lost remote controls

mike0565

ADS speaker nut
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While checking out what people are selling on the different sites, I can't get over the amount of hi-fi gear that gets posted that sellers don't have the remotes for. I mean wtf, people spend good money for gear and just lose the remotes. I don't get it.
 
Drives me nuts too, but it's all too common.

I paid more for a busted Luxman TP-117 to get the remote than I did for a working one. But the unit is pretty worthless without the remote as there is no front panel input switch. Such is life. I suppose that maybe the missing remote is why it ended up in a thrift store in the first place?
 
While checking out what people are selling on the different sites, I can't get over the amount of hi-fi gear that gets posted that sellers don't have the remotes for. I mean wtf, people spend good money for gear and just lose the remotes. I don't get it.
Some sellers sell them separately.

In other cases, the gear is only up for sale because the remote was lost. Or -- as was the case with a VCR I owned many years ago -- the remote got eaten by the dog.
 
One thing you may have overlooked, Battery Leakage.
I can't tell you how many remotes and other battery operated gear has gone bad due to battery acid leaking and destroying the contacts or whole thing.

That said, I learned to remove the batteries form anything that does not get used.
 
One thing you may have overlooked, Battery Leakage.
I can't tell you how many remotes and other battery operated gear has gone bad due to battery acid leaking and destroying the contacts or whole thing.

That said, I learned to remove the batteries form anything that does not get used.

Good point. I'm too lazy to do that but stopped using alkalines for NiMH years ago when I decided to do something about that issue.
 
All remotes are not created equal. My PS Audio remote is a piece of printed mylar over a pressure pad. My Bryston remote is a chunk of machined aluminum with a backlit keypad. It also sells for $200+ where a new replacement PS cost me $15. I still have the remote for my old Yamaha 3 disc CD changer that must be about a hundred years old. I can see how they get lost and/or broken for ubiquitous BPC. For some pieces, like the aforementioned Luxman for example, you have to wonder WTF?

But....having said that I still have the original PSA remote. And it works.............................sometimes:)
 
Remotes often are not "lost", but simply get destroyed or break. I had an Adcom remote chewed on by my dog. I had another remote, used as a hammer by an toddler that I was watching before I could stop her. Both remotes were originals; both were destroyed. Where I sold the Adcom CD player, I too listed the remote as "lost", rather than "destroyed". I wouldn't be at all surprised if most "lost" remotes are in a similar category. :eek:
 
All remotes are not created equal. My PS Audio remote is a piece of printed mylar over a pressure pad. My Bryston remote is a chunk of machined aluminum with a backlit keypad. It also sells for $200+ where a new replacement PS cost me $15. I still have the remote for my old Yamaha 3 disc CD changer that must be about a hundred years old. I can see how they get lost and/or broken for ubiquitous BPC. For some pieces, like the aforementioned Luxman for example, you have to wonder WTF?

But....having said that I still have the original PSA remote. And it works.............................sometimes:)

Sidebar to this - most Oppo remotes are still available direct from Oppo for reasonable prices. The only exception is pre-Blu Ray players and the one for the 95. They have a pretty solid, quality feel too
 
Lots of times units are taken in for repair and the owner never picks them up. Sometimes when presented with the bill, it's cheaper to leave the unit and "upgrade." The repair place then sells them on ebay without a remote.

I was lucky in that I got an Oppo 95 with the remote and the streaming stick on ebay for $350 plus shipping. But sometimes I wonder about the Oppos build quality in that it doesn't always respond to the "face" buttons sometimes rquiring a couple "touches."

Also, I find it will have drop-outs on disks that my Yamaha plays without the drop-outs, maybe inferring that the error correction for the Yamaha takes in a "bigger" error to create a drop-out.

I've been trying to get a replacement remote for my Yamaha, but they are $$$ (RAV229). The remote is getting old and the buttons don't respond as they should (after ~16 years).
 
Sometimes if they are just dirty you can disassemble them and clean the innards. If the conductive coating has worn off the back of the buttons that's a slightly harder fix. I have contact cemented little tiny pieces of aluminum foil to some, although neater might be using conductive paint if you have an inexpensive source.
 
Heck, I have a pile of remotes that well outlasted the the things they controlled. One, many years ago, about 1980, I actually threw away. It was one of those that used RF instead of IR. So many things would cause the volume or channel to change. Cars driving by, jingling keys ect., would get picked up by the tv. Having the tv turn on late at night several times after going to sleep was it for me. In the trash it went after I clipped the wire to the sensor in the tv.
 
One thing you may have overlooked, Battery Leakage.

Or people who don't know how to clean the corrosion off the terminals. Or take apart a remote and clean those rubber pads and the contacts on the circuit board.

Lee.
 
Or people who don't know how to clean the corrosion off the terminals. Or take apart a remote and clean those rubber pads and the contacts on the circuit board.

Lee.
I have seen where the terminals are gone, no chance for layman repairs
 
I can see why a certain number of home theatre component remotes could end up in a drawer when the owner opts for a good universal.

Doesn't explain where they go, though. I would certainly keep mine. Perhaps some do not.

Older components, especially used, the usual causes. Broken. Or misplaced when the component was decommissioned or donated. Units with remotes are rare at the thrifts.

All unimaginable to me. I have the opposite problem. I still have lots of remotes for dead stuff sent to recycling long ago. Mostly TV and VCR.
 
I just ordered a remote for a dvd/cd player. The player cost $12.84. The remote with shipping $17.14. Still not bad total outlay .
 
I can see why a certain number of home theatre component remotes could end up in a drawer when the owner opts for a good universal.
I was going to mention that, because I use a universal remote for everything and my original remotes are hardly ever used (I still keep them though). Remotes become expendable and much easier to lose or get rid of when someone no longer needs them. Add family, kids, friends, pets, etc., the smallish size of remotes, as well as leaking batteries to the mix, and it's a perfect storm for them not to be included with the original unit.
 
I've had to hunt down remotes for a lot of my used components. Usually on the bay. Probably paid a little too much for some of them but I'm slightly obsessive that way.

Some components like AVR's and DVD players are way easier to set up with the original remote anyway. Others, I get because I just want it. Don't go nutty on them though. Patience usually pays off.

Even found an almost exact match for one at GW once. Talk about lucky.
 
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