SmartEye IR receivers???

RF remote. Then use the spiders (unless you have fancier connections, which you probably don't, unless you bought pretty fancy gear).

For instance, this will do the trick, and it's only $85 shipped for both native IR/RF, WITH the base station.

http://www.amazon.com/RFS200-PowerPak-Bundle-MasterControl-PowerBlaster/dp/B000FL9E6U

IMO, way more reliable than Harmony, and way less of a hassle to program.

you can spend more for sure, but this is the best value. this remote can't discretely control TWO DIFFERENT av systems at the same time (w/o affecting the other system for instance).

otherwise, the sky is the limit for automation. having a pro program something like crestron, rti, whatever, costs a whole lot, but you get reliable performance that even grandma can easily control.

for your cabinet, there are two main issues. 1. Heat dissipation. 2. size enough for components. choose wisely. personally, I don't like the idea of electronics up front. how about a closet? 35ft hdmi is mebbe $50, and that remote I linked is $85. That's only $135 to be able to put the components anywhere else in the room.

otherwise, some av stand links
http://www.salamanderdesigns.com/

http://www.standoutdesigns.com/

http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/furniture/e5822-tv-cab


otherwise, I say save the thousands of dollars, have it all even neater, with both better video and audio performance. well not video in your case, but audio potential increase is pretty great w/o the cabinet up front. possibly of epic proportions in fact, but whatever.

IR repeater. 'Smarteye' just looks like a brand.

The first link is for diffrent rooms all going to one A/V setup and the 2nd link is for one room only setup.


One thing you have to keep in mind is heat... Heat will reduce the life of electronics.