Hiding Components (1 Viewer)

Has anyone ever tried to remote the components for their HT?
Or, does anyone know of any reference material on the subject?
Anyone have any experience remoting w/ the UnQ type of "smart" wiring?

I am moving into an new house w/ UnQ home network star wiring but my huge, 3 piece home entertainment center won't fit. The den has a large fireplace in the center of the only usable wall with a built in cave wired for the TV over the mantle (every new house now seems to use this scheme). My long-haired co-pilot is resisting my plan to split up the HE furniture pieces to the left and right of the fireplace and store the components there. (I admit this is a poor solution but am too cheap to buy new furniture.)There is a closet at the rear of the room that I could easily wire for speakers, sat. etc. if I thought I could get full functionality out of my system. I have the Onkyo SR601, DSS/DirectTivo, LD, DVD, VCR etc.

Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks,
Nomad

"Your post is a little unclear. Are you saying you want to put the equipment in the closet at the back of the room? It sounds like you want to put speakers and a sat receiver there."


Wayne,

I would like to put everything but the TV, DTIVO and the speakers in the closet. Doable?

Barry

Barry - any thoughts yet on how the TV will look in the "cave" above the fireplace. I've seen this design on some of the home-design shows; I thought it would place the TV too high for comfortable viewing. What do you think? Does it work well?

Wayne,

Cabling should be OK, I can run through the crawl space. What about the remote control of the receiver, VCR etc. Is there a piece of gear you know of that will relay all functions?

Also, concur the TV above the fireplace is too high for good viewing. Since, the interior decorators think it's the in thing though, my bride will 'go insane and take me with her' (Beetlejuice) if I try to put it somewhere else.

Barry

Wayne,

Thanks a bunch for the advice.

I've enjoyed reading your other posts as well. You're a real pro and an asset to the forum.

Thanks,
Barry

You could also use an IR/RF remote control. Use IR for the TIVO and TV, and RF to the components in the closet. The Pronto 3000 and MX800 come to mind

The IR/RF is the ticket. I use this with my Philips Pronto TSU6000. You will need to buy with the remote though an RF Extender.

Steve and Adam,

Since the closet will be behind me. Would I need a reflector or something or is the RF omnidirectional?

Barry

RF is Radio Frequency. Is is omnidirectional. Most RF remotes also have IR. In your situation is would set the remote to use IR with the TV and tivo. These would be line of sight. All the other devices would be set to RF. When you controlled one of them the emote would send a Radio Frequency signal to a box in your closet. The box would then converit it to IR and send the signal to a flasher on that component. The box either comes with the IR/RF remote, or is an accessory specific to the make model of remote you get. i know the Pronto TSU3000, and TSU6000 have this ability. The MX800 also does. The downside is that these may be a few hundred dollars--you will need to shop around. The upside is no real wiring needs to be done.

The other option is installing an IR repeater system. This would be cheaper, but it has disadvantages. You will need to install an IR reciver out by your TV. This will have to be wired back to your closet into an IR distribution block. From here is is similar to the RF reciever above in that will then have IR flashers connected to your individual components.

It comest down to cost vs. running wire and needing to be line of sight with all your components. If the cost is no big deal i would go the RF/IR route ($250-350). If your watching every penny I would go with the IR route (it will still cost between $100-150).

I'd recommend against RF, especially with a TiVo. I had mine set up that way and I had a lot of problems with it. The RF receiver converts all stray RF traffic to IR commands. This bombards your components with IR traffic. The TiVo HATES miscellaneous IR traffic, as do most PC IR receivers (TiVo is really a computer). It has a tough time distinguishing which IR freqs are its own and you'll get a lot of missed commands. This destroys macros. I've gone to a wired IR system and have never been happier.

BTW, make sure you have adequate ventilation in that closet, or you're going to have some real problems with your equipment.

ken, in this instance Barry would have all his equipment except the Tivo and TV on RF. He would be using line-of sight IR to the Tivo. BTW Costco.com has a great deal on the Pronto TPS3000. to use the RF you would need to purchase the optional IR reciever too.