I'm guessing as professional installers that you can give me some advice about ir repeaters and who makes good equipment. I've been looking at the Niles line of gear just because they're what I'm familiar with, and it looks like they might use the same voltages, etc. as Xantech from what I see in EBay auctions mixing and matching items from the two companies.

Are there other companies I should consider for my gear (Lexicon DC-2 Zone 2, Tivo)? (Basically, I'd like to control my gear in the living room from the master bedroom). I've been told the ir-rf repeaters aren't all that reliable, so I'm currently planning on going with a hard wired approach. I'd like to keep costs down some (I blew my budget on the Lexicon) so I think I'll be going with something using dedicated wiring rather than something that uses coax cable and piggybacks the signal. Given what I would like to do, is the Niles/Xantech gear the best bang for the buck, or is there someone out there I'm not aware of that I should look at?

tia,

Barrett

I like Speakercraft, Xantech and audioplex depending on the application. I like some Niles stuff but I stay away from their IR line

been using Niles for years and love it

Another thumbs up for Niles. Never had a problem with it.

I have used both Niles as well as Xantech and they are both good systems. I usually choose Xantech though because of the reliabilty and the bandwidth of the IR products. The downside it sends everything including noise but still the codes work. Also unless you are talking strictly about emitters the Niles and Xantech products are not interchangeable according to Niles Tech.

Niles is great if you use it alone. If you need some of the expandability of the Xantech, Niles is a poor choice for any part of the system.
I was told by a Niles tech five years ago that you can't use more than one Niles sensor in a room, and that verified my experience: it did not work. I replaced that part of the system with multiple Xantech dinky links, and it worked fine.
To top it off, the Niles tech told me that the problem had something to do with phase differences between receivers. When I pointed out to the tech that electricity, like light, travels at about 186,000 MILES per second, and most IRs are around 40 kHz, so they have a wavelength of about a quarter of an inch, he realized that it would be impossible for phase problems in a room much smaller than a football field...
I really dislike that, with the Niles boxes, you have to twist together the leads from LEDs in series, so these connections are just flying in the air. They also make their boxes with the screw terminals facing in two different directions; if you try to be neat (all right, anal) and mount the boxes to the wall or cabinet, you will GUARANTEED have a hard time reaching half the screws.
On the other hand, I wish someone could save us from the rat's nest that is EVERY IR repeater installation.

I have pictures of a lot of the rats nests I have walked into. I am shocked at the lack in general that some companys have for their work. I also agree with you about the IR a definite mess if your not super anal!

I like Xantech the Best.

I'm almost finished with a HUGE project (nine zones) that I tried to mix some AudioPlex with some Xantech, not a good idea. I spent dozens of hours trying to trouble shoot problems that came from trying to mix the two.

I would have been done already if I had just stuck with Xantech.

And therein lies the answer. All repeaters will work, 99% of the time, especially when all pieces are kept the same brand.

But Xantech works 99.99999% of the time, and on the first try. Even the unusual stuff, like multi-zone blocks, carrier strippers, switchers & addressable routers will all work on the first try without endless experimenting.

Anything that eliminates a troubleshooting variable becomes law in my book.

Xantech is lovely. Iv'e had no problems with it. Dont use their keypads though. Speakercraft has a nice termination clip on their IR blocks now that works great. No more using little itty bitty screws.

I've had decent luck with Xantech, although I use the Russound line (prolly made by Xantech).

Some of the older Xantech gave me the fits though.

Almost all emitters are either from Xantech, or follow the Xantech standard. Niles basically ripped Xantech off years ago and changed things enough so as to get their own patents. The only real difference in brands of emitters is the shape of the plastic housing that surrounds the actual emitter. NOTE! Non-Blink emitters are actually several times more powerful than Blink emitters though they are not as entertaining.

Xantech, Russound and Sonance emitters and connecting blocks are pretty much the same product, I do not particularly like Niles, they have a few cool things like light sensors and what not, but I tend to stick with Xantech they have a solution for just about everything and expert tech support to back it up.

I second that tech support thing... the guy who answered the phone was the usual diagram-reading-flunky, but the level 2 guys were VERY good.

If a huge project is nine zones I must be doing massive projects for all these years. Xantech emitters are better that speakercraft. Audioplex stealth receivers rock. For years i fought with the xantech receivers, sun and lighting issues always. I install million dollar plus systems on a regular basis with 30 and 40 system zones and additional stand-alone zones. I love audioplex receivers they are the 1st company to try anything new that works really well.

Speakercraft fan here
but not too big a fan of the new ALR (ambient light restrictor) IR receivers ... they have bad off angle reception ... I dunno if all other brands of ALR's do too. ((ALR's are for mounting near plasma'a BTW ))