Modus Operandey

[Arneson]

I have many signal sources and many monitors which makes for a very complex interconnect.
Having a system set up so all functions give best performance is one consideration, but theres another.
When I sit down on any normal evening to watch a program, news ,weather whatever, I will turn on only the big screen and the sat reciever and kick back.

Now my AV reciever is not on, the projector screen is not on, cable box is not on,all the other units are not going to be used.
System is in Basic mode.
I'm channel surfing and stumble on a great live performance, on comes the AV sound system, this is Concert mode.
On the weekend I have a good loud DVD to watch, this would be Movie mode.
I can go on and on so I'll just mention modes, Game mode PS2, Party mode, when all screens are on, Wife mode she watches tapes on vcr, PC mode media edition, Reverse pc mode for video capture.
Pretty much if there is an I/O port on any device I'm gonna use it.
My problem is that each function of these inputs and outputs have to change depending on what I'm doing with the system.
There is no way to optimise all the interconnects to cover the different modes.
Should I put in a rack mount patch panel?
Is anyone else frustrated with this?
Does everyone pull it all apart every couple months to try getting things better?

[David Meek]

Pull it apart? No, not really. I do catch myself doing the speaker-location-tweak exercise every so often, just to see if I can get more out of my set-up.

[John Holmes]

Like David, I think there is always something to fiddle with. I mess with my speakers as well (every so often) just to see if I can squeeze a little more out of them. As far as the level of complexity operation wise, I think to some degree, it's part of the game. I have a great remote (MX-700) which can handle most of my issues. I have yet to take the time to fully program it to relieve me of the switching burden. So, I still use the OEM remotes to tackle some jobs. I got to buckle down and fully program this thing! :B

[Arneson]

Thanks for replies guys, that was just ranting off steam about system shortcomings.
I was serious about removing everything to rewire this system but I exagerated the every two months, its usually when I have some new addition.
I was also serious about using all of the I/O ports and even splitting some and even then not running what I want.
I know, how does it feel to want?

[David Meek]

Y'know thinking on this a little further, part of this is going to depend on how long you've had your system together, if it has any new pieces, if the room is new, etc. For someone like me that hasn't changed anything on the component end for a while, it'll stay rather static as that part of the equation is about as capable as it gets until something new comes along. The speaker interaction with the room changes as we rearrange things in a fairly new environment, so that's why my focus is on that portion of things. If you are adding/subtracting/replacing things in the system, then absolutely, you'll come up against limitations (like number of inputs) that cause a case of the "wants".

[Arneson]

The more I think about the issues with my own setup I can better at least pinpoint what I want.
I have a Denon 881 with plenty of inputs and supplement this with a Philips 4 input auto selector, its not the inputs, it's the outputs.
The AV has one output, I want four, the 60 inch screen, the projector, a crt, and the media center pc.
Here's why I mentioned the old fashioned patch panel, there are times when all displays would have a common source and times when each and any source could be switched to any output.
If this makes sense to anyone I would greatly appreciate any and all sugjestions.