I have a Pioneer VSX-80TXV receiver. It has two pairs of IR-related jacks on the back. The first pair is SR Control in/out, and these jacks are meant for connecting other Pioneer brand equipment, such as DVD players or plasma displays. The second pair is IR Control in/out, and these jacks are meant for connecting non-Pioneer equipment.

My goal is to hide my SA8300HDC cable box in a closet, and control it from the receiver. Unfortunately, the SA8300HDC does not have an IR In jack, so I will have to use some kind of emitter.

I have tried to connect a Xantech 286M emitter to the IR Control Out jack, but it does not function. Is there any kind of IR emitter that I can use in this situation? Do I need any other equipment to power the emitter?

I'm not familiar with pioneer receivers, but you may have to learn the cable box ir codes into the pioneer remote control. Then that output should work as long as the emitter is over or possibly just near the ir sensor of your cable box. You could buy a ir repeater system and hide all your equip. in that closet.

Good Luck