Cheap is indeed relative. The Plasmas are Fujitsu & the DVD player is the $1000 Sony. I haven't priced a decent compononet distribution amp but I figure a 1 x 2 will be cheaper than two $1000 Sony's. I haven't looked at Niles in a while but I'll take a look at it.
The reason I originally settled on the Russound was to avoid VC's and auto switching amps. The Russound has discreet codes for input select so I don't have to worry about any A/B switching screwing up and I also don't have to worry about a VC being all the way down when they pick up the MX-800 and want to bring up the volume. The Russound is $2400 with the keypads. It is an older piece and wouldn't work if they needed more control from the wall location but in such a small space with two MX800's they should be OK. My biggest concern is not having a spare input but since the tuner will be rarely used I could always put that on an IR A/B switch.
The only thing that gives me the shivers is using RG6QS for a top end plasma. That stuff is meant for RF not baseband video.

Edited - I just double checked everything and the plasma doesn't have pre outs, just speaker level :(
I was sure it had pre-outs.

This message was edited by Ted Wetzel on 06/10/04 17:02.