Your Universal Remote Control Center
RemoteCentral.com
Custom Installers' Lounge Forum - View Post
Previous section Next section Previous page Next page Up level
Up level
The following page was printed from RemoteCentral.com:

Login:
Pass:
 
 

Page 1 of 2
Topic:
POLL: Most reliable, best support control systems
This thread has 28 replies. Displaying posts 1 through 15.
Post 1 made on Monday August 26, 2002 at 21:23
John Pechulis
Loyal Member
Joined:
Posts:
July 2001
7,127
Just curious what kind of experiences everyone has had with the various control systems out there.

What system(s) have you found to be the most reliable, has the best tech support that you have worked with?

What system(s) have you found to be the least reliable, has the least amount of support?

Curious that's all.

JJP
Post 2 made on Monday August 26, 2002 at 21:41
QQQ
Super Member
Joined:
Posts:
January 2002
4,806
High-end:
Best: Crestron
Worst: AMX
Post 3 made on Tuesday August 27, 2002 at 11:31
JPoff
Founding Member
Joined:
Posts:
January 2002
15
As always, everyone has an opinion. I have heard great things about Crestron but have never had to find out. AMX has supplied reliable equipment and knowledgable technical support for every project I have used their gear.

In the world where most of the rest of us exist, I have had the best results with Philips.

A short run with RTI uncovered unreliable RF operation (in Seattle), below average IR output, several programming loopholes along with warranty repairs ranging from 1 to 3 months (yikes).

Our attempts with the Intellicontrol over 2-3 years proved to need constant babysitting (RF locking).

The Lexicon IR and RF product have been great for us in all situations that we put them in. Recently, the Pronto has pretty much taken all of those sales - big price difference.

OP | Post 4 made on Tuesday August 27, 2002 at 19:46
John Pechulis
Loyal Member
Joined:
Posts:
July 2001
7,127
Thanks guys.

I wasn't looking to start a Crestron vs AMX war, as we've already been down that road here. I was just curious to find out which control systems, out of the many that are out there, have been the most reliable for you. And I am curious to know what good, or bad experiences you've had with the ones you've used.

We've done the Niles, Lexicon, Marantz, and Elan Via! control systems. On the smaller scale end of controls, we've found the Marantz remotes to be the most reliable. On the upper end of the remotes we've done, the Elan Via!, because it is a hard-wired remote only, has been the most reliable. The only drawback on the Elan Via! we've found, is it's inflexibilty with it's layout. You're pretty much stuck to the template that's in the editing program. Second best was the Lexicon, but sometimes with RF issues. And the last, and most incompatible remote with the equipment we sell, was the Niles.

We are exploring other remote options, and were interested in getting some feedback.

Thanks again in advance,

JJP
Post 5 made on Tuesday August 27, 2002 at 20:10
Matt
Founding Member
Joined:
Posts:
August 2001
1,802
Well, Crestron has the best support and product reliability bar none. They constantly update their products for enhanced performance....

But on the lower end, I always like the Pronto/Marantz remotes. Not much difference between the two, unless you do some fancy stuff, then go with the Marantz. Marantz has the 'back' feature, which can save hours of programming time.
Post 6 made on Wednesday August 28, 2002 at 12:10
JPoff
Founding Member
Joined:
Posts:
January 2002
15
Agreed on the Via panels. The limits in layout/programming are sometime frustrating. The ease of use & feature set, along with their reliability (of late), has made them a fav with our customers.

J
OP | Post 7 made on Wednesday August 28, 2002 at 16:22
John Pechulis
Loyal Member
Joined:
Posts:
July 2001
7,127
Anyone else have issues with Niles as far as incompatibility with equipment??

JJP
Post 8 made on Thursday August 29, 2002 at 01:57
craig day
Founding Member
Joined:
Posts:
January 2002
101
We've had some issues with Niles having problems with some Rotel commands and Sharp projectors. Probably the biggest headache is developing a usable IR library. The learning ability of their IR capture system is moody at best, and sometimes they just flat out don't do what the software says they should be doing and you have to get creative to get it to control things properly. Having said that, once you get one up and running, they work pretty good and experience a minimal number of crashes.
The only other thing to be aware of is that they don't like to be dropped. the weight of 3 D batteries tends to make the fiber optic connections inside the remote unit break after a minmal amount of abuse. Fortunately, Niles has replaced every remote we have ever sent to them at N/C regardless of age.
Post 9 made on Thursday August 29, 2002 at 02:14
george p
Founding Member
Joined:
Posts:
January 2002
185
John,

What equipment did you have incompatibility with?

We started using the Niles Intellicontrol system a few months ago. We've put in 4 systems. 3 where we supplied all of the A/V components and 1 retrofit to an existing home theater. Our clients love them.

Have not experienced any incompatibility. For the A/V systems we supply, we have everything in the IR Library so it is pretty quick to program. It has successfully learned components from Denon, Yamaha, Sony, Panasonic, Hitachi, Mitsubishi, Radio RA Ligting and many others.

We did have one client have several lockups. Resetting the power to the MSU(Main System Unit) in the rack fixed the problem for a few days. It happened several more times and we went out and found that the MSU power supply was moved from the power conditioner we supplied to a regular wall outlet. Moving it back to the conditioner has resolved the lockups. It may have been experiencing some surges or other power issues when in the regular outlet.

Also had a client call with problems(no response when pushing buttons) that we eventually tracced to having a cell phone near the tabletop remote. It was causing interferance with the RF transmission.

I also recently heard that Niles completely re-designed the MSU internals for faster response and better RF signaling. Have not used one of the re-designed units yet. Should have one going in soon.

We are going to use the Intellocontrol MSU and all it's power monitoring cabability with a Pronto Pro front end soon. There is a Pronto file that has the Intellocontrol IR codes. We're going to try the Pronto RF module to send the command to the rack and into the Intellicontrol MSU. If it works as planned we can design some very cool ProntoPro interfaces with graphics that control the Intellicontrol logic. (without the long macros normally transmitted by the pronto units)

FYI we also do Pronto's and the new MX-700's.

I will at some point go with Crestron(their new 1700 panels look awesome) for the right client or when other systems need to be integrated. (HVAC, lighting, Security etc)

George
OP | Post 10 made on Thursday August 29, 2002 at 07:04
John Pechulis
Loyal Member
Joined:
Posts:
July 2001
7,127
The main issues we've found with the Niles Intellicontrol, is that it doesn't like toggle-bit codes.

We carry Marantz and Parasound, and those products use RC5 commands, which are toggle-bit codes. We were getting some really strange issues when we used the Intellicontrol with those products, like when the volume was tapped down, it would start changing inputs and then channel levels on a Parasound AVC-2500 preamp. When we finally got someone at Niles tech that knew what we were talking about, they told us straight out, that the Intellicontrol would not be able to control those pieces reliably. So we had to change the control system.

And we have another system out there that uses a Marantz dvd player, that you can skip to a chapter once, and then you need to press play then skip again to get it to work. Same issues, toggle-bit codes. Looks like we'll be changing the control system in that job too.

These are just what we've experienced, I'm sure there are others out there that have had good luck with Niles and non-toggle-bit equipment.

JJP
Post 11 made on Thursday August 29, 2002 at 11:16
jcmitch
Founding Member
Joined:
Posts:
May 2001
483
You can use IntelliControl w/ those Marantz toggle bit codes, but it does take an unreasonable amount of effort. You need to use another remote to merge the skip commands with a harmeless command and learn the pair as if it were one on the IntelliControl. The second command resets the Marantz too looking for the "A" in an "A/B" or toggle bit pair. There's a bit of info on this subject in some of the other forums here. Do a search on bi-phase or RC-5 troubleshooting.

The real troubling thing we've been experiencing w/ IntelliControl lately is a propensity to "lock up". The remedy for the older systems was to pad the antenna input down to the point where spurious rf was a non issue. Thats not so easy with the new units. Anyone else having this problem?

jcmitch
Post 12 made on Thursday August 29, 2002 at 11:43
george p
Founding Member
Joined:
Posts:
January 2002
185
Thanks for the Intellicontrol tips. I'm sure we'll run into the toggle-bit codes at some point.

JCMITCH:

Thanks for the warning on the new units locking up. Why can't you attenuate the antenna any more? Any other feedback on the new design Intellicontrol units? We'll be using one soon. Do you notice faster response? Any other differences?

George
Post 13 made on Thursday August 29, 2002 at 13:37
jcmitch
Founding Member
Joined:
Posts:
May 2001
483
New IntelliControl units now come with an antenna (what a concept). I have been told that this antenna has been matched/balanced w/ the rf receiver and ading attenuators would have a negative effect. In addition, its a little harder now w/ the connector being changed to bnc from f.

jcmitch
Post 14 made on Thursday August 29, 2002 at 13:48
twix
Long Time Member
Joined:
Posts:
July 2002
109
Crestron, Pronto/pro as far as I am concerned.
Post 15 made on Thursday August 29, 2002 at 16:29
DeadKen
Founding Member
Joined:
Posts:
May 2002
56
Very small - Pronto
Small to Mid - Crestron
>Mid - AMX
Page 1 of 2


Jump to


Protected Feature Before you can reply to a message...
You must first register for a Remote Central user account - it's fast and free! Or, if you already have an account, please login now.

Please read the following: Unsolicited commercial advertisements are absolutely not permitted on this forum. Other private buy & sell messages should be posted to our Marketplace. For information on how to advertise your service or product click here. Remote Central reserves the right to remove or modify any post that is deemed inappropriate.

Hosting Services by ipHouse