Need some suggestions for A/V items

[digiblur]

1. All of my A/V equipment is in the next room, directly behind my TV (with a wall in between of course). I had no room for the equipment next to the fireplace and wasn't about to buy another TV that I could hang on the wall as I have an older rear projection HDTV. Plus it gave me the ability to just buy another set of cables for the XBox360 and we can flip it in between the two rooms real easy. Here's my issue... IR Remotes! I had these old cheap Radio shack pyramids that I setup temporarily. They work, but the line of sight on these things are horrible! I have to point the Dish remote directly at the pyramid to make it work. I miss the ability of just pointing it just about anywhere and it changing the channels, A/V receiver picking up the volume, etc. Then on top of that I had to put the transmit pyramid in the other room across the room so it could hit all the different components on the different shelves. But sometimes the kids are in the way or leave a chair in the line of sight. Huge pain!! Is there something out there that has a small pickup that has a good sensitivity that will retransmit the IR to 3 or 4 eyes that I could place by the components on the shelves (kinda like the ones that transmit the IR from a Slingbox)? It doesn't need to be wireless as I can fish another cable through the wall very easily. I'm looking for some suggestions ones you guys with A/V stuff hidden in cabinets have used. I hate to buy something and find out it is garbage.

2. I currently have my eyes set on this switch since I have no plans on upgrading my audio receiver. I've got too many outputs and this would work just fine to tie in my XBox360, Roku, Dish DVR, and HTPC via HDMI. Plus I could plug in a set of wireless headphones to this box for late night viewing. But MonoPrice has this set of an ETA of 4/27. I don't want to wait this long. Does anyone know of anyone else selling something like this?

HDMI Cable, Home Theater Accessories, HDMI Products, Cables, Adapters, Video/Audio Switch, Networking, USB, Firewire, Printer Toner, and more!

 

[bshiers]

I picked one of these up at Buy.com a couple of months ago. They were in stock and under 35.00 shipped to my door.

 

[digiblur]

I picked one of these up at Buy.com a couple of months ago. They were in stock and under 35.00 shipped to my door.

One of these what?

 

[TheForce]

digiblur- I have a Home Theater Master remote control. It's an MX-800 with UHF capability. The receiver side has a bunch of IR blasters you can position in front of each device. The 800 is out of date but you should review the newer stuff at Home theater Master web site. This works well when your equipment is on separate shelves in a closed cabinet.

BTW- I also use the RS Pyramids for my Kitchen 722 that is actually located on the other side of a block wall in the Garage. I put the pyramid on top of the 722 and it works fine. The send side is sitting just below the TV monitor in the Kitchen.


Also- I use a Monoprice HDMI switcher. It is full! 5x1 and costs MSRP $59. Works well and supports 24P as well as 60P

 

[avg1joe]

Would some sort of optical cable transmit an ir signal through the wall? I'm not saying this would be an ideal solution but I'm curious if it would work. Do you have a dolby optical cable lying around that you could test the idea with?

 

[mike123abc]

Hardwired IR extenders tend to be expensive. I have one that works great. It has a small sensor that you run outside the cabinate, it is sensitive and the remote just has to point in the general area, it is in a big room, probably too big for bouncing off far walls.

Inside it has transmitters that go to each device (5-12 depending on model). You stick one to the IR sensor of each device.

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