AV switchers: What do you recommend?

[ApolloBoy]

OK, so I've got two AV switchers for my setup right now. One has 4 switches, which is daisy-chained to one with 3. Hooked up to the 4-switch are my satellite receiver, Genesis/Sega CD, SMS, and the 3-switch has my NES, PC Engine Duo and SNES.

Recently, I've been planning to send my older RF-based systems for AV mods to someone like omnedon, since I've grown tired of crappy RF. I don't have any spare switchers, and I don't really want to daisy chain a whole bunch of switchers and make my setup more complex than it already is. What AV switcher do you guys recommend that can take more than 4 or 5 things at once?

[intvsama]

Once you go over 5 systems you're probably going to want to look into stereo receivers which have a multitude of inputs. You can get older ones for next to nothing at fleas and yard sales and whatnot.

I have a 5 port Pelican switcher from several years ago, AFAIK they still make them. They do AV and s-vid. Think I paid $20 for it, any place that carries a decent selection of game accessories should have them. Still works well after four years of use.

[Trebuken]

There are the plemty of 8 system selectoirs, but they tend to be more expensive.

I use an auto-selector. This is a cheap solution. You hook your manual selectors to it and it makes selecting systems and it will will switch to the sytem that is on.

[Fuzzball24]

Once you go over 5 systems you're probably going to want to look into stereo receivers which have a multitude of inputs. You can get older ones for next to nothing at fleas and yard sales and whatnot.

I have a 5 port Pelican switcher from several years ago, AFAIK they still make them. They do AV and s-vid. Think I paid $20 for it, any place that carries a decent selection of game accessories should have them. Still works well after four years of use.

I have that one too....get it.

[Starwander]

I use the Philips auto-switches that are sold at Wal-mart for $24.97. They work exceptionally well and are very convenient since they are automatic. Plus you can daisy chain the selectors without any problem.

[TheDomesticInstitution]

Like it was said, and A/V receiver would help... I personally have quite a few things hooked into my TV... But I use a combination of a 4 input av switcher and my receiver. It works great. I haven't seen many of the 8 input devices that were mentioned, so I can't say if they're worth the price. You could get a low end receiver for 200 or 250, and then not only would you have a good switcher, you could also add some speakers, and you'd get a huge sound improvement too (over your TV speakers). You might also consider upgrading your TV eventually... quite a few TVs have 5 or 6 inputs on the back... And if you are on a budget, I'd sit down and figure up the cost of each alternative... and look at specific models to find out how many av inputs you have to work with vs. how many things you are hooking up to your tv. But most likely a small AV switcher will have to be used in combination with either a TV or receiver, if you have a 5 or 6 systems hooked up like I do.

[Family Computer]

does anyone have any links or information about setting up like 10-15 game systems in an ideal way with no video loss etc.

I am about to move places, and I would like to do some planning on making an insane command center.

[ApolloBoy]

You might also consider upgrading your TV eventually... quite a few TVs have 5 or 6 inputs on the back...

Actually I don't have a TV, I have an LCD monitor hooked up to a TV tuner box.

[Cinder6]

I use the Philips auto-switches that are sold at Wal-mart for $24.97. They work exceptionally well and are very convenient since they are automatic. Plus you can daisy chain the selectors without any problem.

Just a few questions on this; I was looking into getting one. I see they have two spots for RF, as well; can you use those in conjunction with the other inputs (giving you two RF and 4 RCA inputs)? Also, how well does the S-Video upconversion work (basically, is it lossy)? It would be nice to be able to get the benefits of my S-Video SNES cables (I know the signal upconversion doesn't improve composite sources).

Thanks.

[blue lander]

I recently bought one of those 20 dollar AV switch boxes from Gamestop. It can do 3 Component and 4 Composite inputs. And it so happens that my TV has three AV inputs, so I just use the Component inputs as Composite ones and hook the output up to the second AV channel on my TV. 7 systems with a 20 dollar switch isn't bad!