I have given up on my Pronto RF Extender. From speaking to a local professional installer and reading on the AVS Forum NG’s it seems that the RF Extender is less than 100% reliable. I was able to get the Pronto RF Extender working for all equipment except my DVD player. But close is only good in horseshoes and hand grenades.

I am looking for feedback on those that use or have experience with an IR Repeater and a TSU3000. I don’t want to make the same mistake I made before and assuming as soon as I perfected my config on the Pronto that the RF extender would faithfully reproduce the IR Signals.

My requirement is pretty simple.

-my equipment is behind my seating area in a cabinet: open no doors or windows
-I plan to run a Cat 5 cable through a heating vent on the ceiling at the front of my room (forward of my seating area).
-This will allow me to install an IR Receiver protruding through the vent and connect it to the control box in my AV cabinet.
-From there I can connect the IR Emitters to the various pieces of equipment in the AV Cabinet (4 pieces in total)
-I have a projector which I have a conduit running from the AV Receiver cabinet to so running the IR Emitter is not an issue it is just the length it will be about 20’ so I will need a system that will allow me to “splice” in additional wire to extend that emitter.

I do not want to assume that all IR Repeaters are created equal as mistakenly did with the Pronto RF Extender. I have heard of Xantech & Niles but I am sure there are others. I have no preference for any other than one that will faithfully reproduce the IR signals generated by my TSU3000.

Everyone I've talked to says that Xantech equipment is very good. I understand that Xantech makes many of the other brands.

Personally I use Microlink, and have never had a problem in 5 years. I've been told by some that that Microlink is problematic.

Maybe you get what you pay for. Microlink is probably the least expensive repeater available.

Thanks

I don't mind paying a premium for more reliable equipment or at least hardware that is more likely to work under a wider variety of conditions with a greater array of equipment.

We use Russound and Audioplex eyes and Xantech emitters. Very few if any problem with any of these. The Audioplex eyes are plasma proof and there are occasional problems with those. The Russound stuff has been very reliable. We haven't had any problems with emitters. Feel free to go the full Xantech route as their stuff is among the best.

I would agree with jcl. I bought a great system from SpeakerCraft which now owns Xantech. It is great and works flawlessly. Control unit, power supply and high-power blasters, so no stick ons on the equipment. One high-powered blaster cover an entire cabinet of equipment. The IR receiver is very sensitive and has a feedback led. It was the most expensive item but is only 2" x 1/2". Typically plugs into the control unit via a mini plug. It is a nice looking little package.

Dave D'Arche

Thanks everyone for the input I just finished hooking up a Xantech kit yesterday and it is working like a charm.

What a joy now to be able to sit in my HT chair and control everything.