It's the small things that drive you nuts...

Oh YES! Drive... to tears. My (Greg's) General Law of Audio Connectivity:
"Whatever the efforts you make arranging the power sockets for practical reasons, and whichever new COMPONENT or whatever PLACEMENT you choose for sonic reasons, the signal/power connectors on ANY component will invariably be placed in the least practicable position."
The corollary:
"WHATEVER you do with one component to connect or place it better, will invariably result in bigger complications re-connecting all the other components."

My cdp has umbilical on the far left side & signal out on the far right side; logical, as the trans is in the middle the audio parts on the right & the secondary PS on the left (it has separate PS for trans & dac).
*The dedicated power lines are on the right of the room.
*The cd input on the pre is, of course, on the far LEFT side.
If I approach the cdp to the power, I need a longer IC. If I go for a normal IC, I need a longer umbilical AND power chord because in that position, the umbilical has to vault WELL OVER the one amp (which is huge & I'm bi-amping, can't move it) to reach the cdp.

If I...?

When facing the equipment from the front the power cord should be on the left side panel of the chasis. This will leave the back and right side panels free for the interconnect/speaker cables. I believe the Nagra preamps are built along these lines.

I would certainly like to see a standard, and maybe I'm stating the obvious, but every company has a different design theory which leads them to place inputs/outputs in different places...form follows function. I have come to the conclusion I would like a rack that does not have a support bar running down the middle of the back. I want a rack with a completely open back end, and the wire mess can work itself out.

Sean, I'm with you on this cable dressing issue. I think the standard should be two power cord inputs, one right and one left allowing the installer to decide which to use. I also agree with Mdomnick that the back of a system rack should be open. The three leg mentality makes leveling much easier but creates cable dressing issues.

Sean -- it's a major annoyance! If you have a high-end system with multiple outboard power supplies you literally need to carefully position them and map appropriate routes for your various power cords and interconnects. Even when I do my best to strategically locate components in areas of least traffic (as you've said) there always seems to be one or more components that have less than optimal cable routing paths. And if you do manage to do it right, it looks like a mess although it may function wonderfully. That's why whenever I see an uncluttered, clean-looking installation I always feel that things have been compromised for the sake of neatness.

My own tangled mess resides in a finished basement and I can't imagine any "significant other" allowing such an arrangement in a nice living room.

I have often thought of doing things to scale down the complexity of the "web," like not bi-amping and using a one-box CD player or a full-function preamp, but I've come too far for that...

NAY! I say! I am actually proud of my strategically-positioned power supplies, and my various make-shift cable bridges and my interconnect clover-leafs. It took me too long to plan and construct my intricate road system and now it holds a certain sentimental attachment for me.

But wouldn't it be great if all the cables that comprised one's unique super-highway system were exactly the right length... and if adding that one extra component didn't screw up 3 others!!!