Using remote with AVR hidden in closet?

T

T.Anders

Audioholic Intern
I have a closet in the back of my theater room, and I'd like to hide my AVR equipment in it. I don't know if this is a common thing, but what do people do to continue having use of their remote controls? Or what can you use, I should say?
 
K

Kleinst

Senior Audioholic
If you can get a harmony hub that might work as it goes via Bluetooth I think but check on that
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
Some use a radio frequency type remote, maybe an infrared repeater.....with wifi/apps depends on what you have. The Harmony hub has/uses bluetooth, infrared and wifi. Don't forget to ventilate the closet....
 
TLS Guy

TLS Guy

Seriously, I have no life.
I have a closet in the back of my theater room, and I'd like to hide my AVR equipment in it. I don't know if this is a common thing, but what do people do to continue having use of their remote controls? Or what can you use, I should say?
That sounds like a really bad idea. It is a good way to destroy an AVR. If you want to do that, you need a source of air into the closet and an extractor fan above the AVR to get air through to the outside. The point is, you MUST have some forced air flowing though the cabinet. I have air drawn up and vented to the outside by a variable speed fan. It works very well.

You can get an IR repeater, and the AVRs have a socket for them. You place the IR repeater receiver in view of your IR controls.
 
T

T.Anders

Audioholic Intern
That sounds like a really bad idea. It is a good way to destroy an AVR. If you want to do that, you need a source of air into the closet and an extractor fan above the AVR to get air through to the outside. The point is, you MUST have some forced air flowing though the cabinet. I have air drawn up and vented to the outside by a variable speed fan. It works very well.

You can get an IR repeater, and the AVRs have a socket for them. You place the IR repeater receiver in view of your IR controls.
Thanks for the info on the repeater, I'll be on the lookout for one.

As for the rest of it, it isn't your typical closet. It's more like a giant walk in. In a previous life before the 7.0 quake in 2018 the renovated space for the theater was a living space that had a reef tank. Quake epicenter was only about 6 miles from my house, and was strong enough to move 370 gallons off it's stand about 8" and compromise the seals, luckily it didn't break completely. The "closet" was the sump room, It has AC and is vented into the garage to remove the humidity from the sump room. It'll be fine, thanks.
 
AcuDefTechGuy

AcuDefTechGuy

Audioholic Jedi
My 26x22x14 HT room has an equipment closet (12 x 8 x 10) with HVAC. So I actually keep the HT Closet (68F) a lot COLDER than the HT room (74F). :D

My Yamaha AVP/Amp, ATI Amp, and HTPC's and Servers are cold and dry. :D

The only 2 things I control in my HT Closet are my Yamaha AVP and HTPC.

I control the Yamaha 100% with the WiFi Remote Control App (AV Controller) on my iPad and Android Phone. This is for controlling the AVP and for Music Streaming from my Network to my Yamaha.

I control the HTPC with a Wireless USB keyboard-pad.
 
T

T.Anders

Audioholic Intern
My 26x22x14 HT room has an equipment closet (12 x 8 x 10) with HVAC. So I actually keep the HT Closet (68F) a lot COLDER than the HT room (74F). :D

My Yamaha AVP/Amp, ATI Amp, and HTPC's and Servers are cold and dry. :D

The only 2 things I control in my HT Closet are my Yamaha AVP and HTPC.

I control the Yamaha 100% with the WiFi Remote Control App (AV Controller) on my iPad and Android Phone. This is for controlling the AVP and for Music Streaming from my Network to my Yamaha.

I control the HTPC with a Wireless USB keyboard-pad.

My room is 19.5x24x10.5.

Adjacent to the closet is the nook in the garage where the water heater sits. So we can't really square the space off. If we could it would have added another 4 1/2 feet to the room. So, the space is not really useable, besides as an equipment room for AV. Original plan was to move the water heater, but after talking to a contractor we decided otherwise, chose to save some money to not build out a section for the AV rack, and it has pull fans and AC, seemed like the perfect idea. The space isn't really useable for anything else.

Do you use a plex server for your HTPC? I have a small plex server in the house, and I had planned on moving it down at some point. But that's a while away. I mean, I'm still a month or more from it being close to done. It's just barely gotten started.

I had heard of IR repeaters, but I didn't really know anything about them.
 
AcuDefTechGuy

AcuDefTechGuy

Audioholic Jedi
My room is 19.5x24x10.5.

Adjacent to the closet is the nook in the garage where the water heater sits. So we can't really square the space off. If we could it would have added another 4 1/2 feet to the room. So, the space is not really useable, besides as an equipment room for AV. Original plan was to move the water heater, but after talking to a contractor we decided otherwise, chose to save some money to not build out a section for the AV rack, and it has pull fans and AC, seemed like the perfect idea. The space isn't really useable for anything else.

Do you use a plex server for your HTPC? I have a small plex server in the house, and I had planned on moving it down at some point. But that's a while away. I mean, I'm still a month or more from it being close to done. It's just barely gotten started.

I had heard of IR repeaters, but I didn't really know anything about them.
Yes, I use a Plex server for Movies and TV shows.
 
panteragstk

panteragstk

Audioholic Warlord
I've used the Harmony Hub based remotes with a lot of success. My rack is outside my theater as well and I've yet to have an issue with the Harmony remote.
 
BMXTRIX

BMXTRIX

Audioholic Warlord
A good universal remote, like the Logitech Harmony, is a good way for everyone in the family to be able to use the system. It takes some doing to understand what you have and to get it fully programmed. If this is beyond you, then you may want to contact an AV professional and they can do it for you, or install a URC (Universal Remote Control) product which works for your room that uses RF to communicate to all your equipment.

A basic solution is to use an infrared repeater system. If you do this, then you will need a receiver at the front of the room which is hard wired to a unit near the equipment. It takes signals from your remote controls and just passes those signals directly back to the equipment in your closet. BUT - This solution requires wiring from the front of the room to the closet location. This may or may not be something which can be done easily.
 

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