Anybody else wanna pull their hair out ?

I'm selling my house the 20th of this month and moving into my next one on the 30th! At last count I have 23 components and 7 speakers in my main system and 7 components and 2 speakers in my bedroom system. I'd like to thank you all for reminding me just how fun this hobby is! THANKS A LOT GUYS! Later...

Sounds like compared to some of you, my system was simple. With a bit of planning and one of those nifty handheld label makers, plus about 5 trips to the store to get the missing pieces of cable, I now have everything marked and working. End result is well worth it. I too pulled some hair out, but I am glad I did; especially component video was worth all the hassle.

Hmmm... I guess I've just got a knack for it. The little labels on the back side of your components: You know? The ones that say: "in, out, left, right, center, left surround, right surround, pre out, aux in, cd, video 1/2/3, etc"). Or is it just MY components that come with all the jacks labeled?

These products are for people who understand the benefits as well as the difficulties of owning SEPARATE components. If it's too much of a chore for you, maybe you should go to WalMart for your "all in one" system. Plug-n-play as I understand it. They don't sound good, but then again, you won't have to spend a full day setting it up when you re-arrange your living room.

If it's not worth the hassle of setting the system up right, maybe you should consider a lesser system. No hair loss here. I have an open rack, with just enough room to climb behind it. A flashlight and a pile of cables just within arm's reach, and I can change out everything from my HT preamp in about 10 minutes. And THAT's probably the most difficult one to "plumb". It doesn't hurt to have lots of spare cables. But I'd guess anyone who's truly passionate about this hobby has a fistfull of every length and every connection option out there sitting in the closet in addition to what is already hooked up to their system. Then again, maybe it's just me.

Hifiho, I think it may just be you. Unfortunately I don't have to many spare cables. Don't get me wrong, I do have spares but the best ones are on the system. I don't own an open rack because at the time of system purchases I had a 1 1/2 yr old who thought the vcr tape in was for putting pencils and anything else she could find away. So I opted for a big closed rack to house about 10 separate components. Which when I need to get into I have to move the entire MONSTER. But this will be fixed when I design my next audio room.

Like almost everything worth doing, documentation is the key to simplicity and repeatability. But I must say, playing and reconfiguring can be a lot of fun.

Gerry