#4: I have a similar set-up where my equipment is almost at 90 degrees to my normal viewing area. I was not happy with having to get at a "better" angle to control my equipment. So....I purchased an IR repeater called HOTLINK from smarthome.com (
[Link: smarthome.com])
It is really meant for equipment that is behind solid doors that will not let the IR signal pass. It works well for this application also. The only esthetic drawback is that you have to route the IR LED's wires (~22ga black color)to the front of each component and stick them (each LED came with a sticky pad) to the IR window on each component. Although they are flat and small, they are still visible. I like the performance. The receiver for the HOTLINK is connected via a short wire to the control box. It can be aimed at the target area and comes with small tabs of velcro to afix it in the desired position. It has better sensativity than the original IR receivers of each component (In my case all Sony). The control box fits easily behind the equipment and the power source is a small transformer that is connected via a seperate wire. It is rather expensive at $45, but it was a small price to pay to have my furniture and equipment arranged the way I wanted.
