I’m debating whether to trade in my PWD MkII or get a kit and do it myself. My PWD is an upgraded MkI, and I’ve read that some people with early PWDs have had issues with parts fitting correctly. Based on the posts here, people have been able to solve these problems. So I’ll put that aside, I guess.
The only functional difference between a new box vs the upgrade is, IIUC, the IR receiver. This is actually important to me because I have never been able to use my PWD remote due to the room arrangement–the rack is to the left of my chair and the angle is fairly sharp. (If I go close to the PWD and aim the remote right at it, then it works, so the hardware is not defective.) I use the eLyric control point partly because I like the layout and partly because I can control the PWD functions from it, so the lack of an IR remote doesn’t matter.
With the DS, I won’t be able to use eLyric to control the DAC, I assume. So I will need the remote. The new box is $1000 (after trade-in) more than the kit, so my first question is how much better is the IR receiver? Does it accept a signal over a significantly wider range of angles? I realize nobody can say for sure if the improved receiver will solve my problem, but I’d appreciate any info that there is. There is no other place in the room to put the rack, unfortunately.
If the DS remote does not work, is there any option for controlling it other than the front panel? Can this be done through a web browser, or with a program like the one that a forum member created to control the PWD?