In Milwaukee, it's brewin.'

Saturday, I worked on moving the HT electronics to the closet behind the wall where the TV is. In the process, I broke 2 HDMI cables and a flashlight. It was 15 minutes before closing at the Target store down the street from where I live, so I went there to be at the mercy of whatever they had for sale.

I needed a longer cord than 6 feet. The other, I only need one around 2 feet long to connect the BD player to the AVR. I wanted a 10 foot, but ended up with a Monster 8 foot cable, because of limited selection, and a 3 foot from a different company.

The Monster cable was only a few dollars more. I noticed that it had a much better connector than the cheaper varieties. It snapped into place and held a tighter connection, whereas the others were loose.

Also, I lost the subwoofer. I'm assuming it's the connector at the back of the Pioneer Elite AVR. The Subwoofer pre-out using RCA connecter. I've had problems with it in the past, and now there seems to be no connection there. I guess, I need to check the voltage at the connection where it plugs into the subwoofer.

Cat, that's too bad, it looks like Murphy's Law reared it's head up over you on a late Sunday afternoon. Were you thinking of continuing to use those cables, or switching them out to something you're more a custom too, then saving them as spares.

I was going to use them if they were long enough, but one of them wasn't. One of the ends snapped right off, leaving just bare wires exposed. Oops. Similar problem with the other one. All's well now, cable-wise so-far. Just need to work on getting the subwoofer up and running, and getting all the speakers installed, which includes priming and painting some wood they will get mounted to.

Just wondering.... Since the SW pre-out doesn't work on my Pioneer VSX-21TXH....

Is there a way I could purchase a cheap receiver, connect it to my pioneer and use just the subwoofer out pre-out on the cheap receiver?

(The cheaper, the better, as long as it works good.)

Part 2....

Looking at the Harmon Karmon avr 146 at the moment. It's $146 on Amazon.com (I have pre-paid shipping there).

Just wondering if all I have to do is connect the optical out on my Pioneer to one of the 2 optical in on the HK, then connect my Subwoofer to the SW pre-out.

One problem is the HK requires OSD to a TV for set-up. I guess I could temporarily connect my old TV to it for that.

But, there's always the possibility this set-up with a 2nd receiver wouldn't work for some reason.

Part 3....

Another thought is to wait, a few months with no subwoofer :(, and purchase a different AVR. Looking at the HK receivers, it uses something called EzSet/EQ like MCACC, Audyssey. Wondering if it is any good?

Please no comments on no room equalization software (or whatever it's called) being better. I much prefer MCACC being on than off. At least with MCACC.

And would I notice a difference going from Pioneer's Elite 110 WPC to HK's 95 WPC?

Currently looking at HK avr2650 for $654

I think you should get the same as you have or better because you remember before the Pioneer.right!

Yeah, but the Pioneer let me down with poor RCA plugs. I like the Pioneer, other than that. I'm thinking Harman Kardon is a good brand also. But it has to be able to handle 2 sets of speakers for Mains and 2 sets for centers, wired in Parallel, plus have plenty of overhead for special effects volume when needed. I'm thinking 110 to 95 watts as not much difference there. I also don't think this watts measurement has much meaning, because my first receiver was a very cheap Sony 100 WPC 5.1 and it didn't have much power, at all. The Pioneer 110 WPC just blew this cheap unit "out of the water". (Don't you love it, lol).

I don't know about you, but I'm a member of the "When it rains, it pours" club.

Now, my Harmony 1100 universal remote is malfunctioning. This is my 2nd 1100 remote in 2 years. After about a year of use, the touch pads start to get squirrely. You touch it on one spot, and it activates a button on a different spot. Last time I bought a 2 year extended warranty at BB for it for $40. I found the receipt, now I need to locate the box it came in. This may be my last 1100 when it breaks next year.

What remote works well, to control 3+ devices, with one button activity starter, + ability to control other functions using RF because the devices, except TV, are in another room?

Also, the person that offered me the loan for my TV, has offered an extension to get a new receiver. I'll probably be looking in the $600 to $800 range. Any suggestions? I use HDMI direct from player to TV, so I don't have to have 3D passthrough, but it does have to have a good room calibration equalization capability, and 90+ watts per channel, and capable of 6.1. (Oh yeah, almost forgot, not a Pioneer).