Though about putting this in the Funeeze section, but...
Rustic life up here, been using a 45-50 year old Sansui receiver for ... 45-50 years. No TV, the radio goes on when I head to the can in the AM, and last thing off when I go to bed. Pleasant background noise with a little news thrown in.
Lost one channel a few moons back, so I twist the L-R speaker wires together onto one pair of speaker posts, hit the 'mono' switch on the receiver. All is good. Sound quality went down hill 3-6 months ago, volume control at 6 and it's pretty mute. Fork it, it's just background noise.
A deal on a new Pioneer VSX-1130 came down the pike last week. HDMI-WIFI-SAT-BlueTeef-5.2-7.2 BluRay-5.2.2-ABC-XYZ. And it'll do A<->B speakers, what *I* wanted. Cool
Arrived today.
Simple install, just four pair of wires and an antenna. Antenna is a weirdo push on tingy, kind of like an "F" connector, but not. Frick. Hey, it's WIFI, I'll get pandora/Spotify or sumpin to play! Ok, what button do I push. ...
Two knobs (volume and source), couple of buttons to configure the girdle bearing alignment on the Cardinal Grammeters, that's it.
Instructions say to download the APP, so I do. Need to connect to the receiver though. It's stuck on 192.168.1.1 and my network is on 192.168.0.x. Instructions say to hold down the Reluctance Configuration switch and the Top Middle switch while pressing the On button and wait one minute. Done, the receiver now has a valid IP via DHCP.
Fire up the app in the iPad, looks like the instrument panel of a 747. Open up the PDF (on the CD they send you) and read the 'almost' real instructions. Put the batteries in the remote 'wand' (remember I don't have a TV), which looks like the climate control module for the space shuttle.
'Bout this time I'm thinking the neighbor kid could have this up and running in ten minutes, but I pour another drink and press on.
iPad app connects, I select Spotify. App said "this app not comparable". So I select Pandora and the APP said to enter my serial number. Back to the desktop, log into Pandora. Log out, enter the URL as specified on the APP, enter the 'special' code. Pandora asks me for my user/pass, thank gawd this stuff auto-fills in.
Back to the iPad app, Pandora works with the receiver, I have sound! Unsure if left speaker is left or right, really don't care at this point. Grab a larger glass from the cupboard and mix another drink.
Head to the basement (again) to see if the "B" speakers are making sound. No dice. I connected them to the back panel as "B" or 3.2.2. Should work, but.... Back to the instructions, play with the app, look at the wand again. Instructions say after configuring speakers in section 3.98.1.a, return here to configure surround sound, only after you configure HDZONE in section 8.76.3.b. Starting to wonder if a call to the neighbor kid is warranted, and if I have enough gin.
Re-read the quick-start setup instructions again, they say (imply) I have to have a monitor at the very least. Why, I don't know. Somewhat obvious this receiver ain't made for country hicks.
Play with the remote some more, read the PDF. Appears if I hit the "main" button on the remote and the HOME/MENU button shortly after I can enter config mode on the receiver. But if I don't hit another button on the remote w/in 10 seconds (like heading back to read the PDF on my desktop) the remote goes back to user mode. Oh, and when in config mode, it takes a second for the screen on the receiver to recognize a key press on the remote. "hmm, appears dead, I'll just press harder..."
Five hours later I have speakers in the basement playing music
And I can turn them off via the remote. If I remember the sequence in a week or two is a huge question.
Pandora plays, Spotify plays, the music from my iPad plays, I have internet radio playing now. No static, it's pretty kewl
Still unsure if right speaker is right or left. Don't really care, I can flip-flop on the sofa if I have to. On the to-do list is get the antenna working. FM and AM are iffy up here, distance and down in a valley between 6'000 mountains.
Still have gin left, and think I'll pay a visit to the neighbor kid. Might bring him some stuff (cash/cookies/candy/...) so he knows of me. I might get a Jumbotron with Blueray and five more speakers one of these days. Might
Rick
PS: Reading the instructions, it implies if I take my iPad on the road, and load up Pandora, my receiver *may* come on with Pandora playing. And, if I crank the volume up remotely....