I have a reasonably simple home theater system, consisting of receiver, 2 CD changers, DVD player, HD SAT receiver and plasma screen. The screen and speakers are in the family room, while all the other gear are 1 floor below (basement) on a rack, with wiring through the wall. IR control is through an IR eye in the wall which connects to flashers on the equipment in the basement. I tried an inexpensive universal remote, but we were frustrated by the slow response time, which I think is made worse by having to use a plasma 'friendly' IR eye.

I'd like to explore hard wired options. I'm imagining a Creston like panel on a table, wired to some form of control box, which then controls the equipment. I assume this is what Crestron equipment does - right? Is there such a thing as a basic system for this purpose? I assume the process would require buying the equipment from a dealer who also does the wiring/programming? Now the big question - I don't want to embarass myself - does something like this cost many thousands, or can something like this be done for less? Thanks.