Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Its like christmas all over again

Im going to be installing a theater system for a family friend so I told him to get the Grand master 5.1 system with the EP350. Cant wait to get it all going. Especially want to see the sub and the M22's in action since I havent had the chance to hear them before. I am probably just as anxious to hook them up as he is. Got a Denon avr1908, Oppo 980 and universal MX900 to go with it. He currently has a bose acoustimass system, powered by a HK 325. I think they will be pretty impressed

Going from Bose Accoustimass to an Axiom system...you won't be able to wipe the grin off his face for months.

I hope you will post your thoughts on the M22 as well as some pics of his system.

Your friend is going to be a happy camper, the M22s and sub won't disapoint.

the M22s with a good sub is really the best bang for your buck system on the market today IMHO.

MX900 remote. **GREAT** feaking remote! I love that remote!

Yeah, I installed a couple a week when I worked in the field. They are well laid out, Easy to use, easy to program and good looking. I was even able to get one locally for as much as the cheapest place online. I still like my pronto pro better than anything in the universal remote lineup but its not for everyone. I dont care much for the logitech's The only time I used one i thought the programming software was too dumbed down to really do anything the way I wanted it. I dont like the looks either.

I thought I was the only person who didn't particularly care for the Harmony remotes, my 880 has been parked for the better part of a year and I just recently started updating the software, trying to tweak it to my system but the two DVD players, two multi-disc CD players, cable box and the AVR seems to be a bit too much for it to function properly. I betcha that 'Help' button/function would wear out in record time if I tried use the 880 on a daily basis.


Pics of friends new digs will be up shortly, I presume?

Probably be hooking it up next week sometime or the week after depending on when the electronics arrive. I'll snap a few pics though

I knew we could count you Brandon, thanks!

Let's not forget the Harmony remotes are the 'family' remotes. I am pretty sure I would be called many times a night if I didn't have one so the wife and kids could turn everything on with the touch of the 'watch TV button' or in the case of my 4yr old the green button.

Very good, Brandon; I'm sure that your friends will indeed be impressed, and you might be as well when you hear the M22s working with a good sub.

My four year old can turn everything on via MX900. He uses the soft buttons to find things in the 8300HD DVR, rewinds, etc. The buttons are *WAY* more child friendly than the 880. The buttons on the 880 are horrid. Programming is way to dumbed down as well. It's an OK remote, but IMO, it's not even in the same ball park as the MX900.

Finally, every remote should have the ability to punch through on a button by button (function by function) basis.

Reading this thread with a grin on my face. Do a search at some point on "MX-700" and "MX-850". 18-24 months ago, Jack and I enlisted a large number of Axiomites in the MX remote army and all were pretty pleased about it.

The battle continues to rage with Harmony vs URC remotes. Both are good product lines with lotsa plusses and a few minuses. I prefer the URC line.

I went from a MX-500 to a 700. Then I added an 850. I just ordered a Denon 3808 and when it arrives, my daughter/son-in-law witll get the Denon 1905 or 3803 being replaced and the MX-700.

To replace the 700, I went back and forth between a new 850 or 900 (the 980 is just too much money for even me to justify). I ended up getting the 900 about three weeks ago and it is an excellent choice.

I will take exception to the perception that the MX series are not family friendly remotes. The programming capabilities are incredibly powerful and flexible (one the advantages they have over the Harmony). Pushing one button to turn on everything required to watch/listen for cable/satellite, DVD, CD, Wii, PS3, XBox 360 lights, etc. and one button to switch between where you are and where you want to go is exceptionally family friendly and easily doable.

Just my $0.02.

Ray has a good point. Hey, it happens.

I was one of his MX-700 converts. I have programmed the bejeezus out of that thing. The macro capabilities have allowed me to easily provide the same sort of "activity" functions the Harmony touts. It is perhaps the best money I've ever spent on anything. Seriously.

I recently had a look at the Logitech Harmony 1000. Any words of wisdom about it?

I like the Harmony that I have (670? something like). The Harmony buttons tend to be poorly laid out, especially on the early 600 series and the 800 series. They've got the shape right, but they're pretty dumb about the important buttons. The TiVo remotes are still the most intelligently designed remotes I've ever seen, but they're not really multifunction.

There's a few things I would like to do with the Harmony that I haven't been able to, but that's mostly because Yamaha won't give me their IR codes.

I don't see much sense in the big touchscreen remotes like the 1000 or the Pronto--if you can't feel it in the dark (or feel where the important buttons are at all), it's just hard to use.

Thanks. Do you have any experience with RF/IR converters to help with the "point-and-click" or with non-visible devices?

I'm afraid not. I some some experience with remote IR, but that was over ethernet, and pretty much a kludge I put together with scotch tape and foam. Literally.

getting the MRF unit with the universal remotes or whatever its called with the other remotes is a really nice thing to have. You dont have to point the remote at the stuff, you can be nearly anywhere within reason and it will work and you can have your stuff hidden away.

The only downside, is you have to put them IR eyes on everything. And they are ugly.

I've had the Harmony 880 for awhile and my reaction is sorta mixed. It's nice that it controls everything, but like someone else said the buttons aren't laid out very well. In Tivo mode, for example, I think "Live TV" is on page 2. It's also a bit of a pain that you can't change the layout on the fly, but always have to go back to the PC.

Also I've noticed the burn in on the little screen happened rather fast, I can see the home functions burned into the display from other pages.

The other thing, which is probably an issue with any remote, is that people who don't understand how it works can get easily confused. Like if someone turns on the TV on its own, which forgets to "tell the remote" they get confused when it goes back off on them when switching functions. I also wasn't able to get it to work right with my pelican switcher (for the game consoles), so I tend to have to use another remote anyway to get everything setup.

Thinking about looking into some new options, possibly RF, but it's ok for now.

Yeah, I agree about people not understanding how it works being an issue.

I think I'd probably change around the screen buttons if it wasn't what suited me, but it is a pain to hook it back up to the computer and update it. Mainly because you have to find the cable...

The thing that makes the MX series family friendly, IMHO, is that you can program it to be as simple or as complicated as you want. Since I'm single and childless, I have my really programmed very complicated. When I have it set to MOVHD (Watch a movie on my HD-DVD Player), I can control various functions on my TV, my receiver, and my HD-DVD player without having to change screens.

On the other hand, I'm programming my old MX-700 for my brother and his wife, both of whom are technically challenged, and I'm making it as simple as I can. EASY!


You only need to put the IR "eyes" on your equipment if it's hidden, out of the line of sight of the RF Base station. My equipment is in the open, and my RF Base Station is on top of a tall secretary with a nice line of sight to my equipment.

"AHA," you say. "If you have a direct line of sight to your equipment, why on earth do you need to use the remote's RF capabilities and an RF base station." A reasonable question. And my answer is, "because, I'm probably the laziest person in the entire world" . I can be stretched out, all nice and comfy, in my recliner, watching Boston Legal, with the remote resting gently crosswise in my lap and, when the commercial comes on, I just push the channel button to change the channel without having to even pick up the remote and aim it at the equipment.

More importantly, if I go to the kitchen for a little refreshment, or to the bathroom for a little relief, if I take the remote with me, and suddenly one of those commercials that is 15dB hotter than any other programming comes on, I can turn my system's volume down without having to interrupt any important activity, such as making sure the popcorn doesn't burn.

Even more ridiculously decadent - I have a second RF base station in my bedroom. Let's say I'm watching a football game, and want to take a shower during halftime. A few minutes before halftime I can turn on my bedroom TV and change its channel, all from my living room remote, so it's all warmed up and running before I make a betweem-plays dash for the bedroom to take care of any necessary preparations, (such as removing one's clothing - I've always found this to be a wise move) before leaping into the shower when halftime starts. I never miss a play.


Agree Ken. That's precisely why I switched from a Sony touchscreen to the MX series which, in my case, works much mo' betta.

Yes.

"AHA" is EXACTLY what I said.

Still gettin' it done after all these years, huh Jack??

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You, sir, have a filthy mind.

I love it!

The MRF350 that I recently purchased off of Amazon (great price!) allows you to send IR, RF, or IR+RF on a line by line basis. So you don't have to use flashers every where. Also, my Marantz has Flasher-In jack (3.5mm stereo jack) so there's no need for a flasher in the front.




Another reason to have it is when you have somewhat complicated macros and you want to add some delays. My wife kept forgetting to point at the equipment for 5 seconds or so for the entire duration of the macro. So now, I don't have to worry about it.

LOL! Yea, before I got the RF base station, when friends were over and I was running a macro while preparing to watch a movies and people were moving around the room, they'd often hear me say "HEY! Don't walk in front of my macro." Don't have to worry about that as much anymore.

That's too funny. Sometimes, i would have to put my hands out (like a railroad crossing) to keep my kids from running in through the LOS of the remote and the equipment. Now, I couldn't care less.

But finding a spot w/o too much RF interference was a pain! I'm glad the MRF350 comes with an RF sniffer mode to detect interference!!

LOL

No MX here, but a Pronto. To help with this, I programmed an interim screen that lasts during the macro.

The family knows keep the remote pointed at the system until that screen goes away.

Well went and installed the system today. Sounded pretty good! I really liked the new Ep350. Sounded good and really has some power to it without sounding boomy. Didnt really sit down and watch an entire movie or anything but played a few scenes from pirates of the carribean and I can definetly picture myself happy with the Epic master.

The owners are happy with it too. As soon as i hooked the sub up my dads friend came running out of the other room like "never heard that before!"

Also the first time ive seen the Oppo players in person and the 980 is a pretty nice player. I would probably get one if I watched more movies and didnt already have a cheap toshiba.

Anyway heres a couple pics as promised And yeah, i know the speakers are in the bookshelf but nowhere else to put em and its still heads and shoulders above the Bose system they had. Bought a bunch of Phillips Component video cables at walmart that were 27 bucks for 6' and come in a box with a book cover style cover that are pretty nice. Nice connectors and Soldered connections.

Very nice, Brandon; good show.

toe them babies in a bit.

Because toe in is always better than straight ahead.

always works for me when I cross my toes.

Looks real nice.