I've used russound for the basics incl the ca series keypads and abus. I'm looking into the niles intelipads. I personnaly like the look of the russound over the niles. But functionality and ease of operation can go alot further. Any suggestions- pros and cons to both.
Thanks

Niles has a new multizone reciever (ZR-4360) that a rep showed us that looks pretty nice. It definitley is better than there MRZ-6 and SI-1260 with intelipads. They have new keypads that work much better called Intellipad Ci Solo, and a numeric pad also. The only downfall (if you consider it one) Is that you have to have at least the Solo pad in each zone. If you want to add IR to it all you have to do is wire it to the keypad. I like it...

I'll look into that one. Thanks
Any other input?

Sorry, forgot to give you the link to the web site. Here it is: [Link: nilesaudio.com]

Thanks for the link. It looks like a smart system. Not real crazy how it expands. I'd opt for the amplifier. Have any idea of the retail price on this unit? If not I'll find out soon enough. Thanks again.
Anyone have any experience with this unit?

I'd offer the following insights:
Both are good units.
Reasons to like Russound: Been doing it for awhile. None of the new product bugs that have, in past, plagued other products. New keypads look good; you can expand. Voltage triggering for slaves. (use diodes if you stack-more on that another day) Pre amp out as well as speaker out. Expandable to lotsa things. Governor on the back to keep little jimmy from blowing up speakers (hm. I've heard of that before). Easy enough so that moron who works for the builder can get it to work. Painless installs.
Reasons to like Niles: tuner included for radio fans (most folks are). Global control. Fixed out as well as pre out. Multiple keypads available per zone with extra parts.
In the words of a great baseball player, hit em where they're not. In other words, you'll make money selling a product that your competitors don't.

I say go for the AudioControl Director system....

www.audiocontrol.com

Thanks Matt, looks like some cool gear.

I've used it and have never been back to the house to fix anything...on the distributed audio system anyway..

I would look at Xantech products.

I've used that new Niles 4360 multi-room/source unit and it's worked great. Had a couple issues with one of the first units they sent out but that has since been fixed. They're simple and easy to setup.

Nick

Can a Niles systems be programmed with a PC or do you have to prgram each system individually?

Does Niles have some kind of IR library like almost every other manufacturer or do you have to capture a command everytime you want to use it?

I heard two different stories.

This message was edited by Hector on 06/04/02 14:09.56.

You're both right. (oh, no, wait a minute. That's a flashback...)

Program the keypads at the Gloria itself. And, to quote Niles "Additionally, all system programming can be archived on your PC for back up and for use with pre-designed systems with Niles Ci Archiving software"

which I have not used yet.

I was skeptical, but the ZR-4630 almost programs faster than I can unpack/boot/shutdown/repack my laptop... very easy!

We haven't seen or used the PC archive feature yet either. We will need that to work for cloned systems & backup, but the actual programming is a no-brainer.

Hello all...
I have now installed 6 Niles 4.6CI/SI-1260 systems, and 4 ZR-4630 systems...both are great, reqire only about 30 seconds end user training, and have been reliable. Retrieved archiving software to backup my systems from a recent Niles training, and they say they will have the complete programming software soon, with full IR library. (Oh, sure, make me learn to do it manually first!). Anyhow, these units are incredibly cost effective and profitable, and sound very good! Not that the 4.6CI has more options with keypads and zone expansion.