# Harmony "One" and Panamax MAX-5400EX



## jagman (Jul 8, 2006)

I got a Harmony One universal remote control for Christmas  but cannot seem to get it to control this power conditioner. I have the Panamax set so the SAT receiver, PS3 and HD-A3 always get power, but I also have it configured so when I push the button on the left front part of the panel, the BFD goes on immediately, and then 5 seconds later (or 10 maybe?), the sub amp, integrated amp, HDMI switch and external video processor turn on. This is of course done to avoid the dreaded thump associated with turning on the BFD when the downstream amp is on. I also have it done this way becuase the BFD, HDMI switch and prosound amp are not remote controlled and thus pressing one botton turns them all on. Without the Panamax button being pressed, none of the units besides the SAT receiver, PS3 and HD-A3 get power. So... can the Harmony One universal remote control be programmed to "push" the button?


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## jagman (Jul 8, 2006)

BTW, my integrated amp doesn't have a voltage trigger (but a receiver I'm waiting to get does!). If I had it so the new receiver, PS3, HD-A3 and SAT receiver have constant power, then having the Harmony One turn on the receiver could cause the receiver to trigger the rest of the power conditioner to turn on, which would in turn cause the equipment without remote controls to turn on (in the right order to avoid the thump). Having it set up that way would allow pressing one button on the Harmony One to turn everything on! The problem is I don't know when that receiver will be released so until that happens I'm stuck with the present situation.

One last thing. I already know the PS3 and Harmony One don't interact but I ordered a Blue Wave dongle to get at least partial functionality out of the Harmony One.


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## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

I think you are going to have to wait on your new receiver. I am not aware of anyway to push that button wirelessly with the remote.


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## jagman (Jul 8, 2006)

That's my fear. Harmony has the codes for just about all the other conditions... but not this one. I can't find any info to suggest it can be controlled remotely.


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## Anthony (Oct 5, 2006)

I have the 5100PM and an older version of the same. Both are trigger only (no IR). Sorry I didn't have better news. Good excuse to upgrade, though


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## jagman (Jul 8, 2006)

No upgrading for me. I got this because of the tip Sonnie sent out from the Shack. Plus... I have good news. I got home from work and checked my owners manual for the integrated amp and sure enough it has d/c trigger for an accompanying amp . My guess is their thoughts were someone might use the integrated amp as a pre/pro. I'll use it to turn on my power conditioner! Both units have 1/8" connectors on each end (the output on the integrated amp and the input on the power conditioner)... is it as simple as getting one wire with 1/8' male connectors on each end, plugging them in to the respective output and inputsand turning on the integrated amp? I've never used this feature but it seems pretty straight forward.


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## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

There ya go... :T


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## Anthony (Oct 5, 2006)

That's the setup I've been using for a while now. Works great and no thumps.

Congrats and enjoy.


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## jagman (Jul 8, 2006)

Well... good news and bad news. 

Banks 1 and 2 in the Panamax are always on. Banks 3 and 4 turn on immediately when triggered on, and have a 10 second delay when triggered off. Bank 5 turns on with a 5 second delay when triggered on, and turns off immediately when triggered off. This ideal since I have the BFD plugged into bank 3 and the sub amp plugged into bank 5. So the way I have it set up, when I turn the receiver on, the BFD turns on immediately and the sub amp 5 seconds later. When I turn the receiver off, the sub amp turns off immediately with the BFD following 10 seconds later. 

Beautiful... except for one small thing. 

Bank 5 is designed for high current electronics (a receiver/amp and a subamp). Banks 1-4 are not for high current applications. In order for the receiver to trigger the turn on sequence and shutdown sequence, it has to have constant power. If plugged into bank 5, it won't have constant power. If plugged into either bank 1 or bank 2, it will have constant power, but it won't be plugged into an outlet designed for high current electronics (which might potentially limit dynamics). This seems like a design flaw to me. How can a receiver trigger the power conditioner's turn on and turn off sequence if the receiver is supposed to be plugged into one of the outlets that has to be triggered on? The only possible way to get around this is to plug the receiver into the current limiting banks 1 or 2. Again... it seems like a design flaw to me. I don't see a way around this .

Anthony... do you have a receiver or are you using separates? If you have a receiver... I take it you also have to have yours plugged into either bank 1 or 2. Do you get the sense that dynamics are limited? My speakers (other than the sub) have a high pass filter set at 80Hz so my thought is the potentially limited current will be less of an issue than if I were running my mains full range.


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## Anthony (Oct 5, 2006)

Hmm, I'd have to check. My amp turns on via its own 12V trigger, so it can be in the "always on" high current one. The sub amp is the only one on a triggered port. I will have to look again, it has been so long.

Also, I though I had some control over which ports were on and which were timed. Again, I will check this weekend and get back to you.


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## MatrixDweller (Jul 24, 2007)

jagman said:


> Well... good news and bad news.
> 
> Bank 5 is designed for high current electronics (a receiver/amp and a subamp). Banks 1-4 are not for high current applications. In order for the receiver to trigger the turn on sequence and shutdown sequence, it has to have constant power. If plugged into bank 5, it won't have constant power. If plugged into either bank 1 or bank 2, it will have constant power, but it won't be plugged into an outlet designed for high current electronics (which might potentially limit dynamics). This seems like a design flaw to me. How can a receiver trigger the power conditioner's turn on and turn off sequence if the receiver is supposed to be plugged into one of the outlets that has to be triggered on? The only possible way to get around this is to plug the receiver into the current limiting banks 1 or 2. Again... it seems like a design flaw to me. I don't see a way around this .


I have a Belkin PureAV PF31. Not as nice as your power conditioner, but it suffer from the same problem. If I hook plug the receiver into the receptacle marked AVR on the power conditioner the trigger will turn off that off. Then it will not power back on. Definite design flaw. On the higher end models like the PF60 you can program which outlets are switched. So my alternative is to plug my AVR into a non switched socket.

So I did a bit of research and even opened up my power conditioners case to take a look inside at the circuitry. Each branch look identical. The fact that one says it's high current and the other does not doesn't appear to mean too much. What is high current anyway? Most AVR's are not going to pull more than 7 or 8 amps peak and typically sit at or under 1 amp. 

So I switched the sockets and can't tell difference. Problem solved.

Edit: BTW I have a Niko Bluwave dongle. I had to re-organize some of the special buttons in the setup with my Harmony 1000 but other than that it works great.


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## jagman (Jul 8, 2006)

Thanks for the input. I can't wait for the Bluwave to arrive! I ordered the Dark Knight and Ironman with it .

As for the power conditioner I don't plan on opening it up. I'll probably just keep the receiver plugged into on of the sockets in bank 1 or 2 and see if I notice a difference. The sub amp draws much more power and current anyways so that obiously should stay in bank 5. I'm still not convinced it really makes a difference, but ultimately that's were it needs to go for the turn on and turn off sequence to work properly. 

As for setting up the d/c trigger to work, will the product in the following link work to send the d/c trigger stimulus from the receiver to the power conditioner?

http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...ductId=2102950

It looks like it carries a mono signal because it only has one stripe on the plug (the ones stated as stereo have two).

Thanks in advance!


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## Anthony (Oct 5, 2006)

Yep, that will work fine. 1/8" mono is what I use (actually came with) my amplifier.

The current draw is minuscule, so even small wires like that are fine.


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## jagman (Jul 8, 2006)

Awesome!


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## jagman (Jul 8, 2006)

I sent the following message to Panamax customer support...

"This is regarding the MAX-5400EX. I have a receiver, an external EQ and a sub amp. I want to use the remote trigger from the receiver to the 5400EX to sequentially turn the EQ on first and the sub amp second. As for the shut down process, I would like the opposite sequence to occur. This requires the receiver to be plugged into one of the outlets in Bank 1 or 2, the EQ to be plugged into one of the outlets in Bank 3 or 4, and the sub amp to be plugged into one of the outlets in Bank 5. That is easy enough, except for the outlets in Banks 1-4 are not high current. Only Bank 5 has high current outlets, but the receiver needs constant power to be able to trigger the turn on and turn off cascade. So, my question is... do the outlets in Banks 1 and 2 really limit the current more than Bank 5 such that it is better to plug the receiver into Bank 5 and not be able to use the d/c trigger? If so, why do you require the receiver and sub amp to be plugged into the same bank as the reciver is more often than not the electronic device that initiates the d/c trigger sequential turn on/off cascade (this seems like a design flaw)? I would think it better to have two high current banks... one with constant power (for the receiver as more people have receivers than pre/pros) and one for external amps... like a subwoofer amp. Thanks in advance for your answers... I'm perplexed!"

I'll post their response (if I get one).


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## MatrixDweller (Jul 24, 2007)

I sent something similar to Belkin a while ago. 

I didn't get a response.


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## jagman (Jul 8, 2006)

I got a call back this morning from Panamax. The gentleman on the phone said I had it hooked up properly given my requirements, and, he said the internal circruitry of banks 1-4 are better for the processing of the receiver than the high current capability of bank 5. Of course the high current capabilities of bank 5 are better for the internal amps, but he also mentioned that receivers tend to not require as much current as separate amps, so he actually prefers hooking receivers up to one of the outlets in banks 1-4. All is well with the world.


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## MatrixDweller (Jul 24, 2007)

That was good turn around on your question considering they were probably short staffed over the holidays and closed on the weekend.


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## jagman (Jul 8, 2006)

I got a second call back by another person with Panamax to see if all my questions were answered to my satisfaction.


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## Tommy (Apr 20, 2006)

Is the Harmony One the best & most recent model or is that the 890 model?


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## MatrixDweller (Jul 24, 2007)

The Harmony 1100 and 1000 are a step up, but essentially the same controller in a different package (with a larger color screen, etc). If you want different than a 1100 then you'd want to look at something from Philips or Sony, and then there's Crestron.


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