good a deal to pass up… any current owners have any advice?
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Your ears and mind ( sanity ) will thank you.
Use a 4" antistatic hose with adapters.
I use a cyclone ( Mullet ) to handle most of the debris, otherwise I was tossing bags all the time.
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I’ve been using the 12 gallon version for nearly 2 years, not only as full time dust collection but as general use around the shop and home. If it went belly up tomorrow I would buy it again.
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I have 3 shop vacs in my shop. I could move the main one around and it has a 10 foot hose but having the other two in opposite corners of the shop is handy for cleaning up messes as I make them. If I had to unplug and drag the main one around I likely would not do it as often.
So having more than one shop vac is handy.
I LOVE the StealthSonic! I happened to find the 6 gallon one for sale for $69. The decibel level is soooo low, and suction is crazy! I don’t understand how both are so much better then my Rigid. Do not hesitate to buy it…you will not regret it!
Agreed that a second vac in the shop (garage) would be a bonus. That way I could use the second one for general use and for my table saw and planer.
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Ya for $99 I can’t go wrong… On my way back to Costco in the morning 
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The steathsonic comes with a 1 7/8 hose so maybe I’ll keep an eye out for something larger. My current vac has a 2 inch hose and it works well for the most part. I have plugged it a couple times when cutting ash which can be stringy
I would go with a 4" hose to the sweepy. There is plenty of flow and it reduces the noise.
I use a transparent hose so I can see any clog points.
You would have to use transitions at some point, 4" x whatever you need.
I got mine at Woodcraft, but I can’t find a reference/link for them
Edit: Found it ! I liked the long transition length.
This will clog with stringy cuttings at the entrance to the Mullet cyclone.
The hose will collapse as the clogging gets worse.
The larger models come with a 2 1/2” hose.
Only the 6 and 9 have the 1 7/8”.
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Thanks for the info and advise everyone!
I just got back from Costco and put the new stealthsonic together…WOW is this thing quiet!!!
The hose is a little bit smaller diameter than my old shopvac but since its running to the cyclone it should be ok. I have a 2 1/4 diameter hose from the sweepy to the cyclone which has been working well to but I might take Jim’s advice and move up to a larger hose there.
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If you have the head room, this is what I did.
The game is the hose loops. Test it by plugging the suction end hard and watch the hose.
My hose collapses axially quite a bit.
I have changed my hose locations since this picture.
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I’ve had the 12 gallon dedicated to my 5 pro for over a year and love it. I have it connected to an auto vacuum switch so it turns on and off with my spindle automatically. I have a dust separator connected to it and it works great for my small shop. I have a smaller 9 gallon stealthsonic for my sanding station and table saw.
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Stealthsonic 12 gallon model on the way, maybe now I can actually hear the spindle running. Hopefully just a minor mod to my cyclone dust cart.
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The one I bought had an adapter included which just out of luck fit my cyclone perfectly. Did a 2 hour cut yesterday and it was wayyyy quieter then my old shop vac
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Yesss! SO much better.
Well, it’s good to be lucky! The vac swap was easier than I thought, just swapped them out with no further adjustments. I’ll finish assembling, wheels will fit easily. The initial design thought was to be able to remove vac/cyclone from the cart if needed without having to disassemble fasteners of sorts. Both are just sitting on top and lift out when/if needed. The cart assembly pulls around by dragging the hose or pushing.
Old setup,
New setup,
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Should have got one of these long ago, The difference in DB’s is ridiculous…. Can’t justify swapping out a “fleet” of Rigid vacuums for other needs but this one is dedicated to the 5 Pro.
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Yeah, I know, right? But…a long enough hose might cover two or three tools with it. Do you find it has more suction? I have the same rigid as you and the stealthsonic just seems like it is more!
Btw…I can’t remember if it was you that mentioned the deep sweepy or not… but holy cow! Adding that little $20 item to the system made an additionally massive reduction in decibels compared to the original sweepy.
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Tim, I gotta admit my first thought on seeing your photos was “Dalek with a hookah”… 
My own Stealth is in the closet waiting for my Nomad to arrive. I bought the stainless can version which was only US$10 (if I remember right) more.
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